Water Roux

''Tangzhong'' (), also known as a water roux or ''yu-dane'' ( ja, 湯種, translit=yu-dane) is a paste of flour cooked in water or milk to over which is used to improve the texture of bread and increase the amount of time it takes to stale.

Tangzhong is a gel, which helps stabilize the wheat starches in the bread, to prevent recrystallization which is the main cause of staling.

Technique

For the flour is mixed with an equal weight of boiling water poured over it. This mixture then holds moisture so that, when it is added to a bread mix, the dough bakes with a soft, fluffy texture and the bread then keeps for longer.

For the flour is cooked at in the liquid which causes its starch to gelatinize. The gelatinized roux is generally used at a moderate temperature and apparently also contributes to slightly greater rise during baking.

The gelatinized flour is more stable than normal bread dough, which normally tends to crystalize, creating stale bread. Because the water roux blocks that process the bread keeps longer.

History

"Scalding" flour, especially rye flour, for baking is a technique that has been used for centuries.

The Pasco Shikishima Corporation ( ja, 敷島製パン) was granted a patent in Japan for making bread using the method in 2001. The method was then modified by Taiwanese pastry chef Yvonne Chen (), who published a book in 2007 called ''65°C Bread Doctor'' ( zh, t=65°C 湯種麵包), borrowing the Japanese term directly. This book popularized the technique throughout Asia.

In 2010, food author Christine Ho first wrote about the technique in English, using the Mandarin pronunciation of , ''tangzhong'' (). She subsequently wrote more than twenty recipes using the method, which helped popularize the technique in the English-speaking world.

See also

* Roux

References

Further reading

*

{{Japanese food and drink, state=autocollapse

Baking