Oolong Tea Rye Cottage Loaf (65C tangzhong method)

Have you ever try to eat bread with Chinese tea? Can you image how the taste like? Cottage loaf that usually goes with balsamic vinegar carry that special taste of Chinese Oolong tea. This is another beautiful recipe from the Japanese baker 松本洋一. The original recipe is without rye flour, as I love my bread to have a crisp crust, I added rye flour. Another thing is I don't have natural yeast, I substituted it with lower quantity of instant dry yeast.

The lazy me didn't finely chopped the Oolong tea leaves and you can see bit and pieces of tea leaves all over the bread texture, anyway the tea leaves wouldn't stack between your teeth when you chew the bread, I ate the bread without realize there is tea leaves. What can I say about the aroma of this bread...is simply lovely!

I find my kitchenAid really do a good job in mixing the bread dough. Of course, my hands still place an important part in "feeling" the dough.

Use a sharp knife and slash an X on the loaf.

ToTT, a kitchen wonderland, you can get a lot of baking and cooking stuff there including professional tableware. I was so happy to see they sell the proofing basket with different sizes and colour, if you don't like the plastic one, get a traditional ratten one :)

It was so easy to dislodge the bread dough from the basket, simply place a piece of baking paper over the basket and flip the basket, the dough just fall out "unhurt" ^_^

                           Address for ToTT: 896 Dunearn Road 01-01A, Singapore 589472

Recipe for 65C tangzhong please refer to here.

Recipe adapted from 松本洋一 with changes

Ingredients:
250g bread flour
100g rye flour
15g natural yeast (I substitute with 5g of instant dry yeast)
5g sugar
4g salt
100g tangzhong
140g Oolong tea brewed (I used 80g as 100g tangzhong is added)
5g Oolong tea leaves, finely chopped
some bread flour to spread on the mould

Step:

1. Place bread flour, sugar, salt and Oolong tea leaves in mixing bowl. Make a whole in the middle and add yeast, tangzhong. Mix the mixture with electric mixer and gradually add the Oolong tea.

2. When the mixture come together as rough dough, increase the mixer speed to medium, mix until the dough is smooth and form elastic film.

3. Place in a grease bowl, spray with water and cover the dough. Let it proof until double in size. 

4. Punch down the dough to release air. Roll into round shape and cover with wet clean kitchen towel, let it rest for 30 mins.

5. Spread bread flour on the bread mould. Place the dough in it. Let it proof for another 60 mins. 

6. Transfer the dough to the baking tray, slash the dough with an X and spread water on the dough.

7. Preheat oven to 200C, bake for 25 mins or until loaf turn golden brown.