Sweet Sausage Bread (Asian Style)

Asian style bread is a sweeter, softer, more puffier type of bread in comparison to the bread we normally get in Australian supermarkets. I think it has something to do with the amount of milk and butter that gets added that gives its texture. There are many types of Asian style sweet bread and you can normally see a few shops in any china town selling red bean, tuna, chicken and our favourite, sausage.


The sausage bread ("Bao" in chinese means bread) is basically just a frankfrut in a bread. Like a hotdog but sweet. There are many dough recipes on the net and for my inspiration, I got the details from Warm and Sweet Home. I modified it a bit by using evaporated milk instead of normal milk and it turned out more similar to the ones we can buy in the asian bakeries.

I used a kitchenaid for mixing the dough. For anyone who likes to cook and bake, its a very good investment. Saves you time at the bench kneading and really helped a beginner like me because I always find dough kneading to be really tricky. A kitchenaid is especially handy for asian sweet bread because the dough is wetter and stickier. 

Ingredients

• 250g High Protein Flour
• 4g Yeast
• 20g Sugar
• 182g Evaporated Milk
• 25g Butter

Method

1. Mix ingredients together until it is smooth and satiny (Speed 2 of Kitchenaid)
2. Oil bowl with olive oil and cover dough for about 45-60 minutes (until it is 2-3 times bigger)
3. Punch out air
4. Divide Dough into 6 portions and leave it for 15 minutes
5. Roll individual dough portions into a long 'log' shape
6. To add the sausage, wrap the dough around the sausage over about 3 turns or more
7. Cover and leave dough to rise again for 45-60 minutes
8. Brush with evaporated milk or egg 
9. Bake for 180 degrees celcius (or 160 in a fan-forced oven) for 12-15 minutes

There is another method of making the dough using a 'starter' then mixing in the remaining 'main dough' ingredients (dough and sponge method). This makes it fluffier and has more flavour. Jo's Deli Bakery has a bit on tips about this. I think the next time I try it will be using the dough and sponge method, lets see how it goes.