I was honored to be invited to do a demonstration on how to make bo law bao last weekend in Diamond Bar Library. It was my wildest dream that I would be sharing my passion in baking in a county library. I met many enthusiastic friends who liked the demonstration and asked a lot of questions.
One of the comments from the audience after tasting the fresh bao," It is better than the local bakeries."
Another one said," The crust is crunchy and the bread is soft. Just like the one we used to have in Hong Kong."
I'd like to thank the teen services librarian Joshua Murray for inviting me and organising the event. Many thanks to my friends Sandy and Lawrance Lau for taking these nice pictures. It would not be possible without all your help and support.
awesome! i loved all the photography and what a great turn out!
ReplyDeleteWow, you are awesome person and you introduced one of the most famous food Bo Law PAO from Hong Kong in public libray.
ReplyDeletePat
It was definitely helpful to see a live demonstration and such an effortless baking approach. You made it look simple so I tried to duplicate it at home today.
ReplyDeleteI followed the recipe yet could not incoperate all the liquid in the dough. I did manage to have a bubble gum texture but cant form a ball so ended up adding extra 1/2 c of flour. As a result, the bread was not as moist and fine. What went wrong?
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming to the demonstration. I had the same scenario when I did it the very first time. There may be a few possibilities. How did you measure the ingredients ? Weighing them out on a scale is the best way to ensure the right amount. Different brand of flour also have different properties. Sometimes even the same brand and type of flour will behave differently as well due to different harvest. But the main goal is to have a tacky dough instead of a sticky or dry one. Feel free to adjust the amount of flour or water, a tablespoon at a time. Do not give up yet. Some of my students have the same problem but after a few more times, they all have wonderful results.
Thank you for a prompt reply. I'll use my scale next time. My dough took longer to proof and I waited till it doubled the size . However, the bake bread was not a ball shape rather a flat raised disk. Was this also related to higher liquid content of the dough?
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds exactly like what I had the first time I made it (check out the "grand opening" post). I called them "bo law cookies". Besides a wet dough, I suspect that the kneading may not be done well so the gluten that is needed to hold the air is not well developed. The shaping after the first rise is important as well. The rounding up of the dough during shaping creates a surface tension so the dough will expand upward instead of sideways. One last word, make sure the flour you use has at least 12% protein to provide enough gluten.
Hi Phoebe,
ReplyDeleteIs a scale required for measuring the ingredients?
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming to the demo. A scale is not a must but it will certainly make your life a lot easier. I know some people who do not own one also make good bread. But being accurate is very important in baking. Usually the first thing my students in the baking class to get is a scale. I would not trade anything with my scale. A good digital one costs around $20.