Instead of the usual "incorporate-all-at-once" method, I tried a different technique called 'tangzhong starter' 湯種製作 or water roux. Water and bread flour are combined and heated, before cooling and incorporating with the other dough ingredients. In the presence of water and heat, the flour grains absorb the liquid which causes them to burst, resulting in the release of starch. The intermolecular bonds of starch (C6H10O5)n are broken down which allows the hydrogen bonding sites to engage with more water. This is called 'starch gelatinization', and occurs in, for example, the making of custard and roux sauces e.g. the cheese sauce in lasagne. Basically it's a thickening agent that traps moisture.
This process causes bread to become softer and more elastic, keeps bread moist for longer, and so prolongs freshness. Though I suppose 'prolonging freshness', especially when concerning bread, is pretty alien to the people of HK. When my Dad was there, he bought egg tarts from a bakery in the evening. This is quite unusual by HK-standards, people commented by saying,"邊好食ga?!" Translation: "How can you eat that?!" Meaning that egg tarts are usually baked in the morning, so they aren't fresh to eat later in the day. They weren't warm, but they still tasted good. Funny thing, culture.
[Mini Red Bean Buns, perhaps using black sesame seeds would have looked nicer.]
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