Agar-Agar strips Bread - 寒天吐司

When I first browsed through this recipe, it caught my attention and my curiosity. What?? Agar- agar strips bread? It sparked off my momentum so without wasting much time, I gathered all the ingredients and decided to give it a go.

The bread turned out to be look like normal bread.  The interesting part is,  it gives a chewy bite because of the small bits of the agar-agar strips within the dough.

Recipe: Adapted from Carol- ( "322 Original Flavour")

Ingredients: (20 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm baking mould)

6 g agar-agar strips
250 g high protein flour
30 g wholemeal flour
15 g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon  instant dry yeast
15 g olive oil
190 c.c cold water  (keep 30 c.c. aside, gradually add in when the rough dough is formed.  If the dough is too wet, do not need to add all).

Method:

1)  Soak agar-agar strips in cold  water for 1 hour.
2)  Drain and cut into 0.5 cm in length.
3)  Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, beat until (or knead) a non sticky dough is formed. (please keep 30 c.c water when  the dough is formed then  gradually add in ).
4)  Continue beating till a elastic and smooth dough has achieved. Roll round and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and  ferment for 60 minutes till double in size.
5)  Punch out air and scale dough into 2 equal portions.  Roll round and cover with damp cloth or clingwrap for 15 minutes.
6) With the help of rolling pin, flatten the dough into a 20 cm x 30 cm rectangle.
7) . Fold both left and right sides of the dough inwards, so that they meet at the middle. Flatten again.
8) Roll up the dough from the bottom like a Swiss roll. Place dough in a lightly grease baking mould,, seam face down,   spray water on the surface of the dough.  Leave to proof  for 60 - 70 minutes.
9)  When the dough has risen to 90% of the height of the baking mould.  Cover the lid. Turn on oven to 210 deg C for 15 minutes.
10)  Bake in the preheated oven for 38 to 40 minutes.
11)  Take out from the oven and immediately remove the bread from the mould, and leave it to cool on the wire rack.