Homemade Blueberry Bagels 貝果初體驗 |

Bagels are a part of my adultolescent memory growing up in Long Island, New York. When we first moved there, everything was so foreign, but yet, so many things were the same and by that I mean, the food, our life style, the way my mother tried to raised me and my sister. We didn’t embrace the American culture immediately but if there was one thing that my mother couldn’t resist, it was a toasted bagel. I’ve never had it until we moved to Long Island, well, I’ve not had a lot of things until we moved to the U.S… Anyway, I have fond memories of going to the bagel shop with my mother on Saturday mornings, picking up a dozen bagels, and eat one immediately after we get home – slightly toasted with cream cheese. That was a match made in bakery heaven. Maybe because they’re the first bagels I’ve ever had, or maybe because New York bagels are simply the best, the bar for bagels has been set high. In Asia, good bagels are hard to come by. They’re just not quite right, often too soft.

我十一歲的時候,跟著母親移民去紐約長島. 在一個安靜的小鎮開始我們的移民生活. 長島的居民有很多是猶太裔或後代. 那是我第一次吃到貝果. 當時我並不知道,但是離開了長島以及東岸之後,我才知道紐約的貝果真是世界第一. 當然我也碰過來自加拿大魁貝克的朋友,每次都要硬凹說他們的貝果才世界第一. 我心中的OS 都是”那是因為你們沒吃過紐約的“. 回到亞洲之後,都覺得在這邊吃到的不夠地道,大部分都是太軟,或口感以及嚼勁不好. 也可能期待太高,也沒在家裡做過. 直到家裡倆個小鬼愛上超市的冷凍貝果. 我想,既使老媽做不出紐約口味的,怎麼做,都應該比冷凍的好吧？看了很多youtube 影片以及看了很多食譜之後,這是我的貝果初體驗. And also the standard for bagels are high, it is not something that I try to bake at home. That is, of course, changed after I have kids. Max and Ashley recently fell in love with the frozen ones that we buy downstairs at the supermarket. They’re frozen and nothing special. So I thought I’d give it a try at home. The first try didn’t go so well, and I’ll spare you the details, but the second try came out much better.

First, Mix 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon of instant bread yeast, 1 tablespoon of malt syrup (I used honey) and 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt Let that sit for five minute

在一杯又兩大匙的溫水裡,加入一茶匙麵包酵母,一湯匙麥芽糖漿(我用了蜂蜜),以及一又二分之一茶匙的鹽巴. 靜候五分鐘. Prep the food processor and put the kneading hook on. Pour in 3 1/2 cups of bread flour. Make a well in the bottom of the flour, then pour in the yeast/water mix, and then start mixing the two. Turn on low speed on the food processor, until you get a nice, not too stiff, not too sticky dough. If it’s too sticky, add more flour. If it’s too stiff, add more water. The total kneading time was about 8 to 10 minutes.

在食物攪拌器中,加入三杯半的麵包麵粉（高筋麵粉）,再加入已經發泡泡的酵母水. 開始用食物攪拌器打. 基本上,如果太溼,太黏,加麵粉,如果太乾,加水. 揉到一個適中的手感. 揉大約8-10分鐘.

I should have added the blueberries but I forgot. So after I waited for it to rise for 2 hours, I added 1 cup of blueberries. That turned out to be a disaster, because the juices from the blueberries came out, and the whole dough became very wet. I added another 1 coup of flour to get to the consistency that I liked and then waited for it to rise. After 1 hour, it did pretty well.

本來想做一個藍莓貝果,那就應該這時加入,但是我等了它發之後再加. 整個麵團變成又黏又溼. 本來想說,這個麵團應該毀了, 不過加入了一杯的麵粉之後就好了. 一個鐘頭之後,發成這樣.

After two hours, it had ballooned to this 兩個小時之後,更發成這樣.

It was time to shape the bagel. I took it out and cut it to 8 pieces. There are two ways that you can make the bagel. One is to make a ball and then use your thumb and finger to poke a hole in the middle to shape it like a bagel. The second way is to roll out the dough and try to make a circle with it.

這時,我把麵團拿出來,把它切成八塊. 該是把麵團揉成貝果形狀. 有兩種方法,一種是把麵團揉成圓形,然後在中間挖一個洞. 另外一種就像是以下的,把麵團揉成條狀型,然後兩端弄成一個圈圈. 再是過幾次之後,我發現第一種方式,比較適合我們這種業餘的師父.

I tried both and I have to say it is easier, as an amateur, to use the poke the hole method. Because by using the other method, the bagels came out kind of ugly. Anyway, shape the bagels and then place them on a slightly oiled baking sheet and wait for it to rise again. It is very important to keep the baking sheet slightly oil because if you don’t, then you risk deflating the nicely rises bagels after resting when you try to remove them from the tray into the boiling water which is the step and I found out the hard way after the first try. So, after 30 minutes, they look like this.

貝果形成之後,把它放在一個蠟紙上面,記得蠟紙要上油,因為等下用水滾的話,就不會弄壞形狀. 再讓貝果發個三十分鐘.

I probably should have just go ahead with the next step but I waited another hour and they rise too much and became too puffy. Proceed, and add a teaspoon of baking powder to a huge pot of water and bring it to boil. Some recipe calls for adding malt syrup/honey to the water but I decided not to, because some people say it doesn’t make that much difference. When you’re waiting for water to boil, preheat the oven to 240 degree (Celsius)

在一鍋熱水中,加入一茶匙的發粉 (baking powder). 接著,把貝果放進去滾,一邊滾個一分鐘. 另外,烤箱應該預備熱到240 度攝氏.

Each side is boiled 1 minute and then remove from pot to put on a paper towel to absorb excess water. 滾完之後,變成這樣. 看起來醜醜的,但是放進烤箱之後,就好看多了.

It looks ugly but I promise they look better after they come out of the oven. Put two layers of baking sheet on the oven tray (to prevent burn on the bottom) and put the bagels inside the oven. Set your timer to 8 minutes. 放進烤箱前,記得下面墊兩張蠟紙,這樣底部不會太焦.

The kitchen is starting to smell so good already. After 8 minute is up, open the oven, and turn the tray the other way. Bake for 10 more minutes.

烤了八分鐘之後,我打開烤箱,把貝果們調換位置,這樣應該烤比較均勻. 調換之後,關上再烤十分鐘

Not bad right? This batch came out pretty good. The color looked good and the consistency not too chewy. Next time, I would cut down on the time I let it rise so that it’s thinner, not too puffy and so maybe a little bit more chewy when you bite into it. The kids loved it with butter or peanut butter and I loved it, slightly toasted with cream cheese (not pictured).