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Vietnamese Baguettes

An authentic Vietnamese baguette used to make Banh Mi. Light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Recipe from Vietnamese by Uyen Luu.
Servings: 6 baguettes

Ingredients

Starter (make the night before)

  • 150 grams strong white bread flour (you want a 11-13 percent protein content)
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 grams instant yeast
  • 90 ml cold water.

Dough

  • 300 grams strong white bread flour
  • ½ teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon seal salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 egg plus enough cold water to make up a scant 1 cup or 190g in total mixed.

Instructions

Part One: Make The Starter

  • The night before, make your starter. Mix together the ingredients, then knead for about 2-minutes. Seal in an airtight container or bag for 8-10 hours at room temprature or 24 hours in the fridge. If it has been in the fridge, leave at room temprature for at least an hour before you want to use it.

Part Two: Combine the Ingredients

  • Place the starter and all the bread ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. Fit the dough hook and knead on the lowest setting for 15 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, knead by hand and combine until you get a very smooth and elastic dough. It should still be wet and sticky, so try to only use a little flour for dusting.
  • Oil the bowl lightly, lay the dough inside, cover and place into a cold oven with 300 ml of boiling water (in a seperate bowl) for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Part Three: Shaping

  • If you don't have a baguette tray, place a clean dish towel on a baking tray, and lightly dust it with flour. Make a space for each baguette by marking three rows of two 2.5cm wide spaces on the towel, with at least 5cm in between each baguette.
  • After 75 minutes, the dough should have risen and at least doubled in size. Lightly dust a clean surface and push the dough out into a square shape with your hands. Fold in all the corners until you have a ball and keep shaping the dough into a round ball. Lay the folds at the bottom. Repeat twice.
  • Divide the dough into two and then each piece into three, making six balls.
  • Take each ball and stretch it out into a square, folding in the corners, then shape into a ball. Rest on the dish towel tray for 5 minutes.
  • After 5 minutes, repeat the above step and rest again for 5 minutes.
  • Lightly dust a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a pear shape, small at the top and fat at the bottom. Then roll from the top down firmly with three fingers from each hand; and continue to roll the dough into a long baguette shape with pointy ends.
  • Cover the shaped baguettes with a clean dish towel. Place in the swtiched OFF oven with two mugs filled witg boiling water. Let them proof for 60 minutes until doubled in size.

Part Four: Baking

  • Take a baking rack that fits the oven, spray with baking spray or line with baking paper. Remove the baguettes from the oven and gently place them on rhe prepared baking tray. They will be soft and pillowy.
  • Preheat the oven to 260°C.
  • Spray them evenly with water. With a sharp knife or bread lame, slit the baguette lengthways at a 45 degree angle, 5mm deep all the way.
  • Turn the oven temprature down to 230°C. Fill a seperate baking tray with 1 cup of boiling water and place at the bottom of the oven. Immediately put the baguettes in the oven and bake for 18 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating