Tofu Bagel - Silken

Method

• Lightly drain the extra moisture from the tofu, and set it aside.
• Mound the bread flour in a bowl, and create a crater in the center.
• Place the sugar and yeast into the crater.
• Place the salt at the base of the mound.
• Microwave the tofu for about 1 minute and crumble it into the crater, and mix it with the yeast, sugar and flour.
• Now mix all the ingredients in the bowl together.
• Keep mixing until the dough pulls away from the bowl and no longer sticks to your hands.
• This will take about 10 minutes.
• Form the dough into a ball, and cover it with a wet tea towel.
• Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Heat some water in a large pot (I use a large frying pan).
• When the water comes to a boil, add in the honey.
• Divide the dough into equal parts, and form them into the bagel shape.
• Roll out a piece of dough into an ellipse, and fold into thirds lengthwise, first folding in one side, and then the other side over that.
• Now connect the ends so the dough makes a ring, making sure to thoroughly seal the seams together.
• Turn down the heat under the pot in Step 5 down so that the temperature of the water is just below boiling.
• The water should be still.
• Immerse the bagel in the water for 30 seconds (There is no need to turn the bagel over).
• Immediately put the bagel in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes.
• The recipe will yield about 3 bagels of this size.
• When we used some Kitanokaori brand flour we were given, the bagels turned out very yellow.
• They didn't rise very much, but they were very soft.
• The last tofu bagel I made in 2009 had a heart shaped hole.