Bread is to Europeans what rice is to Thais, eaten at almost every meal. Yet few people know how the different types of bread differ, or why some are soft and others hard. This article has the answers.
Bread appears in many of the world's cuisines. Its main ingredients are wheat flour mixed with water and yeast or baking powder. Other ingredients are added to vary the color, aroma and flavor depending on the type of bread. Everything is then mixed together and baked.
Types of Bread
Bread is a baked product made from wheat flour, sugar, fat, salt, liquid and various additives. It can be divided into two broad categories: quick bread, which is leavened with baking powder or baking soda, such as muffins and pancakes; and yeast bread, which is leavened with yeast, such as all kinds of bread, steamed buns and pizza. Based on the amount of sugar and fat in the recipe, bread can be divided into 4 main types:
1. Hard Bread
A high-protein bread that withstands fermentation, resting and proofing of the dough. It contains 0–2% sugar and 0–3% fat. It is shaped into long or short round logs, with a fairly firm crust and crumb. Examples include French bread, breadsticks and Vienna bread. When shaped into round buns, it is called a hard roll.
2. Loaf Bread
A bread with 4–10% sugar and 3–6% fat. Its crust and crumb are softer than hard bread (the softness depends on the type of flour used). It is baked in long, narrow pans that keep the shape and volume of the dough even, giving a domed or square loaf. This category covers plain breads commonly used for sandwiches, such as pullman loaves, sandwich bread, domed-top loaves and bran bread.
3. Soft Roll (Semi-Sweet Bread)
Made with medium-protein flour, with 10–15% sugar and 6–12% fat. It is softer than a pullman loaf and slightly sweet, and is popular for filled breads such as soft buns, raisin bread, pork floss buns and chicken buns.
4. Sweet Dough
A medium-protein bread that uses the most yeast. It is similar to a soft roll but sweeter, with 16–22% sugar and 12–24% fat. It often includes ingredients that pair well with sweetness, such as dried fruit, ground nuts and cinnamon. It is the bread Thais love most because of its richer flavor, as it uses more sugar, milk, fat and eggs than other breads. A single sweet dough recipe can be shaped in countless ways and filled with all kinds of fillings for extra flavor. These breads are usually named after their filling, such as coconut bread, cinnamon bread and sangkaya (Thai custard) bread.
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