Sesame Scallion Rolls (v)

Hey Hudson Valley, come out Sunday to the Basilica Farm & Flea Festival in Hudson! I’ll be selling a special menu of treats along with other Asian-diaspora vendors curated by Enoki — I'll have black sesame twix with soy sauce caramel, málà peanut butter cookies, brownies with Chinese sesame paste swirl, shiitake chocolate cookies, and sesame scallion rolls, whose recipe I’m sharing below. I’m only there Sunday, so come find me outside between the main building and the back gallery!

I meant to have a long post for you this weekend about how to bake with sunflowers today, but sickness and market prep intervened, and so instead I’m sharing this recipe for fluffy sesame scallion rolls (which I’m making about 100 of for this weekend). Imagine if a scallion pancake puffed up like a cinnamon roll — they’re fluffy and soft, but intensely savory due to the sesame oil and seeds and a bit of MSG. Usually my recipes are only for paid subscribers, so if you like this, consider upgrading!

I’ve made these rolls using 100% white bread flour and 100% high extraction flour (which is partially sifted so that a lot of the bran is removed but germ remains intact). The white rolls are fluffier and bigger, and the high-x rolls are chewier and slightly more flavorful — Anthony prefers the first and I prefer the second. The recipe I went with for the market, and which I’m sharing with you, combines the two, for slightly more fluff but still plenty of flavor.

For bread nerds, this dough is 73% hydration (high hydration because we’re using a tangzhong roux) and 23% fat (recommended by Sarah Owens in her most recent Bake the Pantry series). It uses instant yeast, but in future iterations I’m planning to go with a mix of sourdough starter and yeast.

Eat these as-is or with a dipping sauce — I love a little crunchy garlic chili oil mixed with black vinegar.

Sesame Scallion Rolls (v)

Yield: ~12-14 rolls

Ingredients

For tangzhong roux

• 50 grams white bread flour

• 150 grams soy milk

For dough

• 290 grams soy milk

• 1 tablespoon instant yeast

• 40 grams wildflower honey or agave syrup

• 350 grams high extraction flour (I used Farmer Ground)

• 200 grams white bread flour (I used King Arthur)

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 120 grams neutral oil (e.g. avocado oil)

• 20 grams sesame oil

For brushing between layers

• ~3 tablespoons sesame oil

• 1 bunch scallions, finely chopped

• ¼ cup (35 grams) sesame seeds, toasted

• ~¼ teaspoon MSG

• Additional sesame oil and sesame seeds for sprinkling on top

Method

1. Make the tangzhong: In a small pot, combine 50 grams bread flour and 150 grams soy milk. Whisk continuously over medium heat until the mixture thickens into a kind of paste (you can see the bottom of the pot when you scrape the mixture away from it).

2. Add the tangzhong into the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk in the additional soy milk. This should cool it down so that it feels warm but not hot to touch. Whisk in the yeast and honey, then add the two flours and salt.

3. Knead the dough in the stand mixer for about 10-12 minutes (or 15 minutes by hand). It should develop a lot of gluten during this time and be quite stretchy.

4. Add the neutral oil and sesame oil in increments, squeezing in with your hands and then kneading some more with the mixer. It might seem like it’s not getting absorbed, but keep going little by little and eventually it will be a smooth ball.

5. Move the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a plate or bowl cover. You can either cold retard the dough in the fridge overnight or let it rise at warm room temperature for about (~90 minutes to 2 hours). The dough should become puffy and at least 1.5 its original size.

6. Shape the rolls: Roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 20” x 12” and ½-inch thick. (If you don’t have that much space, you can halve the dough and roll it out into two rectangles.) Generously brush the surface with sesame oil, leaving a 1-inch margin at the top. Sprinkle the chopped scallions and sesame seeds evenly across it. Sprinkle with MSG. (See below for a visual example.)

7. Starting with the wide end closest to you, roll the dough up tightly. Leave the roll sitting seam-side down.

8. Use dental floss to cut the roll into 14 equal pieces (to be very precise, use a ruler and score the dough so you know where to cute).

9. Nestle the rolls into two parchment-lined baking trays (or high-sided sheet cake pans if you have them). Lightly cover with plastic, and leave to proof for about 2 hours in a warm place (I use my oven with the light on). They should be very puffy and have visible air bubbles.

10. Toward the end of proofing, preheat the oven to 375°F. (Don’t leave proofing buns in there!)

11. Use a squeeze bottle to drizzle sesame oil across all the buns. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

12. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned and a thermometer inserted into the center of the centermost roll reads 190°F.

13. Serve warm or at room temperature, with the dipping sauce described above if you want. Store loosely wrapped at room temperature for about 4-5 days. Freeze for longer storage — you can rewarm them by wrapping in aluminum foil and heating in the oven or by leaving unwrapped at room temperature overnight.