Since becoming vegan, finding edible bread in Korea has been a bit of a challenge. The bread that you find at Paris Baguette and Tour Les Jours all have either dairy milk or butter in them, so I never go there anymore. Also, the loaves at Sticky Fingers are far too expensive- 6000won for a tiny loaf! Although they are 100% organic, I don't have the kind of budget for that. The only easily accessible vegan bread that I have found is "wheat bread" at E-mart, but I don't find it very tasty and I'm sure its nutritional value is questionable. I also found vegan black bean bread at Costco (at least I think it's vegan), but I don't have a membership there.
SO, I have been on a mission to make some good whole wheat bread of my own. My first couple loaves were complete failures! haha. They were so dense and the crusts were as hard as rocks. They were also impossible to get out of the loaf pan that I was using. I was struggling with a couple factors:
1. The yeast was either inactive or I kept killing it with water that was too hot. 2. My loaf pan was too old and sucky.3. I couldn't figure out the correct temperature to use on my convection oven. 4. I was baking it for too long.
So I bought a new batch of yeast, learnt how to properly proof it, and then I bought a new loaf pan that is much smoother on the inside. And now, after reducing the oven temperature drastically and also shortening the baking time, my loaves come out much better. Every attempt is an improvement from the last! :) I wish I had photos of my first loaves to show you so that you could see how drastically my bread-baking skillz have improved. Anyway, here is a photo of my most recent loaf- the best results so far:
It's still not perfect. The crust is still slightly thicker than I would like, but the inside is not bad! Soft and chewy. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for baking my own bread, all without a breadmaker or mixer! 100% handmade and filled with love. :) Kneading the dough is a good arm workout, and a lot of fun too. I feel like a pilgrim settler, making everything from scratch. I love it. It also reminds me of my mum when we lived in Ghana, because she would bake bread from scratch too. I remember her leaving the dough outside so that it could rise under the hot sun.
Anyway, I am pretty thrilled that I can eat freshly baked bread again. And I can have regular sandwiches! Infact, here's a pic of my Tuna-free Tuna Salad Sandwich that I made. YUMMMY.
