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Ooh, those light, crispy baguettes. Though I mostly buy mine from artisanal bakeries in Northern California, I realize that many people aren't that lucky. Here's some advice and a recipe given on May 2, 2004.

Question 1:

Dear Andrea

The first time I tasted a Banh Mi along Ham Nghi Street in HCMC, I fell in love with it. Now that I am back in Singapore, I would like to know how to make it.

Was wondering if you can possibly assist me? I found your banh mi fillings recipe. However, I like the way the Vietnamese baguette is made. It certainly tastes quite different from the ones I had in Singapore. Do you happen to have a recipe for that?

Very much appreciate your reply and help. Thanks!

Response 1:

Among all the Asian groups, the Vietnamese make the best baguette -- though the Japanese team did win first place at the 2002 bread baking world cup competition (Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie). Vietnamese baguettes contain rice flour. That's why they're so light, and you have to eat them the day you buy them or they'll just dry up. I don't find it necessary to make baguettes at home because here in California where I live, we have many options for good French baguette.

But, you're in Singapore and I feel your pain. Here's a recipe you may try from Corinne Trang's Authentic Vietnamese Cooking (1999, Simon & Schuster). I've never tried this so you'll have to be the Viet World Kitchen tester! Please let me know about how it turns out.

Before you dive into the recipe, there are a couple of tools you need for this recipe: an electric mixer with a dough hook and a baking stone. If you don't have a mixer, you'll have to go at it by hand, which isn't hard, just a bit of a workout. As for the baking stone, what we call "unglazed quarry tiles" in the U.S. (tiles made from clay) are a great and cheap substitute; about 6 of them will do. If you don't have access to them, take a metal baking sheet and invert onto your oven rack. Preheat the oven with the inverted rack in place. The key here is to provide a hot surface on which the bread dough will get a fast and hot blast once you put it into the oven. That's the lift/bounce that gives it the airy insides.

Have fun!

Andrea

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From Corinne Trang's Authentic Vietnamese Cooking (1999, Simon & Schuster):

Banh Mi
Saigon Baguette

The key to the special flavor of these loaves is in combining rice flour with wheat flour for the dough. As is traditional, these baguettes should be slit across the top three times on the diagonal or once lengthwise with a clean, sharp razor blade. (This is what makes the "open eye" design on each loaf.) Although similar in color and texture, Saigon baguette is shorter and wider than its French counterpart.

Makes 2 loaves

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Place the yeast, 1 cup lukewarm water, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook. Sift together the all-purpose flour, rice flour, and salt in a separate bowl.

2. Starting the mixer at the lowest speed, add the butter to the yeast, then gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until well combined, about 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating the dough until it is smooth and comes away from the sides of the mixing bowl easily. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise (double in volume), 45 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Punch down the dough and knead it for 2 minutes. Separate into 2 portions and shape each into an 8-inch long baguette. (The dough may be sticky and hard to handle at this point. Do not overwork it, just gently shape it.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise a second time, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, place a baking stone on a rack set in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F. [Preheat for a good 30 minutes! Andrea]

4. With a sharp knife blade or a clean razor blade, make 1 slit lengthwise or three diagonal slits along the top of each baguette. With the help of a wooden pastry paddle, carefully slide 2 baguettes onto the baking stone and bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. To test for doneness, tap the underside of the loaf. If it sounds hollow and the exterior is crisp, then it is done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before handling.

Note: A perfect substitute, if you do not feel like baking, is a traditional French baguette.

Question 2:

Dear Andrea,

Thanks very much for your tips. My friend and I had tried Corinne Trang’s recipe – unfortunately we failed to create the Vietnamese baguette twice using her recipe. Our 1st attempt created a very hard pale cream coloured baguette. We thought we got the baking method wrong. So we were very precise during our second attempt. However, our 2nd baguette created a partially uncooked yet dense bread with tight airholes. Really have no idea what went wrong.

The Vietnamese baguette does taste different from the ones sold here locally. However, most of the local baguettes are quite dense and chewy – and somehow or rather, they do not seem to go well with the banh mi fillings.

We are at a loss – and would truly appreciate any valuable advice from you. In the meantime, we will try again until we get it right.

Response 2:

Oh, I thought we had this one. I'm sorry that you've tried twice and were disappointed. Did you try the recipe in the U.S. or in Asia? I'm asking because she developed her recipes here in the states.

Ingredients and Humidity
Ingredients are going to differ between localities. For example the wheat flour she calls for, "all-purpose", has relatively low wheat gluten so the bread is not tremendously chewy. Then there are other factors such as humidity. If your dough was too wet (and I noticed that her dough may be wet per her description), then an extra humid environment will make it wetter and harder to rise and bake properly.

Hot Oven
Sounds like on your second run through, the dough failed to rise in the oven. Did you preheat the oven? I just noticed that she didn't articulate that the oven needs to preheat for a good 30 minutes. She should have told you to do so, and that's sloppy on her part. (I'm going to add that to her instructions.) To bake bread well, you need a hot environment to get the yeast working properly.

Butter
The butter is an interesting addition that I didn't expect. That would introduce a richness that's uncommon in baguette (normally made with flour, water, salt and yeast). You know, I'd try the recipe without butter. On the other hand, pizza dough normally has olive oil and it bakes up nice and crisp. I just have an odd feeling about the butter here. It's your call.

Leavening Agent
You could try to add a little baking powder or soda to the dough to ensure that it rises. Sometimes professional bread bakers will save some old dough and add it to the new dough. This is called a "levain" approach and yield a nice crumb to the bread. As a measure of insurance, try 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of a leavening agent, in addition to the yeast.

If it's any consolation, I've had my fair share of bread failures. Baguette is one of the hardest. If you have patience, try again and fool around with it.

Let me know how it turns out if you do...

Andrea

Follow-up information: (8/23/04)

Hi Andrea,

Thought I get back to you re: Corrine Trang’s baguette recipe. I spoke with 3 professional bakers in Singapore. All said that her proportion of rice flour is too much. The ideal proportion of rice flour to wheat flour is 10 – 20% and not 50% as recommended by Corrine. At 50%, it becomes more of a rice cake than a baguette.