Foochow Bagel/ Kompia Begal

Foochow / Kompia comes under bagel variety and famous street food in SIBU - Malaysia.  This different buns are very crusty outer and not much chewy inside as begal.  Most of  Foochow buns are made plain or topped with sesame seeds. Now a days Sibu people loves to have it has pork sandwich or any other meat filling.

   Legend has it that a Chinese general named JiGuang, looking to feed his soldiers in Fujian province with something quick to make and easy to carry into battle, commissioned these buns to be made. There is a hole in the middle of these buns so that they can be strung together and worn around the neck. When a soldier gets hungry, he can just pull one off and eat on the run!

In honor of the general, the buns were named “Guang Ping” (or “Kompia” in the Foochow dialect). Many Foochows later came to settle in the Sibu area of Sarawak, bringing along some of their favorite foods like these kompia buns. This is my 12th recipe for Bake-a-thon event.

 2 ¼ cups of all purpose flour + ¼ cup more flourfor kneading and rolling

 1 cup of lukewarm water (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit) + ¼ cup of room temperature water for spraying

 1 tsp. of active dry yeast

 2 tsps. of salt

 1 tbsp. of sugar

 Steam bath (hot water in a roasting pan)

Method:

1. Pour lukewarm water into a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir in yeast and let stand for 15 minutes.

2. Add half of the flour to yeast mixture and mix by hand for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add remaining flour, salt and sugar. Continue to mix for 3 minutes. The dough will be little stiff at this point. 

4. If you are using stand mixer, Knead dough with dough hook for 7 - 10 minutes or if you are using your hand, Clean your working surface ( kitchen counter top) before placing the dough on it. Knead dough until smooth, about 10 minutes, adding as little flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to your hands. 

5. Shape the kneaded dough into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside for dough to double in size. It will take 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or overnight in a fridge.

6. After 3 hours, take it out of the mixing bowl and cut the dough into 4 quarters.  Flour your working surface and roll one of the quarter dough into a six inch cylinder. Divide and cut into 3 balls.

10. Meanwhile, Set your broiler at 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a heavy baking pan on the top rack closest to the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Take out the hot pan and spray the hot pan with a little bit of room temperature water. Then, arrange the discs about 1 inch apart on the pan.  ( Since I used pizza stone I didn't follow this step).

11.  Spray discs with a little bit of room temperature water. Place the pan / pizza stone back under the broiler for 1 minute to puff up the bagels. Then, lower the oven temperature to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Move the pan with the bagels from the top rack of the oven to the middle rack.

12. Create a steam bath by placing a roasting pan with 1 inch of  boiling water on the lower rack.

13. Continue baking for 12 to 14 minutes until bagels are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  During baking do not open the oven for 10 minutes, after that every minutes they tend to burn quickly towards the end.

14. Remove baking pan from oven and and place bagels on a cooling rack. Let cool before serving. Using a serrated knife, Cut a slit in the bagels and stuffed them with your option of filling but traditionally it was served salami Filling.