Ingredients #

Dough

• 900 g buns and rolls dough¹
• 1 egg for egg wash
• sesame seeds

Shape #

This recipe is scaled for the New England Hot Dog Bun Pan from King Arthur Flour, which has grooves for 10 buns. 90g is a good baseline weight. If you want a taller, lobster-roll style roll, then increase the dough weight.

Watch this Bahn Mi shaping video from Aimee’s Cooking. Her technique is adapted below. It’s a great way to knock out any air bubbles and build tension for a good oven spring.

Grease hot dog pan well with vegetable/spray oil.

Divide dough => Punch down dough and dump/scrape onto greased counter, and pat down. Use bench knife to cut 10 pieces that weigh 90g each. Keep dough covered with plastic wrap or spritz with water bottle, to avoid the dough drying out and a skin forming.

Roll out with rolling pin => grease counter and rolling pin². Pat dough into rectangle shape and use rolling pin to roll it out, ensuring the bottom is rolled very thin. The bottom should be 5"-6" wide and closest to you.

Roll in with your hands => Use your thumbs and pointer fingers, on each side of the top point, to roll towards the bottom. Switch between rolling towards you a little bit and pushing back to build tension. Watch the YouTube video linked above, as this is hard to explain. When the dough is rolled all the way to the bottom, it should feel bouncy and spring-loaded. Flip upside down and pinch the bottom seam closed from end-to-end, like a very wide dumpling. Flip right side up. Use both hands to push in sides to remove the taper, then gently pull outward from the center. This should change the shape from a bahn mi (tapered ends, chonky center) into a uniform tube, or close to it. Repeat for the rest, re-greasing the counter every time. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy and passing the poke test³, 1-2 hours depending on room temperature.

Bake #

Set oven to 425°F. Beat 1 egg with a splash of milk or water until well-combined. Gently brush egg wash onto buns. It’s like painting; you don’t want too much paint on the brush. Put pan in oven and lower temperature to 375°F. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate pan 180°. Bake for 8-12 more minutes, keeping an eye on the color towards the end. It’s worth peeking at the bottoms; if they’re getting over-done, slide a sheet pan or cookie sheet underneath the hot dog pan. Move to cooling rack when rolls are a nice golden-brown color.

Notes #

1. Dough Weight => buns and rolls dough yields 1480g, more than is needed here. I like to shape a couple hoagie rolls, hamburger buns, or runzas with the extra dough.
2. Rolling Pins => small ones work best, like the kind for dumplings. They are cheap at Asian grocery stores
3. Poke Test => imprint the dough with your finger. If it doesn’t spring back all the way, the dough has passed the poke test and is ready to be baked.