Making Bagels

Every year in Mexico, more and more food products are becoming available to help keep the cravings for “a taste of home” at bay. But there are some things that just haven’t shown up yet - Thai food, good dill pickles, and bagels to name a few. There’s not much I can do about the pickles except schlepp them down from the US. Good Thai food is just something that we won’t be getting in Mexico for some time, I think. But I’m happy to say that I now can make my own bagels, thanks to Colin on Mamabird who passed this recipe along.

If you already know how to make bread, then it’s not too difficult to add this recipe to your repetoire. To make about a dozen bagels, mix the following ingredients in a bowl:

3 cups flour
1 cup plus a couple tablespoons hot water (wetter dough makes for a crispier crust, but is more annoying to knead),
Couple tablespoons of gluten if you have it (I don‘t have this so I just omit this and it‘s fine.)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1-2 teaspoons Mexican instant dry yeast (more yeast = lighter bagels).

Knead the dough 5 to 10 minutes on a floured surface. Then let the dough rest in a warm place for 20-30 mins. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Pull off a piece of dough, roll into a snake shape and then form into a loop, add a dab of water where the ends overlap and press together.

When the water is boiling, drop the bagels in, cooking just a few at a time. At first they sink, but then rise to the surface. Boil 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the water and place on a greased baking sheet that has cornmeal sprinkled on it. (A little hint, I first pull them out of the water and put them on a plate with some paper toweling so they are not sopping wet when I put them on the cookie sheet.)

Brush a little beaten egg white over the top of the bagels to help them brown. You can jazz up your bagels by sprinkling some mix of fresh diced onion, fresh minced garlic, dried onion, grated cheese, Italian herb mix, sesame seeds, or whatever appeals to you over the top. Or you can leave them plain.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown. My oven is not very constant or hot, so I can’t really tell how long they would cook in a good oven that has temperature control, so keep an eye on them when you are cooking them in your oven for the first time. I tend to very slightly under-cook so that the inside is still a tad doughy, then cut in half and toast.

They are so yummy and have a great texture. Philadelphia cream cheese is available everywhere in Mexico and costs around 17 pesos for an 8 oz bar ($1.40 USD?) so you won’t go broke enjoying your taste of home. Now if only I could find some lox.