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What is the function of TREHA® that won the heart of Chef Bae?
Chef Bae’s re-branded specialty, “Gold Cheesecake"
Chef Bae's future goals and initiatives to support Daegu City through local produce
Click here for this article in Korean.
In this blog, we touch on diverse topics about Japanese food cultures, practices together with the culinary secret, TREHA®, and its important role in the Japanese food industry. We hope our blog helps you obtain in-depth knowledge of the secrets and science behind Japanese cuisine, shared from our kitchen, to yours.
Chef BAE Jae-Hyun, the owner-chef of Le Bae Bakery, has been at the forefront of the Korean patisserie and bakery industry for over 30 years. After serving as head of product development for prominent confectionery companies, he founded Le Bae Bakery in 2001. As of July 2022, his operation expanded to six locations in Daegu, Korea. He has received numerous awards in Republic of Korea and globally, most notably the Chocolate Prize at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in 2017. Furthermore, Chef BAE is a superb business owner who was selected as a model taxpayer by the head of the East Daegu Tax Office.
In the summer of 2022, team TREHA® visited Le Bae Bakery's signature store in Daegu, Republic of Korea. We were honored to have this interview session with Chef BAE, a man of exceptional talent and passion for his profession.
Chef BAE's Award History:
2005 Silver Award in the Seoul International Bakery Contest,
2012 King Award in the 1st Daegu Gyeongsangbuk-do Professional Bakery contest,
2013 Participation Award in the 1st Korean Professional Bakery King Contest,
2013 Daegu Gyeongbuk Confectioner Award,
2016 Chocolate craft award in the Republic of Korea Small Business Skills Competition,
2017 Silver Award in the International Happiness Pastry Contest in Taiwan,
2017 Chocolate Prize, Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie (the World Pastry Cup)
Moisture retention is Chef Bae’s go-to functionality of TREHA®
Team TREHA®: How did you first learn about TREHA®? What made you start using it?
Chef BAE: I first came across TREHA® in 2014. "Chocolate pie" has been one of the most popular products in my stores of all time. The name “chocolate pie” may give an impression of puff pastry (feuilletage), but it is a brownie-like soft cookie sandwich with buttercream and raspberry jam filling. At that time, we were troubled by the issue of soft cookies’ surfaces drying out and warping outward. It was when I learned about TREHA® through a fellow chef's recommendation and obtained a sample bag and application information through a Nagase Korea representative. I tried it in the soft cookie dough and soon recognized a significant improvement in moisture retention.
Team TREHA®: Which items do you use TREHA® and why?
Chef BAE: I would say for any products requiring moisture retention. That is my go-to functionality of TREHA®. It helps me create an ideal texture in garlic bread, featuring a crispy outside and a moist inside.
Team TREHA®: Korean garlic bread is slightly different from the savory bread in the West, right? It is becoming viral in Japan.
Chef BAE: Yes. It is garlic bread baked after being filled with sweet cream cheese and dressed with butter sauce. This item is trending in Republic of Korea due to its lingering sweet and salty taste. The moisture retention of TREHA® is best suited for this application because I want to make this garlic bread with a soft baguette. I also use TREHA® in sponge cake (genoise).
Team TREHA®: How much do you use in genoise?
Chef BAE: I replace 20% sugar with TREHA® in sponge cakes. When Japanese flour is used, sponge cake becomes light and airy without TREHA®, but when I want a fluffy sponge cake like Japanese "Dojima Rolls,"* made out of Korean flour, I must use TREHA®.
*“Dojima Roll” is branded by a patisserie in Osaka, Japan, which features its moist and fluffy texture.
Team TREHA®: I see that you are making full use of TREHA®. May I ask how frequently you use TREHA®?
Chef BAE: Sure thing. I am using TREHA® almost every day!
Team TREHA®: In addition to moisture retention to inhibit drying, TREHA® contributes to widening the freshness window by protecting a food item from freezer burn and staling in starch. Have you seen any benefits from using TREHA® in reducing waste due to the extended shelf life?
Chef BAE: Honestly, I have never used TREHA® to extend shelf life. I am yet to discover the benefits of TREHA® in the frozen dough since my frozen dough stock lasts only for three to four days at maximum when I occasionally make it.
However, I can attest that TREHA® helped me achieve long-term frozen storage of my only par-baked item, garlic bread, which is prepared and frozen in advance before baking to finish. If I were to develop a new par-baked item, TREHA® be indispensable. It is a high chance that I would use it.
“TREHA® creates a cheese mousse featuring enhanced flavor depth and rich texture." - Chef Bae explains about his “Gold Cheesecake."
Team TREHA®: How did you come up with the name Gold Cheesecake? (Click here for the recipe.)
Chef BAE: I initially gave it the name "Double Cheesecake." However, attempting to change the product image, I renamed it as "Gold Cheesecake" because of the gold leaf topping.
Team TREHA®: You use TREHA® in your cheese mousse and cream, don’t you?
Chef BAE: Yes. I partially replace sugar with TREHA® in both mousse and cream. TREHA® inhibits the separation of protein and milk fat, which could cause water release. It also helps maintain the integrity of the mousse while producing flavor depth and satisfying texture. The more I TREHA®, the denser and richer the cheese mousse becomes. For the whipped cream, I use TREHA® because it is low in sweetness creating a refined taste.
Team TREHA®: Do you use vanilla paste (VANIFLOR 200 / PROVA S.A.) instead of vanilla beans for the cheese mousse?
Chef BAE: Yes. Luxurious vanilla beans certainly produce a high-class taste, but I use the paste because it is consistent in quality, unlike vanilla beans. A rich aroma is achievable from vanilla paste when suitable techniques are applied.
"I want to revitalize Deagu by developing items using cherries, the city’s specialty." - Chef BAE talks about his initiatives for sustainability
Team TREHA®: Do you have any new projects using TREHA®? Please tell us about your future goals also.
Chef BAE: Besides ganache, I’m interested in using TREHA® for jam filling in bread because I want to make the jam with the ideal viscosity, which is loose enough to flow down.
Team TREHA®: TREHA® is an optimal ingredient for ganache and jams. The recommendation for ganache is to replace 40% of the inverted sugar syrup with TREHA®. The expected benefits are as follows:
Improves mouthfeel
Amplifies the cacao flavor, which brings the best of other ingredients.
Increase the viscosity moderately, contributing to shape retention and work efficiency.
The recommendation for jams is to replace 20 - 40% of sugar. Since the sweetness of TREHA® is less than half of the sugar, it can increase the sugar content in a jam, providing stable product quality without over-sweetening it. (For more information on the functions of sugars, please read this article.) In addition to being excellent in moisture retention, TREHA® is heat and acid-stable. Moreover, its glass transition (vitrification) property makes it less prone to absorbing moisture when it becomes hard candy. Candied fruit chips are the best examples of TREHA®’s unique glass transition property. The crispy, vivid-colored chips are prepared with high-concentrated TREHA® syrup.
Chef BAE: Now I’m motivated to make these fruit chips. (Click here for Super Crispy Candied Fruit Slices (Fruit Chips) recipe.)
Team TREHA®: Are you engaged in or planning any projects regarding sustainability?
Chef BAE: As you may have noticed in the store, Korean bread is usually larger than Japanese bread because it is meant to be shared with the entire family. Our stores make the products slightly smaller than typical Korean sizes to avoid leftovers that could be wasted. Also, as I mentioned earlier, TREHA® allows me to make par-baked products, which can be frozen for an extended time.
Team TREHA®: In Japan, frozen stock of bread dough and fillings are essential, as production efficiency is advocated to improve the working environment. TREHA® serves two purposes: better quality control and a better workplace.
Chef BAE: To increase local produce consumption, which prompts the city’s economic growth, I am interested in product development using locally-grown cherries. Daegu is famous for apples and peaches, but cherries are specialty agricultural products. I started to work last year, but more work is needed. Due to the high material cost of cherries, I am thinking of other products than bread, such as ganache, which makes better sense economically.
Chef BAE: To increase local produce consumption, which prompts the city’s economic growth, I am interested in product development using locally-grown cherries. Daegu is famous for apples and peaches, but cherries are specialty agricultural products. I started to work last year, but more work is needed. Due to the high material cost of cherries, I am thinking of other products than bread, such as ganache, which makes better sense economically.
Team TREHA®: Locally grown cherries are undoubtedly fresh ingredients. Not alone, your initiatives help shorten the transportation distance, known as "food mileage." Reducing food mileage is tied to lowering transportation costs and energy consumption. Reducing CO2 emissions is a big challenge for all of us as it is emphasized in global warming issues.
Chef BAE: Right now, getting through the pandemic is the most important thing for me, but I am eager to take on new business opportunities and adventures.
Team TREHA®: Thank you for fitting us into your busy schedule to talk with us today.
Le Bae Bakery
11-11, Hwarang-ro 8-gil, Suseong-gu, Daegu, Republic of Korea
Instagram: @lebaebakery
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bakerbae
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