my kintSUgi / kintSUkUROi pRActiceS02。金継ぎ／金繕い，練習（二）。

After asking bakers and pâtissiers, I bought three - very high-gluten, bread, and cake flours for my kintsugi / kintsukuroi practices, for the reason of different texture and water-absorbency.

在練習（一）裡提到過，在問過糕點師傅們之後，我買了日本的特高筋、高筋、低筋三種粉進行實驗。不同筋度的麵粉吸水性不同，麵糊／麵糰的質地、黏性也都不一樣；另外，也許這聽起來偏執了些，但我是認真地認為麵粉的顆粒越小的越好（日本製的麵粉顆粒最小），越能細柔地填滿每一絲縫隙。

For the proportion of the flour and water, I thought that it doesn't have to be 1:1 (as in the DIY video) as long as the paste has a good texture (then makes a good mixture with lacquer), but I think that I was wrong: the mixture was getting weak after a period of time as it has lost the elasticity and became watery; as a result, the mixture couldn't hold the broken pieces nicely (I believe it's not only the lacquer to join the pieces together but also the flour - at beginning). So I go back to the proportion of the flour and water again.

關於麵粉：水的比例，在練習（一）裡的幾次實驗都是以1：1的比例調製，粗略得到了「粉與水的比例不是那麼重要／加水的速度與攪拌才是重點」的心得；然而，在修復過程中，放置一段時間的麵糊筋度會開始消退（好像是因為澱粉老化造成的？），導致黏著劑的黏合力減弱（直覺認為在修復的時候並非完全是以生漆黏合，麵粉的黏性也略有影響），於是我想：也許影片中使用粉：水＝1：1的比例是有其道理的，否則應該不必特別註明比例，只要說明麵糊的濃稠度就可以了？

The result was good. The 1:1 paste made a much better mixture as the texture stayed in a good condition even after a period of time (and until I finished it), neither became watery nor too dry.

因此我又回到粉：水這個步驟，以與麵粉等量的水，一滴滴加入、攪拌成適當的濃稠度，再加入生漆調製黏著劑。幾次的實驗結果都是相同的：以粉：水＝1：1調製的黏著劑即使放置、使用經過一段時間，依然維持著濕度、黏度適當的狀態（直到使用完畢）。

關於筋度。越高筋的麵粉吸水性與黏性都比較強，質地略粗，乾得也比較快（麵糊階段）；低筋麵粉的吸水性略弱，質地細緻，乾燥速度也比較慢。以等量的水調製麵糊的時候，低筋麵粉要以特別慢的速度加水，否則比起特高筋與高筋，不小心一次加太多水的結果⋯⋯洗掉重來會比較快（特高筋與高筋麵粉，多攪拌幾次就救回來了）。

Last but not least, the differences between the three flours are:

Very high-gluten flour: water-absorbency is high, therefore it dries fast, and the paste has a rough texture;
Bread flour: water-absorbency is medium and dries slower than very high-gluten flour; the texture of the paste is medium too.
Cake flour: water-absorbency is low, therefore it dries (very) slow, and the paste texture is fine / smooth.

當初會買三種筋度的麵粉⋯⋯其實只是好奇心＋強迫症的性格使然，想知道 每 一 種 結 果⋯⋯。在實際使用上的差別並不大，關鍵點還是麵糊的狀態；不過個人習慣是會搭配天氣濕度使用⋯⋯持續實驗ing（說不定根本沒差別）。

It's not too different either using very high-gluten, bread, or cake flour to make the mixture as long as the paste texture is good. I am using all of them depending on the weather though. Experiment continues.

my kintSUgi / kintSUkUROi pRActiceS01。金継ぎ／金繕い，練習（一）。

I have fallen in love with kintsugi (golden joinery) / kintsukuroi (golden repair) for a while, not only because of the idea of wabi-sabi, but also behind this, I see the concept of 'respect' - well, it might not be very precise, but it is the closest word to my thoughts.

不記得是什麼時候對金繼／金繕開始有興趣，只是漸漸察覺，每次看見那些「線條」，就感到⋯⋯很放鬆，彷彿被帶進另一個空間；更進一步，開始對「修復」這件事情感興趣；再退一步看它，除了殘留缺．美，是「惜物」的概念讓我著迷。

Recently I have found a short video that showing the kintsukuroi  / kintsugi techniques. It looks not too difficult, so I start doing research and studying it myself. Firstly, I have to get the ingredients for the 'glue'.

前陣子在網路上看見一段金繼／金繕DIY的影片，決定自己先來研究一下。整段影片都是日文說明（文字），沒有中文翻譯；不過示範得很詳細，不難理解。以漢字的線索，可以得知影片中的修復者所使用的黏著材料之一是麵粉。

但是使用哪一種麵粉呢？問了糕點師傅們的意見，我買了日本的特高筋、高筋、低筋三種粉，進行實驗。

I bought three flours with different gluten content: very high-gluten flour, bread flour, and cake flour. See the thickness experiments (basic, flour and water only) below:

cake flour

低筋

bread flour

高筋

very high-gluten flour

特高筋

第一次的實驗，麵粉：水的比例都是1：1。很明顯地，以等量的水調低筋麵粉會太稀，完全無法當黏著劑使用；高筋麵粉也是，不夠OK；只有特高筋勉......強......稠一些。

The proportion of the flour and water is 1:1 (for all three flours), but it is too much for cake flour and bread flour, and still thin for very high-gluten flour. To have the best result, the crucial point is to add water slowly, bit by bit until it reaches the appropriate texture; in addition, flour with higher gluten content absorbs more (and quicker) water than lower one, therefore I would wash away a NG texture and redo a new one if I was using low-gluten flour, whereas if I was using a higher one, I would add more flour (bit by bit) to fix it up. Higher is easier.

以粉：水是1：1的比例為基準，經過幾次的實驗與推翻發現，其實粉與水的比例不是那麼重要（當然也不能太離譜），因為重點在於加水的速度與攪拌。不過筋度高的麵粉吸水性比較好，所以如果一開始不小心加了略多的水，越高筋的麵粉比較不受影響，也比較容易救；筋度低的不是不能救，但是洗掉重來會比較快。當然，如果真的加太多了，無論是哪一種麵粉，還是洗掉重新調吧。

有機會也試一下糯米粉。

Golden Age－Joint Exhibition of LOHAS Creators Achievements and Gold Museum Collection 黃金歲月－駐館樂活創意家成果 暨 黃金博物館典藏品 聯展

Rescheduled: until 2016Sep25Sun. Come and see the old and new talents!

快來，看 古 與 今 的創意與手藝。

時間：2016／02／26（五）～2016／09／25（日）

地點：新北市立黃金博物館 金水特展室＋煉金樓特展室

Golden Age－Joint Exhibition of LOHAS Creators Achievements and Gold Museum Collection 黃金歲月－駐館樂活創意家成果 暨 黃金博物館典藏品 聯展

Open。

時間：2016／02／26（五）～2016／05／29（日）

地點：新北市立黃金博物館 金水特展室＋煉金樓特展室