Add sugar and yeast in water and let it stand for 5 minutes till it gets foamy

Mix flour and salt, add in water and start mixing. Use a stand mixer to let it run for 10 minutes. Knead more if necessary to form smooth dough. It should be firm.

Let rise in warm place till nearly double in size

Punch down the dough and knead for 1 minute and let stand for 15 minutes

Equally divide the dough into 10 portions or 8 if you like larger bagels.

One way to shape bagel is to roll the dough into a nice ball, use finger to poke a hole in the center, and place both index fingers in the hole and slowly rotate and stretch out the whole. The other way, which was very popular in NY bakery is to roll the dough into a thin log, twist one end and bring it to the other to form a loop, roll the two ends together with the end of the palm and make sure they stay together firmly.

Place a damp kitchen towel over the bagels and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Prepare topping and boil a pot of water, add 2 table spoon of baking soda to the water.

Place bagel in boiling water, only place as many as you can comfortably handle, 4, or 5. Let it boil for 1 minutes, flip them over and boil for another minutes. Use a slotted ladle to take them out of the water, add topping at this point.

Preheat over to 425F, bake for 20 minutes, turn 180 degrees half way.

Let cool on cooling rack or serve warm.