Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan)

Japanese Milk Bread

If you are a fan of Japanese bakery treats, you might already be familiar with Japanese Milk Bread, also called Hokkaido Milk Bread or Shokupan. This fluffy and pillowy-soft white loaf is a bread-lover’s dream, perfect for slicing to use in sandwiches, or lightly toasted to serve at breakfast.

What is Japanese Milk Bread?

• Japanese Milk Bread contains milk to add a bit of sweetness and richness to the dough.
• The taste and texture is quite similar to a French brioche, but with less butter.
• Making a Japanese Milk Bread is like making an enriched dough, but with the addition of a paste or starter called a Yudane or Tangzhong.

Yudane or Tangzhong

When making a Milk Bread, you either need to make a Yudane or Tangzhong. Both names refer to a paste or roux made from flour and a hot liquid (either water and/or milk).

The cooled paste is mixed into an otherwise common enriched bread dough, but because the paste has a high liquid content, it adds moisture to the dough, which creates more air pockets in the dough, which in turn results in a soft and fluffy bread.

How to Make Milk Bread

Making a Japanese Milk Bread is very similar to making any other loaf of bread, except that you also add a floury paste to the dough. This paste, called a Yudane or Tangzhong, takes only a few minutes to make, but it makes all the difference to the finished loaf of bread.

Once you get started, you will quickly see that this milk bread recipe is quite similar to a brioche recipe, both in terms of ingredients, as well as texture of the dough.

Step 1

Make the Tangzhong by whisking together the ingredients in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over low heat, and continue whisking until the mixture forms a thick paste. You want a thick enough consistency so that, as you whisk the mixture, the whisk leaves lines which do not move.

Scrape the Tangzhong into a small bowl and set it aside to cool. Once cooled, cover the bowl with clingfilm and place it in the fridge overnight.

If you are in a hurry, you can use the Tangzhong as soon as it has cooled to room temperature. But leaving the Tangzhong overnight allows it to develop more flavour.

Step 2

Measure the flour, yeast, salt and sugar into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Lightly mix the ingredients together.

Step 3

Add the egg and Tangzhong. Use the dough hook to start to incorporate everything together. Slowly add the milk until a sticky dough starts to form. Then add the butter, one tablespoon at a time.

Step 4

Knead the dough on medium speed for 10-15 minutes until you have a dough which passes the windowpane test.

To perform the “windowpane test”, pinch off a small piece of dough, roll it into a ball and use your hands to gently stretch the dough. If the dough can stretch to form a thin sheet and be almost translucent so that you can see the light through it, your dough has passed the “windowpane test”. This means that you have kneaded the dough sufficiently and that the dough is ready to be proofed.

At this stage, the dough will be somewhat sticky and tacky, mostly because of the butter and high liquid content. But the dough should be coming away from the sides of the bowl during the mixing. Once the dough has had its first proofing, it will be less sticky to the touch and easier to handle.

At this stage, the dough will be somewhat sticky and tacky, mostly because of the butter and high liquid content. But the dough should be coming away from the sides of the bowl during the mixing. Once the dough has had its first proofing, it will be less sticky to the touch and easier to handle.

Step 5

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Roll the dough into a smooth-ish ball and place it inside the bowl.

Cover with a clean tea towel, and set it aside somewhere warm for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Step 6

Once the dough has doubled in size, gently remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will deflate as you handle it.

Step 7

Divide the dough into two even portions (I recommend using a digital kitchen scale). Roll each portion into a smooth ball.

Place the balls of dough aside on the kitchen bench, covered in a clean tea towel, for about 20 minutes on until they are slightly puffy.

Step 8

Use a rolling pin to roll out a ball of dough to about 15 cm x 20 cm. Make an envelope fold by folding over the right edge into the centre, and then fold the left edge into the centre.

Step 9

With the short side of the envelope facing you, roll the dough tightly and away from you.

Step 10

Place the dough into the end of a loaf pan with the seam facing inwards.

Repeat the above steps with the second piece of dough.

Step 11

Place the loaf pan somewhere warm, covered with a clean tea towel, for 30-45 minutes or until the dough has risen to the about the same height as the pan.

Step 12

Lightly brush the dough with some egg wash. Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes, or until it is lightly golden. An internal thermometer should read about 85°C/185°F.

Tips for Making Bread Dough Ahead of Time

I love baking bread, but I don’t love getting up extra early to get started on the dough. So I typically make the dough the night before and allow it to rise slowly in the fridge overnight. The longer proofing time has the added benefit of allowing the dough to develop more flavour and a better texture. Come the morning, the dough will have at least doubled in size, and it will be ready for shaping as per the recipe.

To make the dough the night before:

1. Make the dough as per the recipe.
2. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a reusable bowl cover.
4. Place the bowl into the fridge.
5. Let the dough rise overnight, or for at least 8-10 hours.
6. The next morning, the dough should have at least doubled in size.
7. Gently remove the dough from the bowl.
8. The dough is ready for shaping and the second proof as per the recipe.
9. As the dough will be cold from the fridge, the second proof may take slightly longer.