When you hear Hokkaido milk bread, most people think of bread made with Hokkaido pumpkin. It isn’t, though. It is the softest, most fluffy bread made with wheat flour you will ever try. It’s not brioche bread because there is no butter in the recipe. So to enrich the dough, we add egg and whipping cream. That will help with flavor and retain the moisture in the bread. This is my shokupan recipe.
This bread is known by many names: Japanese milk bread, Asian milk bread, Shokupan, Pai Bao, and Tangzhong milk bread. Whatever the name, this is the best and most fluffy bread you will ever make. I’ve made a sourdough version of this recipe, but honestly, this has a superior texture.
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The last name listed is probably the most important because that explains how the bread is made. It is made using a roux called Tangzhong, made from milk and flour. Essentially a custard without flavor.
It binds to part of the fluid in the starch molecules of the flour. That means the bread will stay soft and moist longer than homebaked bread usually does.
On top of that, part of the fluid is trapped in the dough. So even though this is a high-hydration dough, it is not very hard to work with.
You make Tangzhong by warming the milk and flour mixture in a pot. When it hits 65°C/150°F, the starch molecules gelatinize, precisely what we want to happen.
The formula in this shokupan recipe
VITALS
Total weight
593 grams
Pre-fermented flour
6.7%
Hydration
55.2%
Yield
1 shokupan
The dough
The pre-ferment is not a classic pre-ferment where you ferment part of the flour with either a sourdough starter or yeast. It is actually a type of custard. The hydration is very high because the idea here is to suck as much moisture into the flour as possible.
Weight
Ingredient
Baker's Percentage
100g
milk
500%
20g
bread flour
100%
The doughs formula is the remaining part of the flour, the milk powder, salt, sugar, egg, and the remaining fluids in these proportions:
I want to make a square shokupan. What should the weight be?
So if you want to make a square shokupan, it can be done with this dough, but you need to scale it depending on the pan you use. Click the weight in the table below to get a scaled version of the dough appropriate for your pan.
I love sourdough bread, fermented bread with lots of whole grain and taste, but then you meet bread like this. A fantastic bread. No less.
A wonderfully browned soft crust. The most fluffy crumb I’ve ever seen. It’s just pure genius with some delicious butter on top. When it finally gets a bit dry, it’s also remarkable in the toaster.
This bread is the perfect match for french toast or grilled cheese.
Please share this recipe for shokupan on social media
This is my recipe for Japanese shokupan bread. If you like the recipe, please consider sharing it with like-minded bread lovers on social media.
If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
The softest, most fluffy wheat bread you have ever tried. It is perfect for a sandwich, and because of the way it is made, it stays fresh for many days.
To a microwave-safe bowl, add the flour and the milk. Mix it, so the flour is dispersed.
Microwave it on “full” until the mixture is 65°C/150°F or above. Mix it until it resembles a custard.
Leave it to cool to at least 30°C/86°F.
Mix dough
Add bread flour, sugar, skim milk powder, salt, and yeast to a medium bowl. Distribute everything evenly with your hand.
Then add the tangzhong, egg, and heavy cream. Mix with your hand until you can’t mix it anymore.
Then move the dough to the table and knead the flour into it.
When the dough is nice and supple, move it to a bowl and let it rise somewhere warm until doubled.
Pre-shaping
Divide it into four equally sized pieces, and shape them into balls.
Pull the sides in towards the middle while turning the ball around. Keep going until it’s a taut ball.
Then put the ball down on the table and move it in circles over the unfloured table with your hand in a claw shape. Your palm should be touching the top of the ball. Keep moving until the ball is round.
Shaping
Grab a ball, roll it out to an oval shape using a rolling pin, and roll it up tightly.
Then roll it out again the long way. Make it as thin as possible, and roll it up tightly. The width should be about the width of your pan.
Then grab a small Pullman pan, and spray it with baking spray. Put the four logs into the pan, and cover it with clingfilm.
Put it somewhere warm to rise until doubled.
Baking
Heat your oven to 170°C/340°F.
Mix one tablespoon of milk into the reserved egg, and brush it on the bread carefully.
Put the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Then check the internal temperature. You should aim for a temperature of 90°C/190°F. Bake longer if needed.
Then take it out of the oven. Remove it from the pan and put it on a wire rack to cool off.
