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Shokupan (Japanese milk bread)
食パン · Tall, feathery-soft milk loaf for thick toast
Shokupan is the everyday sandwich loaf of Japan, sold by the half loaf at bakeries from Sapporo to Fukuoka and toasted in thick slabs for breakfast with butter and jam. Its feathery, pull-apart crumb comes from a cooked flour paste (yudane-style) that lets the dough hold more water, so the bread stays soft for days. You need a 900 g loaf tin and a few hours of mostly waiting. The usual mistake is slicing it while hot, which squashes the delicate crumb into gummy layers; let it cool fully. Chef's tip: roll each piece of dough into a tight spiral before it goes into the tin, which gives the tall, even rise and those stringy, tearable layers.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the flour paste
- ½ cup milk
For the dough
- 12 ½ oz strong white bread flour
- 1 oz sugar
- ¼ oz salt
- ½ cup milklukewarm
- 1 eggbeaten
- 1 oz unsalted buttersoftened
- ½ tsp vegetable oilfor the bowl
To glaze
- 1 tbsp milk
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Whisk ⅞ oz strong white bread flour and ½ cup milk in a small pan over a low heat, stirring all the time, until it thickens to a smooth paste that leaves trails, about 149°F. Cool to room temperature.
4 minStep 2: In a large bowl mix 12 ½ oz strong white bread flour, 1 oz sugar, ¼ oz salt and ⅛ oz fast-action dried yeast (keep the salt and yeast apart at first). Add the cooled paste, ½ cup milk and 1 egg and bring together into a sticky dough.
Step 3: Knead for 10 minutes, then work in 1 oz unsalted butter a little at a time. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth and stretches into a thin, see-through sheet without tearing.
15 minStep 4: Shape into a ball, put in a bowl greased with ½ tsp vegetable oil, cover and leave somewhere warm until doubled.
60 minStep 5: Grease a 900 g loaf tin. Knock back the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces. Roll each into an oval, fold the sides in to the middle, then roll it up tightly from the short end into a spiral.
10 minStep 6: Set the three rolls side by side in the tin, seams down. Cover and leave until the dough rises about 1 cm above the rim.
50 minStep 7: Heat the oven to 350°F. Brush the top with 1 tbsp milk and bake until deep golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath (an inner temperature of about 194°F).
35 minStep 8: Turn out at once onto a rack and leave until completely cold, at least 2 hours, before slicing.
120 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 31 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does shokupan (Japanese milk bread) take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of strong white bread flour?
- Plain flour, same amount (the dough will be softer and rise a little less).
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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