HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD (Sourdough)

If you ever have the chance to taste this bread, take it with both hands! this is quite literally the nearest thing to a brioche that I have tasted, and yet it is in a league of its own…

Hokkaido Milk Loaf is a classic Asian sandwich bread enriched with milk, milk powder, double cream, butter (in case there was not enough fat), sugar (oh boy!), and of course, egg… This really is the ultimate in soft, fluffy, pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth sandwich bread. Hokkaido Milk Loaf is not strictly from Hokkaido, the name sticking though in our cooking books.

Prepared correctly, the finished loaf will be rich, huge, and oh-so-soft. Mind you, in my case, I opted to make pull-apart rolls out of this recipe and man-o-man, did they go own a treat with burgers on the first day, or lightly toasted with eggs the next morning..

This type of bread, like many Asian soft breads, relies on a tangzhong or yudane base to generate the tiny bubbles required to make super light buns with a soft and springy texture.

Tangzhong is a flour and water paste, similar to a béchamel or a roux, but which is allowed to cool down, ideally in a fridge, for 3 to 12 hours. This helps the paste to becoe gelatinous, which is the right texture to trap tiny air bubbles while retaining stretchiness.

What are the key stress points in making this bread?

Soft sandwich breads rely heavily on the gluten development during the proofing process.

• Use high quality bread flour with a high (>12%) protein content o add in some vital gluten powder.
• Use a stand mixer and knead at medium speed (3-4) for about 15 minutes or go on low speed (2) for 30 minutes. But, be careful not to over-knead either…
• Test the dough using the “windowpane” test. Here you want to be quite aggressive and really poke at the dough when it is stretched. the gluten should not tear.
• As the dough has been enriched, make sure that the bulk fermentation goes on for at least 6 hours, ideally 12. If using a refrigerator for this step, allow for 2 hours at room temperature and 8-10 hours in the fridge.
• The shorter the bulk fermentation, the longer the second fermentation. We are aiming for 12-16 hours in total if all done at room temperature, 16-20 hours if refrigerating overnight.
  • If the bulk fermentation took 12 hours, allow for a second fermentation of 4 hours.
  • If the bulk fermentation took 6 hours, then allow the second fermentation to take 6 hours.

Why use milk, cream, butter and milk powder?

From a visual and taste perspective, using these ingredients improve the bread by:

The key here is to balance the ingredients.

• Using just milk will incorporate way too much moisture into the bread.
• Using more butter will over enhance the fat content, making the bread far too dense and crumbly.
• Using more cream will make the bread even denser. Cream does help to absorb more moisture, but the trade off is even smaller bubbles, which makes the bread seem heavier than it is.
• Cream so inhibits the development of the gluten.
• Using milk powder adds to the overall fat and sugar content while not adding extra moisture. In addition, selecting a specific milk powder can actually increase the nutrients and vitamins in the bread.

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD (Sourdough)

Recipe by Alexander WhaleyCourse: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, BreadCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

14

hours 

Cooking time

35

minutes

Calories

380

kcal

Total time

14

hours 

35

minutes

Shokkupan or Hokkaido Milk Bread are incredibly soft and airy rolls made by possible by using a tangzhong or roux “starter”. This roux, when mixed into the final dough, allows for the incorporation of a lot of moisture which generates a fine crumb and a tender bread every single time. The use of cream, milk and powdered milk provides a sweet, rich taste taste and

Ingredients

• Tangzhong/roux

• 1/3 cup/50g Bread flour

• 1/2 cup/116g water

• 1/2 cup/114g milk

• Dough

• 6 cups / 700 g Bread flour

• 7 tbsp / 100 g sugar

• 2 tsp / 12 g salt

• 5 tbsp / 35 g powdered milk

• 1/2 cup/ 120 g milk and a little more if needed

• 1/2 cup / 120 g double cream

• 300 g sourdough starter

• 4 tbsp /60 g unsalted butter softened at room temperature

• 1 egg

Directions

• Tangzhong/Roux
• Whisk together the flour, water and milk in a saucepan until smooth and the mix is totally lump-free (hint, use a hand-mixer).
• While stirring to avoid lumps, heat the saucepan over medium heat, let the roux cook until it thickens.
• Once the whisk makes streaks in the tangzhong, take it off the heat and keep stirring. If the tangzhong “seizes”, it is not a disaster, just pass it through a sieve.
• Cool the roux/ tangzhong to room temperature, stirring occasionally and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours.
• Dough
• Heat the milk, whipping cream and butter for about 30 seconds in a microwave. Give the mix a light whisk.
• Put the dry ingredients in a stand-mixer bowl (flour, salt, sugar, and milk powder). Give it a stir to mix the salt in the flour.
• Add in the tangzhong mix, egg and the starter and start kneading on very low.
• Add in the cream-milk-butter mix and keep kneading on very low until the dough comes together.
• Increase speed to medium speed (3-4) and  knead until it become soft and sticky for about 15 minutes until it forms a “ball” on the dough hook.
• Do a windowpane test and if it fails knead by hand for 3 more minutes and test gain. Repeat until the test passes.
• Place the dough into a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and lave to rise until it has doubled (about 6 hours at room temperature or 2 hours at room temperature and overnight in the fridge).
• Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into roughly 200g pieces. I got a baker’s dozen – 13 pieces.
• Roll out each portion of the dough into an oval shape, about 1/8” thick, using a rolling pin.
• Fold the shape into half by folding one of the short-end edges to the half-way line of the oval. Repeat with the other-side, allowing for a little overlap.
• Roll this new shape into a rectangle. Starting with a short edge, roll the rectangle up like  a Swiss roll.
• Pinch the last edge to seal well.
• Repeat with the rest of the pieces and place the resulting rolls into a well-oiled tin (e.g. loaf tin) so that you can see the spiral from the top.  You should leave a little gap between the rolls.
• Cover with a towel and leave the dough to rise for about 2-4 hours.
• Bake at 180 C (350 F) for about 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and if they are browning too fast, lightly cover with aluminum foil.
• Allow to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.