SHOKUPAN (JAPANESE MILK BREAD)
INGREDIENTS
FOR NON-SOURDOUGH VERSION
260g (250mL) Whole Milk
20g (5 tsp) Sugar
10g (1.4 tsp) Honey
3g (~1/2 Packet) Instant Yeast
350g (~2.9 Cups) Bread Flour
7g Kosher Salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
25g (2 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
FOR SOURDOUGH VERSION
~60g Stiff Sweet Levain (or Mature Sourdough Starter - see recipe below for details)
240g (232mL) Whole Milk
20g (5 tsp) Sugar
10g (1.5 tsp) Honey
320g (2 2/3 Cups) Bread Flour
7g Kosher Salt (Diamond Crystal
25g (2 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
STEPS
NON-SOURDOUGH VERSION
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the milk, honey, and yeast, and whisk thoroughly. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes to ensure that your yeast is active. After that time, you should see foam on the surface of your milk due to the yeast activity.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, and stir to combine.
Add the milk mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until full incorporated.
Using your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, knead your dough on a medium speed for 7-8 minutes.
While continuing to knead, add your butter in several small increments, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
Once all of the butter is added, continue to knead on a medium-high speed for 6-8 more minutes until your dough is very smooth and stretches significantly without tearing.
Form the dough into a rough ball place it into a lidded container. Allow the dough to rise until it has more than doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
Place the dough onto a work surface, and divide it into 3 equal-sized pieces.
Form each piece into a taught ball, then lightly dust them with flour and cover with a dish towel. Allow the dough balls to rest for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare your baking pan by coating the interior with a thin layer of softened butter.
Roll the dough balls out into rectangles with a thickness of about 1/2”. The rectangles should be approximately 8”x12” in size.
One at a time, form each piece of dough into a spiral. Do this by first folding the dough into thirds lengthwise, then rolling the dough one more time to close off the seams. Next, fold in the top corners (as if making a paper airplane, and roll down the length of the dough to form it into spiral.
Place the spiral into your baking pan, seam side down, then repeat that process with the other two pieces of dough.
Once all 3 pieces of dough are in the pan, cover it and allow the dough to rise again at room temperature until the pan is filled about 80-85% of the way. This should take about another 1-2 hours.
When the dough is almost ready, preheat your oven to 425F (220C) if you are making a flat-topped shokupan (i.e. baking with the lid on) or 375F (190C) if you are making a round-topped shokupan (i.e. baking with the lid off).
If making a round-topped shokupan, brush the dough with an egg wash before baking (egg wash consists of 1 egg + about 1/2 Tbsp of water). If making a flat-topped shokupan, place the lid onto the pan before baking.
Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes. For the round-topped shokupan, you may need to cover it with aluminum foil midway through to prevent over-browning.
Immediately remove the loaf from the pan onto a wire rack, and allow to cool for (preferably) at least an hour before cutting into it.
SOURDOUGH VERSION
Prepare the levain 12 hours before making the dough by combining 10g of your mature sourdough starter with 30g of bread flour, 20g of water, and 4g of sugar. Then, cover and allow it to rise at room temperature. for 12 hours.
NOTE: This step is not 100% necessary, but it is recommended as it will lead to faster and stronger yeast activity in your dough. However, if you would not like to make a levain, you can simply use 60g of your mature sourdough starter in the recipe instead.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the milk, honey, and levain (or mature sourdough starter), and whisk thoroughly.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, and stir to combine.
Add the milk mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until full incorporated.
Using your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, knead your dough on a medium speed for 7-8 minutes.
While continuing to knead, add your butter in several small increments, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
Once all of the butter is added, continue to knead on a medium-high speed for 6-8 more minutes until your dough is very smooth and stretches significantly without tearing.
Form the dough into a rough ball place it into a lidded container. Allow the dough to rise until it has more than doubled in size, about 2-4 hours. During this time, perform one set of stretch and folds on the dough every hour (Maximum of 3 sets. If the dough takes longer than 4 hours to double in size, you do not need to continue performing stretch and folds. Instead, simply wait for it to finish rising and proceed from there.)
NOTE: From here, the process is exactly the same as the non-sourdough version, aside from slightly adjusted proofing times.
Place the dough onto a work surface, and divide it into 3 equal-sized pieces.
Form each piece into a taught ball, then lightly dust them with flour and cover with a dish towel. Allow the dough balls to rest for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare your baking pan by coating the interior with a thin layer of softened butter.
Roll the dough balls out into rectangles with a thickness of about 1/2”. The rectangles should be approximately 8”x12” in size.
One at a time, form each piece of dough into a spiral. Do this by first folding the dough into thirds lengthwise, then rolling the dough one more time to close off the seams. Next, fold in the top corners (as if making a paper airplane, and roll down the length of the dough to form it into spiral.
Place the spiral into your baking pan, seam side down, then repeat that process with the other two pieces of dough.
Once all 3 pieces of dough are in the pan, cover it and allow the dough to rise again at room temperature until the pan is filled about 80-85% of the way. This should take about another 1-4 hours (it can vary quite a bit depending on how strong your sourdough starter is, whether you used a levain, the temperature of your environment, etc.).
When the dough is almost ready, preheat your oven to 425F (220C) if you are making a flat-topped shokupan (i.e. baking with the lid on) or 375F (190C) if you are making a round-topped shokupan (i.e. baking with the lid off).
If making a round-topped shokupan, brush the dough with an egg wash before baking (egg wash consists of 1 egg + about 1/2 Tbsp of water). If making a flat-topped shokupan, place the lid onto the pan before baking.
Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes. For the round-topped shokupan, you may need to cover it with aluminum foil midway through to prevent over-browning.
Immediately remove the loaf from the pan onto a wire rack, and allow to cool for (preferably) at least an hour before cutting into it.
MY COOKING EQUIPMENT AND RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
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