Cooking Lesson #489: Japanese-Style Milk Bread

…from the Perspectives’ Kitchen

How you doin’? We often think of great bread as originating from in Europe. But as strange as it may seem some of the best French breads, baguettes and pastries I ever tasted came out of Asia. Both baking and breading-making take a certain amount of time and patience which shows itself in the amazing breads made of Asia.
 
This beautiful bread is to die for. It is soft, sweet and fluffy and unlike any commercial bread you can find in the States. The bread is started with an unfermented starter—tangzhong—which is a technique that mixes a cooked flour mixture into bread dough to keep the bread tender and fresher longer. The heating of the flour and water to a temperature of 150⁰ F helps to gelatinize the starches in flour, which improves water absorption and results in a bread that’s soft and more elastic. Milk bread recipes frequently claim tangzhong’s ability to produce ultra-tender bread with a prolonged shelf life. This is a somewhat complex recipe but is well-worth the time.
 
Prep time:  1 hour
Proof time:  2 hours to 30 to 40 minutes
Bake time:  35 to 40 minutes
Cool time:  35 to 40 minutes
Yield:  2 loaves
 
Ingredients 
For the tangzhong
1/3 cup high-gluten bread flour
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
 
For the milk bread:
1 recipe tangzhong (see above)
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
4-1/2 teaspoons or 2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dry yeast
4-3/4 cups high-gluten bread flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at warm room temperature
1 large egg yolk, for the egg wash
 
Directions
To make the tangzhong

1. Whisk together the bread flour, milk, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Whisk for 6 to 8 minutes, until the mixture comes together and forms a smooth, doughy paste. It will start out completely liquid; after it comes to a boil it will get thicker and thicker until it finally leaves a trail in the pan and is more like a soft paste.
3.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

For the milk bread

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, place the tangzhong, cream, milk, whole eggs and yeast. Mix on low speed for about 2 minutes, until combined.
2.  Add the bread flour, sugar and salt. Mix on medium-low for another 4 to 6 minutes, until the dough has come together and is starting to feel a bit elastic.
3. Add the butter piece-by-piece and mix on medium-low for another 8 minutes. The dough should be supple and smooth and a little tacky.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lint-free towel and let the dough proof for about 1 hour at warm room temperature.
5. Punch the dough down bringing up all of the edges into the center. Scoop the dough up and turn it over.
6. Re-cover and let proof for another 30 minutes at warm room temperature.
7. Generously sprinkle some flour over the work surface.
8. Generously butter two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans or spray with pan spray.
9. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and divide it in half. Divide each half into 4 equal pieces.
10. Use a rolling pin to roll each piece into a rough oval about 5 inches wide from side to side and 8 inches long from top to bottom, with the narrow end facing you.
11. Fold the right side of the dough into the center and the left side of the dough into the center so it meets the right side. Press down so you now have a long skinny piece of dough.
12. Starting from the bottom, roll the dough upward away from you so you have a little jelly-roll piece of dough. Place it seam side down in one of the prepared pans. Repeat this with 3 other pieces of dough so the rolls are lined up crosswise in the loaf pan, nestled next to one another.
13. Repeat with the other 4 pieces of dough and the second loaf pan.
14. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap or a lint-free towel and let proof at warm room temperature for 60 to 70 minutes, until the loaves are puffy and jiggly when you poke them.
15. Place a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 350° F.
16. Whisk the egg yolk for the egg wash in a small bowl with a fork.
17. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash evenly on the tops of each loaf.
18. Bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pans midway through the baking time, until the breads are golden brown and sound hollow when you thump them on top.
19. Remove the loves from the oven and let them cool in the pans on a wire rack until they are cool enough to remove from the pans, about 15 minutes.
20. Tip them out, place them directly on the wire rack and let cool until room temperature.

Excerpted from Pastry Love: A Baker’s Journal of Favorite Recipes © 2019 by Joanne Chang.

ChefSecret: Tangzhong can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day. Milk bread is best served the day it is baked, but you can store it at room temperature in a paper bag for up to 2 days, or well wrapped in plastic wrap in the freezer for up to 3 weeks. If frozen, milk bread is best sliced and toasted to freshen it up.

Quip of the Day: “Why was the baker so grumpy? She woke up on the wrong side of the bread.”
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