{"id":8685,"date":"2025-12-01T19:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/?p=8685"},"modified":"2025-12-01T19:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:48:12","slug":"japanese-milk-bread-shokupan-hokkaido-milk-bread-pai-bao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/japanese-milk-bread-shokupan-hokkaido-milk-bread-pai-bao\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan; Hokkaido milk bread; pai bao)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/div>\n\t<\/g><\/svg><\/span> Print Recipe<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan; Hokkaido milk bread; pai bao)<\/span><\/h2>\n
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This recipe is King Arthur Baking's take on Japan's Hokkaido milk bread, a loaf so light it's often described as feathery. <\/span>
<\/div>The technique to make it involves pre-cooking some of the flour and milk into a soft paste called tangzhong<\/em>. (See "tips," below to learn more about its origins.) This simple step yields a loaf that\u2019s tender, moist, and stays fresh longer than loaves prepared the standard way. Bread made with tangzhong<\/em> is far and away superior to the pre-sliced, plastic-wrapped loaves that you'll find on grocery store shelves. Trust us: Once you bake and familiarize yourself with this loaf, you\u2019ll never want to buy sandwich bread again! <\/span><\/div>\n
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Prep Time<\/span>30 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time<\/span>35 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Resting\/Rising Time<\/span>2 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span> 20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time<\/span>3 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span> 25 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>1<\/span> sandwich loaf<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n
Author: <\/span>Charlotte Rutledge – King Arthur Baking<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/span>Ingredients<\/span><\/h3>

<\/span>Tangzhong<\/span><\/h4>
  • 43<\/span> grams (3 Tbsp)<\/span> water<\/span><\/li>
  • 43<\/span> grams (3 Tbsp)<\/span> milk, whole preferred<\/span><\/li>
  • 14<\/span> grams (2 Tbsp)<\/span> King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>

    <\/span>Dough<\/span><\/h4>
    • 300<\/span> grams (2\u00bd cups)<\/span> King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour<\/span><\/li>
    • 14<\/span> grams (2 Tbsp)<\/span> King Arthur Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk<\/span><\/li>
    • 50<\/span> grams (\u00bc cup)<\/span> granulated sugar<\/span><\/li>
    • 6<\/span> grams (1 tsp)<\/span> table salt<\/span><\/li>
    • 1<\/span> Tbsp<\/span> instant yeast<\/span><\/li>
    • 113<\/span> grams (\u00bd cup)<\/span> 113g milk, whole preferred<\/span><\/li>
    • 1<\/span> large<\/span> egg<\/span><\/li>
    • 57<\/span> grams (4 Tbsp)<\/span> unsalted butter, melted<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n

      <\/span>Instructions<\/span><\/h3>

      <\/span>To make the tangzhong:<\/span><\/h4>
      • Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.<\/div><\/li>
      • Place the saucepan over low heat and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.<\/div><\/li>
      • Transfer the tangzhong<\/em> to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to lukewarm.<\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>

        <\/span>To make the dough:<\/span><\/h4>
        • Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine the tangzhong<\/em> with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead \u2014 by mixer or bread machine \u2014 until a smooth, elastic dough forms; this could take almost 15 minutes in a stand mixer.<\/span><\/div><\/li>
        • Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased bowl, covered, for 1 to 1\u00bd hours, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.<\/span><\/div><\/li>
        • Gently deflate the dough and divide it into four equal pieces; if you have a scale each piece will weigh between 170g and 175g.<\/div><\/li>
        • Flatten each piece of dough into a 5″ x 8″ rectangle, then fold the short ends in towards one another like a letter. Flatten the folded pieces into rectangles again (this time about 3″ x 6″) and, starting with a short end, roll them each into a 4″ log.<\/div><\/li>
        • Place the logs in a row of four \u2014 seam side down and side by side \u2014 in a lightly greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.<\/div><\/li>
        • Cover the loaf and allow it to rest\/rise for 40 to 50 minutes, until puffy.<\/div><\/li>
        • Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350\u00b0F.<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>

          <\/span>To bake the bread:<\/span><\/h4>
          • Brush the loaf with milk and bake it for 30 to 35 minutes, until it’s golden brown on top and a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads at least 190\u00b0F.<\/div><\/li>
          • Remove the loaf from the oven and cool it in the pan until you can transfer it safely to a rack to cool completely.<\/div><\/li>
          • Storage information:<\/strong> Store leftover bread, well wrapped, at cool room temperature for 5 to 7 days; freeze for longer storage.<\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n
            <\/div>\n

            <\/span>Notes<\/span><\/h3>
            Note:<\/strong> Measurements for baking are best done using weight measures (here, grams), as accuracy is important for baking.<\/span>
            <\/div>\n
            <\/span>Tips from our Bakers<\/span><\/h5>\nWith origins in Japan’s yukone<\/em> (or yudane<\/em>), tangzhong<\/em> is a yeast bread technique popularized across Asia by Taiwanese cookbook author Yvonne Chen. Tangzhong involves cooking some of a bread recipe\u2019s flour in liquid prior to adding it to the remaining dough ingredients. Bringing the temperature of the flour and liquid to 65\u00b0C (149\u00b0F) pre-gelatinizes the flour\u2019s starches, which makes them more able to retain liquid \u2014 thus enhancing the resulting bread’s softness and shelf life.<\/span>
            <\/div>\nWould you like a dark-gold, shiny crust on your loaf? Make an egg wash by whisking together 1 large egg + 1 tablespoon cold water. Just before putting the bread into the oven, instead of brushing the top crust with milk, brush it with some of the egg wash (you won’t use all of it). Bake as directed.<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[618,874,362,1598,2506,1209,2505,140,696,697],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baked","category-bread","category-breakfast-brunch","category-bryans-favorites","category-dinner","category-japanese","category-lunch","category-side","category-snack","category-stove-top"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pillowy-white-bread-2.avif","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8687,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685\/revisions\/8687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}