If you know me, even a little bit, you would know that I love carbs. I have a sweatshirt that proudly proclaims me a carb lover because it’s so very, very true. If I had my way and lived in a world where calories didn’t count, I would happily live on carbs only, all day, everyday. Give me ALL the carby foods: potatoes, noodles, rice, and oh yes, especially BREAD.
I love all bread but Japanese shokupan is my absolute favorite. So much so that back when traveling was a thing, Mike and I regularly went on shokupan hunts while in Tokyo. Bread and toast is on another level over there. Every time we flew home I would bring a loaf, tucked into a carry on bag that I would keep in my lap just so I could have shokupan at home. Those were the days!
Of course now travel is out for the foreseeable future. Which makes me sad on so many levels. Will I ever eat REAL fluffy, squishy Japanese shokupan again? I’m hoping with all my heart that the answer is yes. In the meantime, I’ve been baking this simple squishable loaf. It doesn’t have a yudane (a boiling water and flour roux) or a tangzhong (a cooked water and flour roux) the two most common additions to shokupan. Even without, it is still a very soft and fluffy loaf with the added the bonus of not having to think about making bread the day before.
A lot of bread recipes (sourdough especially but even soft sandwich loaves) are a two day affair. I like this loaf because you can think to yourself in the morning, I would like some soft and fluffy bread and then make it and have it the same day.
It comes together very simply: you proof your yeast, mix up your dry ingredients, add the egg to the yeast, then mix the dough. Once the dough comes together, you slowly knead in the butter. The key to a soft and fluffy shokupan is in the kneading so make sure you take the time (a mixer with a dough hook is the right choice here) to reach the window pane stage. One your dough is soft and extensible, you can expect a soft and shreddable loaf.
I really liked this loaf, simply toasted with butter or spread with some cream cheese and jam. But, it’s still not the level of bread I love from Japan so I’m going to be doing some more experimenting. Please let me know in the comments if you have any favorite Japanese shokupan recipes, I’m always up for trying new ones!
A note on size and shaping
This was made in a 4.5 inch pullman cube which holds about 1 lb of dough. You can also make it in a regular sized loaf pan in which it will be rounded on top like a regular loaf of bread. If you are making it in a regular loaf pan, you’ll want to divide the dough into two equally sized balls before shaping. I’ve included the bakers’ percentages below as well so you can size according to your pan.
- 120 grams water 48%
- 2 grams active dry yeast .8%
- 250 grams bread flour 100%
- 30 grams sugar 12 %
- 1.5 grams salt .6%
- 28 grams egg 11.2 %
- 25 grams butter 10%
Ingredients
- 120 grams water warm, see note
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 250 grams bread flour
- 30 grams sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 large egg lightly beaten, about 1.5 tbsp (28 grams)
- 25 grams butter room temp
Instructions
- Sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water/milk. Let proof while you complete the next steps.
- In the bowl of your mixer, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.
- Whisk the egg into the yeast mixture, then add to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to mix until it comes into a ball and then switch to a dough hook and knead until the dough pulls away cleanly from the sides.
- Add the room temperature butter and continue to knead, about 10-12 minutes, until very supple and the dough reaches the windowpane stage – take a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and stretch it out between your fingers and thumbs. If you can stretch it without the dough breaking, you’re good to go. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Place in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Take the dough and tip it out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down lightly then roll out into a large oval.
- Bring the two sides of the oval towards the middle.
- Then roll up.
- Place in a pullman loaf pan (I used a non-stick pan, lightly oil or butter your pan if it isn’t non-stick), cover and let proof until 1 inch below the top, about 40 minutes to 1 hour. Heat the oven to 355°F after the dough has been proofing for 30 minutes.
- Slide the lid on the pan and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until the bread is golden and cooked through. Remove from the pan immediately and cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
49 Comments
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-Steph & Mike
So excited to try this recipe! Quick question: If you are using regular loaf pans do you get two loaves? One for each dough ball?
hi sarah,
if you’re using a regular loaf pan you’ll still get one loaf. just divide the dough into two balls :) dividing into two balls will help the loaf get taller since the pan is longer
Where did you get your loaf pan?
hi dee,
mine is from japan, but this one is essentially the same!
I really recommend incorporating a tangzhong. The gelatinized starch really helps make a, dare I say, moist, squishy loaf :)
my next loaf will have a tangzhong or yudane for sure :)
I would prefer the yudane over tangzong because it keeps longer especially if making a larger version.
Hey what a descriptive blog.I love to cook and was looking for this recipe.Your post really helped me.I like the way u represent all the small to smallest details.Hope to see more from you.
Wow, looking at the picture makes me relate to the French toast in Japanese style. I’m quite surprised you have the whole bread made. The texture looks perfect!
thanks so much luna :)
Your bread is too low hydration. You should use 72% hydration for shokupan.
Has anyone tried tis bread? Is d amount of water stated enough? Tq..
Does the milk need to be warmed to mix with the water? If so is there a recommended temperature?
hi ammen,
try to get the milk and water to 110-115°F :)
Hi Dee,
What size is your loaf pan?
hi,
i’m not dee, but my loaf pan is 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches :)
What size is your loaf pan, please? Looking for one on Amazon and they are all different sizes. I so want to try this!
So sorry…just read post above! Can you double the recipe?
hi tina,
yes, just use the “serves” part and change it from 4, to 8 :)
The end product looks amazing! I’m so excited to try this recipe. :)
The end product looks amazing! I can’t wait to try this recipe. :)
first of all sorry if i say anything wrong! As found the ingredients is same with normal bread nothing different why it call Japan bread ? May be you can share more in details the ingredient
hi!
it’s called japanese because the japanese popularized this method of making this bread with these ratios. it is very similar to pan de mie or brioche, but the ratios are slightly different :)
of course, if you have ingredients from japan, it would make it japanese bread!
Beautiful results. May I ask what brand and type of bread flour you’re using? Thanks!
hi alex,
i actually used regular all purpose flour (robin hood) and added vital wheat gluten to it to get a 12.5% final protein content :)
Hello!
I made this with 200g of bread flour + 50g of spelt flour and baked uncovered in a glass loaf pan for about 25mins till top was golden brown, it was good :) (my bread did rise a little lopsided-ly which i think could be due to my oven’s hotspot issue)
Bread had a good texture – soft yet firm enough to slice without crumbling the next morning.
I am wondering for my next try if I could use 1 whole small egg instead of half a big egg (to avoid having leftover egg)? Will that affect the outcome negatively?
Thanks!
hi,
so happy you liked it!
you can definitely use a small egg – it will just make the dough a bit richer. if you want to be very precise about it, weight out the egg and if it’s more than 28 grams, just minus the extra from the water :)
hope that helps!
I got a big pullman pan (13 x 4 x 4) for Christmas, so I tripled this recipe, and it came out great! I’m so pleased. Thank you for doing all the legwork and sharing the process! I feel like your recipes have made me a more confident baker!
hi sarah,
so happy to hear that you loved this recipe and that you’re becoming a more confident baker!
Hi! I followed your suggestion using 1 whole small egg (50g) and minus the extra from the 120g of water/milk. This time i baked for 20mins only in my glass loaf pan and it turned out just as good as my first try :)
Do you think I can turn this into a wholemeal shokupan? Or jazz it up with some raisins & seeds?
i think you can, i haven’t quite experimented with wholemeal or whole grains, but it will definitely be able to take raisins and seeds!
Question is this saltednor unsalted butter?
unsalted :)
My family and I absolutely love this bread! Would you happen to know of adjustments for high altitude? Thank you!
hi samm,
unfortunately i have not tried baking at high altitude so i don’t have any insight :(
I bake this using a pullman tin and i divide the dough into 2 balls. But the bake did not get a retangle bread as it could not fill the top 4 corners. I wonder why cos I only bak it when it is level with the tin opening. Any tips?
hi, how big is your pullman pan?
you can try dividing the dough into 3 balls, which might make it rise a bit more because the dough will have something extra to cling to or you might need to adjust the recipe with a bit more dough. it could also be the oven spring – have you tested your oven temperature?
Hello! I’m excited to make this, but my Pullman loaf pan size is 13x4x4. How should I adjust the measurements? Appreciate your help – thanks!!
hi! do you know how much dough your pan holds? if it’s a 2 lb pan, you can double the recipe :)
This is the cutest delicious thing I’ve made. Recipe works perfectly. Everyone goes nuts for this.
Some pandan paste spread across the oval before folding makes amazing pandan bread.
Can I omit egg and just increase water quantity.
hello, you can but it won’t have quite the same texture or flavor.
I like using the yudane the tanzhong is more of a Chinese thing. Although yudane and tanzhong both mean water roux in Japanese and Chinese respectively .
If you’re using a 8×4.5×4 Pullman pan can I just double it or do I need to change everything differently…. Sorry first time and so far every time I have tried other recipes it comes out so dense or doesn’t fill the pan
to clarify, your pan is 8x 4.5 x 4?
This is now my recipe for weekly sandwich bread. Loved by the family, friends n colleagues
Exceptionally easy n consistent each bake if u follow e recipe closely.
I m using this recipe very frequently n added crushed 70 grams walnuts which is heavenly!