Have you ever eaten Shokupan in Japan? You must try it! It’s that delicious, soft and fluffy white bread loaf that you can get in Japan. They are amazingly fluffy and keep moist for longer than ordinary bread because of the Yudane method.
Why is Japanese Bread So Fluffy?
I did a little bit of research about why Japanese bread is so soft and fluffy and has the mochi-like texture. And I found the “Yudane” method. Yudane method makes the bread incredibly soft, and helps the bread stay fresh longer (it does not last long in my house though…).
The Yudane method works so remarkably well to make soft and fluffy bread and makes the bread last longer because the heated gelatinised starch in the flour keeps the moisture inside the bread and it will make the bread soft and last longer.
What is the Yudane Method?
- The Yudane method originated in Japan and it became widespread and popular way to bake bread when Yvonne Chen introduced “Tangzhong” roux as a secret ingredient to bake the super soft and light Japanese bread in her book called “Bread Doctor”.
- Tangzhong roux is made by 1:5 ratio of bakers or bread flour to water. The mixture is heated up to 65-degrees celsius then cooled down to room temperature and added to the bread dough.
- Multiple Japanese companies have patents on this method, but I found a lot of recipes on the internet. I referenced and adopted this recipe to make my Shokupan in Australia.
I have seen this type of bread also called “Hokkaido Milk Bread” on social media platforms such as Pinterest often. Hokkaido milk bread is made by this Yudane method.
This is not a popular effortless “No Knead” type of bread recipe, however, it is worth the effort to bake this bread especially if you love any Japanese baking stuff, this is the bread you must try!
FAQ-
Q: Can the bread flour be replaced by all purpose flour?
A: Yes, you can. But as you can see the all purpose flour did not rise well. The texture of the bread was not fluffy, but rather it was like eating savoury muffin.
Q: I don’t use cow milk, can I use almond milk or something else instead?
A: Using different milk does not affect the fluffiness and lightness of the bread. The coconut milk I used was the “Ayam Premium Coconut Milk 100 % Natural” which contains 24.3 g fat in 100ml and it is quite rich and thick. The almond milk that I used was “Sanitarium So Good Almond Milk” and contained only 1.4g per 100ml. It was very thin milk. The almond milk bread turned out fluffier and coconut milk bread was denser.
Hope these experiments using different ingredients helps you make a decision as to which ingredients to use.
If you liked my recipe for Shokupan Japanese bread, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter and Instagramto keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
And here is the mini movie “How to make Shokupan Japanese milk bread” from me
Fluffy, soft and airy light Japanese milk bread loaf recipe with Yudane method.
- 50 g Bread flour/Baker's flour
- 40 ml boiling water above 90 degree celsius
- 200 g Bread/Baker's flour
- 3 g dry instant yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 g unsalted butter
- 150 ml milk
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Make Yudane the night before. Place bread flour in a bowl and add boiling water and mix well. Put cling wrap and refrigerate overnight. *1
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Place all the ingredients except the unsalted butter into a bread making machine or kneader with the wet ingredients first then dry ingredients.
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Add the Yudane (torn into small pieces) and knead it for about 10 minutes.
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Add the unsalted room-temperature butter and knead for another 10 minutes.
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Place the dough into a greased bowl. Wrap with cling wrap to raise for about 1 hour at about 30 degrees celsius(86F) or until double the size.
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Punch the dough down and cut the dough into two equal parts with a scraper and roll them.
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Cover the rolled doughs with a wet cloth and take 20 minutes bench time.
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Roll out each dough to about 15 x 20 cm (5.9x7.8inch)rectangle with a rolling pin.
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Fold the dough tightly not letting any air in towards the centre from left and right.
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Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it from one end.
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Spray one loaf bread tin lightly and place the rolled dough in the end of the tin facing the centre.
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Start to preheat the oven to 185 degree celsius (365 f).
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Cover it with a wet cloth and let the dough rise for a second time until the dough rises to the size of the bread tin.
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Bake the dough for about 25 -30 minutes.
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Remove the bread from the tin and cool it down on a rack.
Recipe Video
*It makes about 8 slices( 2cm =0.78inch thick) and approximately 150cal per slice.
*Bread flour can be replaced with all purpose flour but fluffiness will be lost.
*Milk can be replaced with other type plant based milk, but will make texture different.
*1 Yudane should be made the night before but it can be prepared and rested in shorter time.
*You don't need to use a bread maker, but it helps with the kneading but you can do it by hand.
*my bread form size is 10 x 20 x 9 cm ( 3.9 x 7.9 x 3.5 inch).
i love your pictures! i’m really tempted to do this today, but i’m not a fan of doing the Yudane a night before, since i want to do this in one day. is it ok if i keep the yudane a couple of hours in the fridge instead of overnight? does it affect it by a lot? thank you:)
Hi Kania, I have not tried shorter resting time but I think it will work. I will try it as I am updating many recipes including Yudane Shokupan and please let me know how yours turned out 😀
Hai, Shihoko
Greta picture and Nice tasted bread for sure.. do you have a class or Somothing like that for teaching all of that tasty product?
Can u email me when u’re free?
Thank u
Thank you Will, I’m glad you like the recipes, but no, I do not have any classes 😀
I tried this recipe and left the yudane in the fridge for 2 hours. The bread turn out good. Thanks for sharing.
Can your share how to make bead with corn meal or corn flour.
I.tried your bread..it comes out really wonderful.
Hi Nishu, Thank you. I love baking so I will give it a go. Stay tuned ;D
Hi!
Can I use all purpose flour to make this bread? Thank you
Hi Alice, I think you can but I have not tried it myself. I am going to update it soon with video and try to use different types of flour 😀
Is the milk portion of the wet ingredients supposed to be warmed?
Hi Em. No, I did not use warmed milk 😀
Bake at 185 degrees. It. Doesn’t seem hot enough
Hi Shirley, I am in Australia and the temperature is in Celsius. It is 365 Fahrenheit if you use this measurement.
Shihoko i dont drink whole milk nor do i use it in my cooking, can i use almond milk instead or is that too thin? Also i will be substituting buttermilk and double acting baking powder for yeast because i dont have yeast..will my bread still come out the same way?
Hi Dj, I don’t think it will come out the same way because I use whole milk for fat content and yeast for raise the dough. I have not tried almond milk so I am not 100 % sure but it is too thin, coconut milk might be better option?
Hi!
I don’t rest the yudane at all, and it still turns out pretty well! I’m sure yours is better, but the impatient baker can still enjoy reasonable shokupan. It’s maybe not worth noting, but I tripled the recipe and added an egg, so perhaps that helped? I am currently proofing a doubled batch without any egg, and will update with the result.
Hi Patrick, I am very interested how your bread turns out 😀 Let me know when it is baked 😀
I’ve made about 6-8 loaves now, and I think I prefer the results when omitting the egg (and I’ve switched to just doubling the recipe, as I only have two good loaf pans), but have had a very lucky time of it without resting the yudane. My only trouble is that I can’t seem to get the bottom cooked through without slightly ruining the look of the top! It doesn’t burn, but it turns a very dark brown that spoils the look of that golden brown crust. Either way, the texture is fluffy and it has a great crumb. Your recipe has been keeping me fed all week, thank you!
Hi Patrick, Thank you for your report 😀 I love Brioche and thinking if I add eggs or may be substitute part of milk with eggs, this bread may become texture like Brioche and probably add more sugar too. I will try sweeter bread soon. And for the golden brown colour, how about baking the bread on the bottom lack of your oven or lower temperature?
this bread is wonderful i love it !!
Thank you Pablo 😀
It’s SOOO fluffy and soft! Loving this recipe. Makes great dinner rolls and slider sandwiches.
Hi Jessica 😀 Thank you. Yes it will make great dinner rolls 😀
How interesting! I’ve never heard of this delicious sounding bread before but it sounds a little like French brioche which I adore.
Thank you for teaching me something today. I’d love to give this a try!
Thank you Helen. Yes I am going to try adding egg which will make this bread a bit like brioche 😀 Brioche is my favourite bread.
It’s really interesting blog. Definitely wanna try this. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you Chelsea, please let me know how your bread turns out 😀
Love this bread recipe. Its so soft & fluffy, Bread still soft on the third day. Thank you.
You are welcome Celeste. Yudane method really work 😀
Hi, how long should i bake if i double the recipe to make two doughs? Thanks in advance
Sorry i meant two loaves
Hi Cy, if you baking them in two one loaf tin, baking time should be same 😀
Thanks for replying!
Hi… recipe looks great. Would like to ask if I can use wholemeal flour instead? If can, is it the same measurement as the normal bread flour?
Hi Michelle, yes you can but texture will be different and yes you need to change the ratio of ingredients. Because wholemeal flour inhibits gluten making and becomes bread hard, so add 10 to 15% to the bread flour. And also need to be careful with amount of moist ingredients adding. Add moist ingredients 2% less than bread made with 100% bread flour.
If i want to make 1 kg bread flour, how many grams is my ingredients. And the weight of yudan. If i use 1 kg bread flour.
Thanks
Hi Rocky, if you hover over the serves, a bar appear and you can slide the scale left and right to change the serving and ingredients amount 😀
Thank you – a great recipe. I was so impatient to try it I left the yudane for only one hour and still the bread was lovely. Almost as good as I ate in Nagoya last week. I will leave the yudane overnight next time. I am looking forward to trying more of your lovely recipes
You are welcome Anne. I glad to know that you could recreate authentic Japanese Shokupan that you had in Nagoya at your home 😀
I am preparing the Yadane now , but I wonder what is the difference between Tangzhong method and Yadane.
Hi Yod, It’s basically same 😀 It is explained in the post ;D
I tasted wonderful toast in Nagoya so when I came home I found your recipe which is brilliant!
Thank you for this recipe which worked really well – I have made three loaves this week!
You are welcome Anne 😀
Oh sorry I already commented!,
Excellent post. The images are so much more helpful than trying to explain it. Love your website – looking forward to more.
Thank you Raschell 😀
Love all the tips and the visual difference between the coconut and almond milk here! Outstanding!
Thank you Jenn ;D
Love this post! Thank you for explaining all of the options!
You are welcome ;D
I love the texture of this fabulous bread! Thanks for the details on how to make this wonderful recipe.
You are welcome Liz. Thank you 😀
I am very interested in trying this recipe. I was wondering if i can add sredded coconut and use coconut milk for it to be like a coconutbread? I know that you’v tried it with coconut milk, but does adding shredded coconut affect the texture of the bread?
Hi LT 😀 I have never made coconut bread though used coconut milk in my shokupan. So I am not sure if it will be like a coconut bread. And it is depends on how much you add shredded coconut. I sometimes add raisins to make fruit bread using same method and it is as fluffy as this shokupan so if you don’t add too much it will not affect the texture.
Can we use self rising flour instead of bread flour?
Hi Henry, you can but the texture of the bread will not be as fluffy as using bread flour. I included photos in the post. Self rising flour is baking powder added plain so the texture will be similar to that.
I love this!
I’m wondering of how the yudane works here as opposed to one where the mixture is cooked , stir until it’s almost pudding like. Also, the water to flour ratio here seems to be different from the popular 5:1. Can you help explain?
I’m working on a batch using your recipe, but double it to fit into the only loaf pan l have in the house, the Pullman pan… I won’t have enough patience to rest the yudane overnight, but I’m planning to let it rest at room temperature for an hour or so….
Looking forward to reading your comments! Thanks so much!
Hi Adelina, thank you 😀 The ratio is for Yudane method is 1:1 it just different method. 5:1 is the ratio for Tangzhong Method 😀 It works same principle but I think Yudane method retain moisture more than Tangzhong method. Hope your batch turn out delicious bread!
I am new to baking bread. Would love to try out your recipe. Instead of baking in oven, can I bake ithe bread machine itself?
Hi Suzanne, Yes you can. Just for the photo purpose, my bread machine is for one loaf and usually make tall one and also baking in the machine leaves a hole at the bottom… but if you don’t mind how it look, you can leave them in the machine to bake. Leaving in the machine to bake does not compromise texture and taste 😀