Have you ever eaten Shokupan, the Japanese milk bread? You must try it! It’s the delicious, soft and fluffy white bread loaf that you can get in Japan. The golden brown crust and soft white inside make it irresistible. It is amazingly fluffy and stays moist for longer than ordinary bread because of the Yudane method.
Why is Japanese Bread So Fluffy?
Why is Japanese bread so soft and fluffy and has the mochi-like texture? The answer is because of the “Yudane” method. The Yudane method makes the bread pillowy soft and fluffy and also keeps the bread from drying out quickly. This is because the heated gelatinised starch in the flour keeps the moisture inside the bread.
What is the Yudane Method?
Yudane is made by mixing bread flour and hot boiling water. Adding hot boiling water gelatinises the starch. The gelatinised starch not only allows the starch to take in more water, but also increases the sweetness of it. Therefore by adding Yudane to a bread dough (the yudane method), you can make soft, moist and sweeter bread which lasts longer.
Yudane vs Tangzhong roux
- The Yudane method originated in Japan and it became widespread and the popular way to bake bread in Asian countries when Yvonne Chen introduced “Tangzhong” roux as a secret ingredient to bake the super soft and light Japanese milk bread in her book called “Bread Doctor”.
- Yudane ratio of flour and water is usually 1:1 whereas “Tangzhong roux” is made by 1:5 ratio of bread flour to water. The Tangzhong mixture is made by heating up to 149°F(65°C) then cooled down to room temperature and added to the bread dough. I will explain how to make Yudane in a paragraph below.
- I have often seen this type of bread also called “Hokkaido Milk Bread” or “Japanese Milk Bread” on social media platforms such as Pinterest. Those breads are made by the same principle either adding Yudane or Tangzhong roux to bread dough.
How to Make Yudane?
We need to deduct 20% of total flour ingredients to make Yudane. So to make 1 standard loaf size dough, we need 250 x 0.2 = 50g bread flour. Yudane flour to water ratio is generally 1:1, but I found it is easier to make yudane with 1:08 ratio. Then simply add hot boiling water (should be above 194°F/90°C) and combine them with a wooden spatula. The ideal combined dough temperature will be around 122°F/50°C. When it is cooled down, wrap with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave it on the kitchen bench or in the fridge.
Ingredients
You need to gather bread flour, milk, sugar, unsalted butter, Salt and Yudane that you made the night before. Some ingredients will be further explained as I have received many questions about this.
Flour
For making fluffy Japanese milk bread, we need to use bread flour that contains around 12% of protein. I use Japanese brand Nisshin flour. You can use all-purpose flour but all-purpose flour has around 10% protein content therefore the bread will not rise as high as the shokupan made with bread flour.
Yeast
I usually use LeSaffre Saf-Instant Yeast Gold for making shokupan Japanese milk bread. If you cannot find instant active dry yeast but can find fresh yeast, you can substitute. This recipe requires 1 teaspoon(5g) of dry yeast, so you would need 5g x 3 = 15g of fresh yeast.
Butter
We need to use unsalted butter. Because the salt content of butter will affect the gluten formation. If you don’t have unsalted butter, and would like to use oil instead, you can. However it is a little bit tricky because butter is solid and oil is liquid. Generally speaking, you can replace 3/4 of the amount of butter with oil.
Milk
Some readers have asked if they can replace the whole milk with other types of milk. Using different milk does not affect the fluffiness and lightness of the bread. I tested using coconut milk and almond milk. Read the result in the FAQ.
Bakers Percentages
Some readers have asked to change the amount of the ingredients to make bigger or smaller sized bread loaves. Baker’s percentage is great because it is universal even when each country uses different units of weight. In the table below, is the bread ingredients mixing ratio. Each ingredient is shown as a % of the flour.
Ingredients | weight | percentage |
Bread flour for Yudane | 50g | 20% |
Hot water | 40g/ml | 16% |
Bread flour | 200g | 80% |
Milk | 150g/ml | 60% |
Sugar | 15g | 6% |
Instant dry yeast | 3g | 1.2% |
unsalted butter | 10g | 4% |
Salt | 5g | 2% |
Using Cup Measurement
If you don’t have a kitchen scale, don’t worry. I have figured out measurements for using cups. However, you need to be as precise as you can. For example, when you measure 1 cup of flour, you need to spoon flour to the measuring cup, then level the surface with the back of a knife. The cup measurements are included in the recipe cards’ note section.
How to Make Shokupan Japanese Milk Bread?
This is the basic process of making the shokupan Japanese bread in 8 steps using Yudane method.
- Make Yudane the night before. (8-12 hours)
- Knead all ingredients using a stand mixer, bread machine or by hand (20min)
- The first rise (45-60 min depends on the temperature)
- Divide & roll
- Bench time (20 min)
- Shape
- The second rise (30 min)
- Bake (30 min)
Tips for Making Shokupan Japanese Milk Bread Successfully
- Start making Yudane the night before with boiling hot water. When the mixture combines the temperature of the dough should be around 122°F/50°C.
- Leaving Yudane longer will result in better Japanese bread.
- The dough rising temperature should be around 86°F(30°C). My oven has a defrost function and I set the temperature to 86°F(30°C), so I use that setting for rising. Or use a styrofoam box with 4 little cups with hot water in the corners of the box.
Other Recipes That Call for Shokupan Japanese Milk Bread
The fluffy, soft and moist Japanese milk bread is the basis of other delicious Japanese creations.
- Tamago Sando (Japanese egg sandwich). This egg salad sandwich is super popular and for good reason.
- Fruit Sando (Japanese fruit sandwich). Another popular sandwich in Japan, often made with strawberries and cream.
- Panko (Japanese bread crumbs). You can use this Japanese bread to make Japanese bread crumbs which are so crispy and perfect for using to make pork katsu or chicken katsu.
- Simply toasting the bread with some butter or jam is also great. The bread is so delicious that even eating it simply like this tastes amazing.
- You can also use this recipe to make super soft Japanese bread rolls.
How to Store the Bread?
Another tip that I can give you is that this bread is super soft, so it is better to slice it the following day. I bake the bread on a Saturday and slice it on Sunday. It will stay moist for a few days just sitting on the kitchen bench. In my household, the bread is eaten in a day or two. But if you wish, slice them and individually wrap and place them in a ziplock bag to freeze. It will last about a month.
FAQ
A: Yes, you can. But as you can see the all purpose flour did not rise well in my experiment. The texture of the bread was not fluffy, but rather it was like eating a savoury muffin.
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.
A: You can hand knead, however, because this has yudane in the dough which is very moist, the dough is quite sticky. Therefore, this recipe is more suitable for machine kneading. I usually use either a machine or bread mixer to knead and rise.
A: Yes you can. Some of my readers and myself have only rested the dough for about a couple hours in the fridge and the bread made with that shorter resting time of the yudane was quite successful. However, the longer you rest the yudane the better the quality of the bread.
A: My bread form size is 3.9 x 7.9 x 3.5 inch (10 x 20 x 9 cm). I bought it in Japan. This is similar to what I have from Amazon.com.
Stay Connected
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!
If you liked my recipe for Shokupan Japanese milk bread, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to 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!
Shokupan
Ingredients
Yudane
- 50 g Bread flour *1
- 40 ml boiling water above 194°F(90°C)
Bread
- 150 ml milk (room temperature) *3
- 15 g sugar
- 3 g dry instant yeast *2
- 10 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 200 g Bread flour *1
- 5 g salt
Instructions
- Make Yudane the night before. Place bread flour in a bowl and add boiling water and mix well. Put cling wrap and refrigerate overnight. *4
- Pour the room temperature milk into a stand mixer bowl.
- Add sugar,butter and yeast to the bowl then add the yudane as you tear it into small pieces.
- Add the bread, flour and salt.
- Attach the kneading hook onto the stand mixer and combine all ingredient on low speed 1.
- When all ingredients are combined, turn the speed up to 5 or 6 and knead the dough for 20 min.
- Roll the dough round and place the dough into a greased bowl. Wrap with cling wrap to rise for about 45 min to 1 hour at about 86°F(30°C) or until double the size.
- Use your finger, to test if the dough has risen by dusting your finger with flour and poking the dough. If the dough doesn't bounce back and the hole you poked stays there, it is ready.
- Punch the dough down and cut the dough into two equal parts with a scraper and roll them.
- Cover the rolled doughs with a wet cloth and stand it for 20 minutes bench time.
- Roll out each dough to about 5.9×7.8inch (15 x 20 cm) rectangle with a rolling pin.
- Fold the dough tightly not letting any air in towards the centre from left and right.
- Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it from one end.
- Spray one loaf bread tin lightly and place the rolled dough in the end of the tin facing the centre.
- 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 about 30 min.
- Start to preheat the oven to 365 °F(185°C).
- When the dough has risen to be level with the tin, it's ready to bake.
- Bake the dough for about 25 -30 minutes in preheated oven.
- Remove the bread from the tin and cool it down on a rack. * 5
- Whisk an egg, rightly brush over the bread dough.(Optional)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Chopstick Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This recipe was originally posted in 2017, since then had received so many questions and suggestions. So I have decided update the post and the recipe in order to answer all the questions asked. Thank you for those who left comments below and rate the recipe highly.
Valentina says
Hi Dear!
I wanted to edit the post I had already written to you about yeast, but I couldn’t find it anymore! I’ve done it! I just baked your bread !! it’s super light, but it was a struggle it practically leavened 7 hours 🥺 !!! I found the yeast you use on Amazon, but it will arrive in a couple of weeks 😂! I can’t wait to eat it tomorrow with butter and jam and prepare sandwiches for lunch! I’m so happy
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Valentina, Thank you for making Shokupan. I am glad that you liked it.
Valentina says
Hello dear Shihoko! How are you?
I love your recipes <3
help me cause i'm going crazy XD.
I don’t know why my dough never rises :(!
i know it sounds silly, but i can't find instant dry yeast! I mean I find the istant, but for sweet, pizza and focaccia, but no FOR bread and it's not the same (it’s a white powder) only and so I use the active one .. But idk why my dough is always there looking at me always with the same size T_T.
I follow the recipe in detail, I make sure that the oven is at 30 degrees .. but nothing, sadness 🙁
Thank you so much in advance and have a nice day
Vale from Italy
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Valentina, I love Italy thank you for making Shokupan and visit my blog! I have just replied to your second comments. Thank you 😀 Let me know how you go with the instant dry yeast 😀
Ammen says
This recipe is amazing, I’ve made it so many times already. Just had a question about the rise, after baking the bread it’s not as high or risen as yours, do you have any ideas on why? Thank you so much!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ammen, the rising time in the recipe card is indication only because it is affected by the temperature and ingredients in the bread dough. Try to leave your dough a bit longer to rise next time and do the finger test.
Brenda says
I am excited to try this recipe but my child is allergic to yeast. Is there a good substitute to yeast? Will the same amount of double acting baking powder help?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Brenda, I have not made it with the yeast substitution but I think baking powder would work though the result would be different. I am interested to know how it turned out, so keep me informed 😀
Brenda says
Thanks for your reply. If baking powder is used, should I skip the first rise, bench time and second rise since there’s no yeast involved?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Brenda, good point. I think so. I am not familiar with baking a bread without yeast. I am learning from you. Please let me know how it turns out 😀
Helen says
I made this today and it is soo fluffy & perfect!
This definitely will be my go to sandwich bread recipe. Thanks!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Helen for making shokupan with my recipe. I am glad you made it successfully 😀
Helen says
Btw, for the yudane, do i have to wrap it with plastic wrap? I’m trying to reduce plastic usage. A container or something?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Helen, no you don’t have to. You can keep Yudane in a container:D
hannah says
Hello!
would it be possible to make individual buns instead of one loaf?
Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Hannah, yes you can! of course.
Zainab says
Can I bake this bread in bread machine. What mode should I use? Cant wait to bake yr delicious resepi. Tks
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Zainab, that’s what I sometimes do 😀 just put everything and leave it to the machine.
Zainab says
Can I use breadmaker to make this bread n what mode should I use?
Appreciate yr response. Cant wait to make bread with yrz resepi
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Zainab, all breadmaker are different so it is difficult for me to tell you what mode though, good news you can leave it to breadmaker to make whole process 😀 Good luck!
Coco says
I love this recipe and have made it a couple times the last few weeks!
I had a question. I keep getting a tear on the sides of the loaf, where the bread tin end and where the top of the loaf puffs up. Any tips?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Coco, it probably how you shape the dough? Keep practicing. Practice makes perfect 😀
Ben says
Thanks for the detailed recipe. One thing that struck me was the kneading time of 20min at 5-6. This is allot longer and harder than allot of recipes. To save me from experimenting for my curiosity could you explain why and what effect it has.
Thanks in advance
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ben, everyone’s stand mixer is different. The number is just an indication and it is my setting that I used 😀 Do windowpane test, if the gluten formed enough then you may not need that long.
Navneet says
I made this recipe with 100% whole wheat and it turned out amazing. Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Happy to hear 😀 Thank you Navneet.
GaGa says
I tried your rccipe and love it; I will try with a real loaf pan next time; would you let me know what size of loaf pan should I get? What is the dimensions of yours in the picture? Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi GaGa (love your music 😀 )
Thank you for your inquiry. I am always here to help. If you return to the post and read the notes section of the recipe card, you will see the size the form that I used.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask 😀
Abigail Sidea says
I’m making this bread right now, my dough is really sticky though is it supposed to be like that or do I add more bread flour?
Really great recipe though 😁
Abigail Sidea says
Just fixed it now 😀 tastes amazing! Would definitely make again :)))
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Abigail, I am glad that you fixed it. Enjoy 😀
Nawang says
Hi… I really want to try making this bread. Do you think I can substitute the butter with margarine?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Nawang, it is not ideal but if the margarine is what you have, why not give it a go and let me know how it turns out. Thank you for trying this Shokupan recipe.
Yennjo says
Hello .. how long can I keep yudane in chiller? I already made my yudane last night, and plan to make it on this morning
But unfortunately my baby has fever so I canceled it
So can i keep yudane for couple of days later? Does it will change the texture?
Thankyou
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Good question Yennjo, I hope your baby is feeling better now. Yes you most definitely can.
Gale says
This is one of the best explained bread recipe ever. How ever I noticed there is no egg in the recipe. Will putting egg in the recipe affect the final product? If I put egg where should it be calculated? Liquid? How about if egg yolk only ?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Gale, thank you for your question. Of course you try adding an egg but as you said it will affect the final product. This recipe is quite hydrated already, so the extra moisture from the egg could adversely affect the outcome. Give it a try and let me know how it went.
Jenny says
Hi, thank you for your recipe!
Quick question, in the yeast notes at the top part you write this recipes need 1 tablespoon 5g of dry yeast. But in the recipe ingredients it written 3g yeast. So which one is the correct gr of yeast?
Thank you
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jenny, Thank you for letting me know. It is 3g yeast. I will fix the recipe card. Thank you.
Scott says
Hello Shihoko,
Thank you for this recipe. What is the maximum time that the yudane can be rested , wrapped, in the refrigerator without causing problems with the recipe? On most days I probably can’t finish makin the bread in the morning & would do this in the evening.
Thanks,
Scott
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Scott, over night is perfect. It will keep about a week in the fridge.
Alice says
Hi Shihoko,
Do you know where i can buy the Nisshin Bread Floue online? . I’m in melbourne, but I can’t find nisshin bredlad flour online right now.
Thank You
Regards,
Alice
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Alice, Tokyo mart or Fuji mart?
Irene W. says
Hi!
I tried making this with my natural starter but the dough never came together. I suspect the hydration level is too high. Is there any way to calculate how much flour to increase if using a 100% hydration natural starter?