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.
allwi says
Hi, many thanks for this great explanation of how to make Shokupan.
I still don’t understand if there is a difference in the bread itself, if you use Yudane or Tangzhong. Is the Yudane method preferable because it’s the original one? Does one of the methods makes a “fluffier” bread or a bread which keep fresh for longer? Or is it simply the personal preference of the baker?
I make “Hokkaido Milk Bread” for a while and am almost happy with the texture but am wondering if Shokupan with the Yudane method may result in a more original, less westernised, bread?
Many thanks
Azusa says
I have tried shokupan with tongzhong before (because i also made other bread type that asked for tongzhong), and since this recipe called for yudane so i decided to follow (i always do follow new recipe to the exact when i first try the recipe out before i do any modifications). And i can honestly say, yudane yields a much softer fluffier texture especially for the next day.
Tongzhong is good, but what i find is the next day it start to get a bit hard, still soft bread but its obvious the texture changed. This shokupan i baked yesterday with yudane, is as soft as yesterday.
With both method equally easy to make, in fact i may even say yudane is even easier since it doesnt require stove top, i would likely stick with yudane moving forward
Doug Yosh says
Thank yopu for the recipe. I have made the recipe twice now. Since my pan is a 13 x 4 x 4 pullman, I multiplied the recipe by 1.44 and made three loaves to fit in the pan. The taste was great but the loaves were a little short (they also collapsed a bit after cooling?). I just made the recipe again but I doubled the recipe. I’m much happier with the appearance with the top of the baked loaves rising above the pan sides. The loaves are still sinking as the loaves cool but at least they are stiller taller than the sides of the pan.
Also, I think having the egg wash as step number 20 implies that the wash is applied after the loave is baked? I applied the wash just before sticking it in the oven which would make the order after step 17.
Serene says
Hi, i am keen in trying this recipe. Do I used top n bottom heat in the oven or only the bottom heat? Appreciate your prompt reply.
Thanks
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Serene, my oven is fan forced oven. I would try both top and bottom heat.
Kitty says
It took me 3 tries of making this to realise I was using the wrong sugar😓. No wonder the dough wasn’t rising. Once I switched to proper sugar it turned out perfect. Super yummy!
Iris Wee says
Hi Kitty, what is the right sugar to use for this recipe. For my first attempt, the bread dough didn’t rise.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Iris, I use caster sugar.
Aztry Delliani says
Hi Shoho,
I made this recipe this morning, mix with standmixer and it still turn out sticky. Does the result really comeout sticky or did I follow the steps the wrong way.?
If i add 1 egg to the recipe, do i need to reduce the amount of the milk.?
Thank you ^.^
Aztry
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
If you used a mixer does not come out so sticky usually, and yes if you add egg you have to reduce the liquid ingredient amount and it will be a different recipe.
Felicia says
If my recipe calling for 200ml of water/milk So in the end i just add the remaining water/milk after deducted from making yudane? Is that so?
Talia says
Thank you for this lovely recipe! I had to make them in a cake tin since I don’t have a bread tin and they came out a bit deformed, but it was still very delicious. 😊 It was a lot of work kneading it by hand, but totally worth it!
Kristin says
I’ve attempted this a couple of times now and I’m having issues with my dough being too sticky after machine kneading and the first prove. I can’t poke my finger to check it because the dough just sticks to my finger. Am I not kneading it long enough??
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Kristin, sorry the recipe is not working for you. It is hard to pinpoint what is wrong as so many factors affect making bread.
Gade says
It could be the humidity in the air? When I bake in summer, I am mindful of the humidity. In the winter, it will be too dry. I would adjust the liquid amount to suit that. Not sure if I am correct or not. I will try this recipe soon.
Eve Lynn Brown says
Hi, this is the most amazing bread, the recipe worked so well and was very easy. Thanks so much for the detailed instructions and pictures! I was wondering if you can use a sourdough starter instead of the yeast?
Melysa says
For a sourdough soft loaf I have personally tried Autumn Baking Diary’s recipe. It’s fun and it works well!
I believe there is a conversion if you use starter instead of instant try yeast but you need to factor in the amount of flour and water content of the starter into Chopstick Chronicles’s recipe. Because you need to math for this, I’ve never tried. Good luck if you do and let me know how it goes and what porportions you do so I can try 😀
Tsu Lynn Koh says
I would like to make this slightly healthier. Can I replace white flour with whole wheat flour? If yes, how much?
Natt says
I’d very much like to try this, I don’t really like the sweetness of shokupan. If I cut out the sugar, will it change the texture by much?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Natt Yes.
Felix Klein says
I tried this recipe 3 times now and today it finally turned out as soft as it should be!
The biggest mistake I made was adding too much flour while the dough was kneaded in the stand mixer (because it’s always stuck at the side of the bowl). This time I intentionally left out 20-30g of flour and put it aside so it can be added later to control the stickiness. That worked really well for me!
Also: if you’re in Germany it’s nearly impossible to find proper bread flour with 12% protein. Something you can do is mix in extra gluten (you can buy it on Amazon etc.) to the flour to increase the amount of protein.
Anyway, thanks for the great and detailed recipe!
Martha C says
Great tip!! This happened to me a few times too. I’m going to try what you are suggesting. Thank you!
Kas says
Hey! I am planning to use shokupan to make sandwiches and I wanted the bread to be flat on all sides. Will there be any changes in the cooking temp and time if use a pan with lid?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Kas, no.
crizette Yap says
Hello, Good day! thank you for sharing your recipes .i plan to bake the Shokupan tom. i don’t have a pullman loaf i have a BakerS Secret Loaf Pan Large 9.29″ X 5.19″ X 2.54″. should i duble the recipes ?thank you.
Crizette says
Hello, i was planning to make a Japanese Soft White Bread (Shokupan) – Pullman Loaf. Thank you for sharing your recipes😊i have some question.can i bloom the yeast for this recipes? I don’t have a pullman loaf pan. I only have a BakerS Secret Loaf Pan Large 9.29″ X 5.19″ X 2.54″.i plan to make 2 loaf of bread. Should i double the recipes for this one?
May Kay says
Hi Gina, the recipe’s pan size is 3.9 x 7.9 x 3.5 inch (10 x 20 x 9 cm). Your pan seems a bit larger than the above. Also, you might want to test the yeast if still active by adding some yeast to a tablespoon of room temperature water with a pinch of sugar to see if it will foam up. I had use a similar size pan as yours as it didn’t rise as much as the pan was larger than the recipe had called for. Hope that helps.
Erica Turansky says
I don’t know what I did wrong. Help! It looks beautiful but it’s flavorless and gritty. Followed all the instructions except I didn’t have unsalted butter so I used salted and omitted the salt. Also I didn’t know what fat content of milk (I used skim / fat free).
Nora says
Hello Shihoko, I made your recipe a couple weeks ago and would like to try again as I think it was not as fluffy as your photos. Your recipe says to knead the dough on #5 or #6 for 20 minutes? Is that on a KitchenAid? I tried it for a few minutes and it sounded like the mixer was really struggling so I turned it down to #2 which is what the user’s manual suggests. If I knead it on #2, should it still be 20 minutes or longer? Or should I just knead by hand? Also, are you using table salt or kosher salt? I look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Nora, yes my stand mixer is kitchenAid brand one.
Amy Fink says
I’ve made shokupan many many many times using different recipes and they have always only ever turned out to be just ok, never great. Until I tried your recipe. My loaf came out so light and soft and fluffy and delicious that I went through almost the whole loaf by myself in one day! The yudane method worked so well, and much better than the tangzhong method I usually see in milk bread recipes, I cannot wait to make this over and over 🙂 thank you!!!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Amy for your lovely comment. Please rate the recipe also next time 😀
Gar says
Hi!
How were you able to roll it into a ball after mixing it in the stand mixer? It was so sticky even after flouring the counter.
Henrik says
HI, looking att the yeast section it says that the recipe requiers 5 g, dry yeast(15 g fresh). But the recipe says 3 g, dry yeast(9 g fresh)?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you for bringing my attention to the detail. I will fix the recipe. Thank you.
Eve says
Tried this bread dough with the Melon bread’s cookie top. It turns out great! The bread dough is soft, fluffy and moist.
Pswu says
Thank you so much! Made a few loafs and they are absolutely delicious. Just a question- could I simply double the recipe to make 2 loafs or would the calculations be slightly different?
Thanks
P
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Pswu, thank you for making this shokupan. Use the baker’s percentage calculation.
Mia says
My to go recipe! Always comes out perfect! Thank you so much (:
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome 😀