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.
Carrie says
Hi,
If you use a bread maker to bake this, which setting/mode would you choose? I guess not all machines have same setting so how many hours would you think this will need in the bread maker? I have a Zojirushi and I am not sure which setting to choose: 3hr or 5hrs.
Thanks.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
My bread machine is MK brand that I bought and brought to Australia. It does have “Shokupan” setting which is 3 hours and 50 minutes. So as you said all machines are different and kind of my bread machine setting is in between 3 and 5 hours. Why don’t you test both setting?
Carrie says
Thank you!
Fai says
Hi Shihoko, is it possible to add more butter? I would like the bread to have some butter scent.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Fai, This is quite hydrated recipe already I doubt adding more butter is good idea.
Selma says
Oh my, thank you so much for this recipe. My daughter and I visitedJapan in March (we had to come back early because of the virus unfortunately), but we had the most fabulous time and fell in love with the little bakeries in the train stations. The bread was absolutely to die for so was delighted to find your recipe on line. My bread came out perfectly- made my lockdown week. Thank you so much. Absolute winner. X
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Selma for leaving a lovely comment and five star rating 😀
Whaan says
Hi Shihoka,
Have you baked bread using Tangzhong? what do you think is the different between bread made using Yudane and tangzhong. I’ve never heard of Yudane before and would like to try.
Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Whaan I have never made with Tangzhong. Tangzhong is based on Yudane method. I only used Yudane because it makes really delicious bread 😀 I don’t need to try something else.
Martina says
Hi there,
Thank you for this recipe! I made it for the first time about two months ago, and had brilliant results. The texture was great, but my tim was too big for the recipe so I tried again with double the dough.
This time there was a big funnel-shaped hole/tunnel through the whole top part of the bread, such that each slice looked like a handbag – an intact bottom half with a soft and springy but slightly too chewy bottom half, and a big loop on top that creates a “handle”.
I thought it might be my shaping technique, or maybe the proofing temperature was too high, etc. I’ve tried again 5 or 6 more times and every single time I have that huge inverted triangle-shaped tunnel on top. My family loves how it tastes but they now call this the “holey bread” ):
I’ve tested so many different fixes, I’ve tried with the standard recipe, with a double recipe, back to single recipe in a new loaf tin of the correct size, and I just cannot seem to get it to turn out right like the very first time.
I still trust the recipe but I cannot figure out what’s going wrong…
Would you (or any other readers) maybe know what the problem is and how to fix it?
Thank you!
Aamer says
Hi, You are the best and this is one of the best recipe i’ve come across, something i was searching for a very long time. tried tangzhong which was better than most breads i’ve tried, but this one is ultimate.
By the way, i’ve tried this recipe a few times and quite like it. Question i had was, can i put the dough in fridge overnight for final proof and then bake in the morning to enjoy fresh baked bread for breakfast? My family loves fresh baked bread
Thanks again
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Aamer Thank you. I have not tried it my self but it should be ok.
Rowena Ocampo says
hi Shihoko, I just tried your recipe because my daughter asked me to make a Japanese milk bread and i saw your recipe and followed. I made it shape like a dinner roll instead of a regular loaf. It came out good and it was perfect, my question is whats the shelf life of the bread, how long you can keep it soft like that? can i put egg in the ingredients too?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Rowena. How long it last and how to store is in the post 😀
Catherine says
Hi! I love your recipe. My family is now enjoying nice breakfast toast with this recipe. I am keen to try using fresh yeast instead since I have them at hand. Are you able to suggest the adjustments to the recipe with fresh yeast being used? Thanks!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Catherine, It is in the post. You need about 15g of of fresh yeast.
Yuniwati says
Your recipe is good, i get fluffy bread for my families. Thank you so much for your recipes. Please upload more bun or bread with yudane method. I am waiting for that. Do you have instagram ?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Yuniwati, yes I do. Just see the sidebar, there should be Instagram Icon that you can click 😀
Yuniwati says
Can i know measurement of your bread mould? Because i baked many times but in 30 minutes the dough never reached the bread tin. May be you know why is it? Thank you
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Yuniwati, My bread mould size is in the recipe card. You may need to check the temperature and if it does not risse need to leave longer till it rise.
Michelle says
Hi, dough didn’t rise. What went wrong?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Michelle, Sorry to hear your dough did not rise. There are a lots of cause I could think of….but because I don’t know how you made it I can’t pinpoint what went wrong.
Mia says
Can you check if your yeast is still working?
Karen says
Hi Shihoko,
I’ve tried your recipe few times and loving the bread. Thank you for sharing again. I would like to be more adventurous and am wondering if I can make your dough into individual pieces and put stuff like luncheon meat or sausage. Do you think that might work?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Karen yes it would work 😀
Karen says
Another question. If I were to use wholemeal flour, what would be the proportion of bread flour Vs wholemeal? Half half or 1 part wholemeal to 3 parts bread flour?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Karen, I have not tried to add wholemeal so I am not sure.
Angela says
Hi, just prepared the Yudane Dough. But, my yudane is not as moist as yours (in picture). Would it be okay?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Angela, when it is just made it is not sticky but become sticky when gluten formed after it is rest overnight 😀
Metta says
Hi Shihoko, can I use this recipe to make donuts?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Metta, I think it is too soft and fluffy for donuts dough, but I have not tried.
Hachiko says
Hai, can i use this recipe to make melon bun? I wanted to try melom bun with yudane recipe, is it will become more softer?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Hachiko, Yes you can 😀
Mia says
Hi Shihoko! Thanks for your recipe. It’s easy to follow. I used whole wheat flour in the yudane with 1:1 water. Yudane: 50 gram ww flour and 50 gram water. The rest: 200g bread flour + 130ml milk. I wanted to practice so I handkneaded the dough, takes about 20 mins to come to almost window pane using slap and fold. I then let it rise overnight in the fridge and shape it in the morning. Took around 1 hour 10 mins to rise in the room temp oven (not switched on at all) . The dough went to the top of my tin (2.75in tall) before one of the roll cracked. I baked it 180 deg 25 mins. Brushed with butter after it came out of the oven. I made two small rolls out of the recipe, but I think because the pan was wider, it was not sufficient so I could still see the rolled up coils on the side. But it smells delicious and very soft to touch. I will try it again with more dough!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Mia 😀 That’s fantastic! Well done 😀
Mia says
I tried it again today. it was even more perfect than the first time. It is a great recipe to keep for sure. Thanks again!
Ray says
Hi, I am a total beginner Bread Maker. Today I did your recipe for the 3rd time and thought I really had it this time. First rise went really good, more than doubled, and the second rise came to the top of the Bread tin but unfortunately when I put it into the outside oven …… it sank. I had put slightly more yeast in the mix and the outside oven was at about 220 deg. Could either of these things have made this happen. The dough felt so light and fluffy this time … I thought I had it.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ray I think so maybe you put too much yeast.
Naomi says
Hello,
Can I make this in the bread maker only and skip the oven? My little one wants to do in all on her own :X. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Naomi, yes you can. Just leave them in the bread maker and let the bread maker do all the work for you 😀
Jo says
If I use the bread machine when do I add the Yudane
What is the order for ingredients
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jo, My machine says I need to add wet ingredients first. When I let my bread machine do all the work, I add milk, sugar, yeast, and Yudane. Then add flour and salt 😀
Dee says
Hey! Can dry active yeast be used? If yes then how do I bloom it and when do I add it to the flour?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Dee, Sorry no if you are going to use this recipe because active yeast need to be dissolved with water or milk and that amount of liquid will change the ratio(baker’s percentage). Having said that, yudane method can be used with active yeast if you adjust the recipe 😀
Mia says
you can try to use about 1-2% of flour weight in active dry yeast so around 2.5-5grams so try 3.5 grams and bloom in with some amount of milk and sugar (from the bread portion), add it along with all the wet ingredients.
Morgan says
Hi there
I’m super excited to try your milk bread recipe. Thank you for your thorough remarks on what to use. However I have 2 questions, what percentage of milk do you use and why do you not use dry milk powder as an extra ingredient?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Morgan, do you mean the fat content? I used full cream milk in Australia. 4.1g of fat in 100ml of milk. No reason, I just don’t use powdered milk 😀 It still perfectlly work.
Morgan Chan says
Hi Shihoko! The milk we have here in (Toronto, Ontario) comes in 0% 1% 2% and 3.25% (considered whole milk). Your recipe says 150ml of milk, wanted to know what the percentage was 🙂. or it doesn’t matter ?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Morgan, I used the milk which called “Full cream milk” in Australia which fat content is 4g in 100ml of milk.
Xin Ee says
Hello Shihoko! Thank you for this fantastic recipe. I hand kneaded the dough and used a larger tin (19 x 11.5 x 11 cm). The dough took 1.5h to proof till the top (room temp: 33oC) and the gluten structure was strong enough to withstand that volume. The bread baked beautifully, brushed with butter. It only took 21 min to bake for my oven (fan). The bread is so soft that it is hard to cut into slices! You were right! This is the softest bread I’ve ever made and I’ve tried recipes using tangzhong and even mashed potato to make a fluffy bread. This is the winner out of all of them. The high hydration and yudane really made it work well. The dough was sticky, but not till it was unmanageable. Just a perfectly balanced recipe. Thank you so much!! Sending love from Singapore. 🙂
P.S. I really enjoy reading your blog post. The pictures are professional, and the detailed explanations are really lovely.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Xin Ee for your kind words 😀 I am glad that you liked Shokupan 😀 Thank you!