Hokkaido Milk Bread Tangzhong Roux Method Recipes

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD RECIPE WITH TANGZHONG METHOD | #BREADBAKERS

Steps:

• To prepare the Tangzhong (Water Roux), whisk flour and water in a pan.
• Place the pan over medium to low heat. Continue to whisk the mixture and cook it until it thickens like pudding. Let the prepared water roux cool to room temperature.
• In a bowl, add active dry yeast, sugar and lukewarm milk. Stir the mixture and set aside until yeast froths.
• In a large mixing bowl, take flour, milk powder, salt, prepared water roux (Tangzhong) and activated yeast solution. Start kneading the dough with milk.
• Add 1 tbs of oil and continue to knead.
• Place this dough in a greased bowl and cover it with cling wrap. Let the dough rest until it doubles in Volume.
• Once dough doubles in volume, punch the dough to release the air and gently fold the dough.
• Divide the dough into four equal parts. Roll each part into a rectangular sheet. Fold both the opposite edges towards centre. Now start rolling this sheet.
• Similarly shape all the dough portions and arrange all these in a greased loaf pan.
• Let the shaped dough rest until they double in volume.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven at 200 °C for 10 minutes.
• Bake the bread in preheated oven for 35 minutes.
• Once baked, take the loaf pan out from the oven and demould the bread. Place it on a wired rack and let it cool completely.

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a pan, combine water and flour and whisk. Then place it over medium-low heat on the stove and keep whisking with a spatula, until you get a thick gel-consistency mixture (and it reaches 65°C which is 150°F)
• Pour it onto a plate, cover with plastic wrap and let it cool at room temperature.
• Into your stand mixer's bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and activate. Then add yeast and warm milk (ideally at 35-40° C / 95°-104°F).
• Gradually add the beaten egg, condensed milk (or powdered), Tangzhong and let everything incorporate.
• Add the softened butter and let knead for about 20 minutes.
• Place the dough into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let it rise for 50 minutes in a warm place.
• After the dough has doubled in size, gently press it to degas it.Divide it into 3 equal pieces and roll them into balls (like this). Cover and let them rise for 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, take the 3 balls and roll them like Umi does in this video (it's easier for you to watch this rather than reading how to do it!)
• Put the balls into a loaf pan (grease it if necessary. I used a paper pan, so I didn't grease it) and let rise for 40 minutes.Want to make buns? Instead of dividing in 4 balls, divide it into 8/10 balls, then let rise for 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven at 180°C (350°F).
• Combine milk and egg, then brush the your bread and bake for about 20 minutes or until it gets puffy, and golden brown.
• As soon as you take it out of the oven, brush it with more milk.
• Let it cool down onto a cooling rack.
• This bread surprisingly lasted a few days and it was so good after 5 days! Store it in an airtight container.

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combined the ingredients for the starter. Stir continuously for 4-5 minutes or until the starter thickens to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit until the starter gets to room temperature.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together bread flour, sugar, yeast, dry milk powder, and salt. Once mixed, add in milk, starter, and beaten egg.
• Using the dough hook attachment, beat on low for 5 minutes. Add in butter and beat 5 more minutes. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for a final 5 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equally sized pieces. Roll each out to be 8"x5" and then fold each of the long sides in 1". Starting on one of the shorter edges, roll up and then place in a greased 9"x4" pan. Repeat with each piece of dough.
• Cover and let rise an additional 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the dough has risen, brush the top of the dough with heavy whipping cream. Place into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the inside is 190 degrees.
• Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before removing bread from pan. Let cool on a cooling rack.

SOURDOUGH HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD WITH TANGZHONG

Steps:

• See the Photo Gallery below for step-by-step process photos.
• Starter
• Mix the starter ingredients in a straight-walled, transparent container with space for at least 50% growth. (See photo gallery where 150ml grows to approximately 225ml in a Pyrex container.)
• Press down with your knuckles to create a uniform surface and to push out air. This reduces drying and allows you to see actual CO2 aeration over time.
• Let the starter develop at room temperature. It takes 6-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to peak.
• Tangzhong
• In a small saucepan, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Cook it on med-low heat for several minutes until it's thickened, stirring frequently.
• Remove the pan from the heat and see the instructions below for melting the butter in the tangzhong if you're using a stand mixer.
• Dough Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
• These instructions are for using a stand mixer. Scroll to the end for hand-kneading instructions if you do not have a mixer.
• Add the butter in chunks to the tangzhong to melt it.
• Whisk the two eggs and then the milk into the tangzhong-butter mixture. Set aside briefly.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, briefly whisk together the flour, sugar and salt; and then add the sweet stiff starter, separating it into 5-6 portions as you add it to the bowl.
• Now pour in the prepped wet ingredients.
• With the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed for a minute, scrape down the sides, and then mix on medium speed for about 15 minutes. As you approach the 15-minute mark, the dough will become smooth and should pass the windowpane test.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, form it into a ball, flip it smooth side up, cover and let rise for 6-12 hours depending on room temperature. If you refrigerate the dough, plan for longer rise times. See the photo gallery for approximate dough expansion during the bulk fermentation.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Prepare your pans by greasing them. You can use two standard loaf pans, or make one loaf and eight rolls in a 9" round pan like I did. Other options include: sixteen rolls in two 9" round pans, eighteen rolls in two 8" square pans, twenty-four rolls in two 9" square pans, and eighteen rolls in a 9x13" rectangular pan. Your total dough weight is about 1470g.
• Scrape the dough out onto a clean countertop. There's no need for flour. Press the dough into a rectangle, divide it and roll the pieces into balls.
• Place the dough balls in your pans, cover and let proof for 2-4 hours (more if you put the dough in the refrigerator).
• Baking*
• Preheat your oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.
• Bake loaves for 45-55 minutes and rolls for 30-35 minutes. Cover with foil partway through if the bread seems to be browning excessively.
• The internal temperature when ready should be at least 190F.
• Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the top with butter while its hot, and then let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans.
• After the bread is completely cooled, store it in a plastic bag at room temp for a week or longer.
• *Bread baked in a glass loaf pans will need longer than metal pans.
• Instructions for kneading by hand
• Mix all of the ingredients except the softened butter in a bowl with a spatula, dough whisk and/or your hands. Let rest for 10 minutes, then transfer to your countertop and knead by hand, adding 2 Tbsp of butter at a time, kneading between butter additions until the butter is incorporated and the dough stays together. Now follow the instructions above from when you transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and start the bulk fermentation.

JAPANESE MILK BREAD

Steps:

• Place the water in a small saucepan. Add the bread flour and whisk until you have a smooth mix with no lumps. Add the rest of the milk and whisk to combine.
• Heat over medium heat while whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. The resulting mixture should have a thick, pudding-like consistency.
• Scrape the mixture into a bowl and then cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the tangzhong to prevent a skin from forming on top.
• Allow the tangzhong to cool to room temperature.
• In your mixing bowl, place the lukewarm milk and dissolve about 1 tsp of the sugar in the liquid. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and stir gently to mix. Allow the milk + yeast mixture to stand for about 10 - 20 minutes until the yeast is activated. The mixture should become bubbly and frothy on the surface.
• Once the yeast is activated, add the milk powder (if using), the rest of the sugar, tangzhong, the egg, flour, and finally the salt.
• Using a spatula, mix the dough to combine the ingredients and to help form a scraggly dough.
• With the dough hook attached to your mixer, knead the dough for about 5 minutes on a low speed (speed 2 or 3). The dough will be very sticky and stick to the sides, but continue mixing and the dough will start to come together.
• After 5 minutes of kneading, add the butter in 3 - 4 additions, mixing for about 20 seconds in between. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure the dough mixes well.
• Once all the butter is incorporated into the dough, turn up the speed to 4 - 5 (medium speed) and knead for a further 5 - 7 minutes. Scrape the bowl once or twice while kneading.
• The dough should become smooth, satiny and pull off cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into a ball. Then place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Keep the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to double in size (about 1 - 2 hours, depending on the weather/ambient room temperature).
• When the dough has proofed in a warm place, you can transfer it to the fridge for a couple of hours just to make it a little easier to handle. THIS IS AN OPTIONAL STEP.
• Alternatively, place the bowl in the fridge and let it slow proof for about 12 hours. The dough will also be easy to handle when chilled.
• Once the dough is proofed and you're ready to shape the dough, prepare the loaf pan. Butter 1 - 4.5 x 8.5 inch loaf pan and dust the pan with flour. If making dinner rolls, butter a 9 or 8 inch square cake pan, and dust the sides with flour. Set aside until needed.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press all the excess air out of the dough.
• Weigh the dough, and divide it into 4 equal portions.
• Roll out each dough portion into a six inch (approximately) square.
• Fold the opposite corners of the square in towards the middle.
• Roll up this piece of dough, starting from the pointed end. Make sure you roll up the dough firmly, and a little tightly. If it's too loose, you may end up with large holes in the baked bread.
• Once you've rolled up the dough to the top, fold the pointed edge in and pinch the seam to seal.
• Place the rolled up dough in the dough pan, seam side down. There will be 4 rolls per loaf pan.
• Repeat with all the dough portions and place them in the loaf pan.
• Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and let the dough proof in a warm place, until doubled in size. This can take about 1 - 2 hours depending on the ambient room temperature. The dough should rise to just below the top of the loaf pan.
• Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces.
• Roll each piece into smooth, round dough balls and place them in the square baking pan, with about ¼ - ½ inch of space between each ball. Each square baking pan should have 9 rolls each.
• Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and let the dough proof in a warm place, until doubled in size. This can take about 1 - 2 hours, depending on the ambient room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Once preheated, AND the bread is proofed, brush the top of the bread dough with a milk wash (for a more matte crust), or an egg wash (for a glossy crust). Bake in the preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes (for the loaf), or 20 - 30 minutes (for the bread rolls). If the bread starts to caramelize too much in the oven, place a piece of foil over the surface of the bread to prevent it from burning.
• If you have a thermometer, bake until the internal temperature is about 190 - 205°F (88 - 96°C).
• Remove the loaf pan / baking pan from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto a wire rack and let it cool down further.
• This bread is easier to slice when at room temperature, but can be enjoyed warm too.