Hokkaido Milk Bread
The Hokkaido milk bread is a type of Japanese bread that is much softer and smoother in texture than other breads. It's similar to the way Chinese pastries are made, where a starter is made separately and later added to the dough. The starter makes the bread more soft and pillow-y. It doesn't have the crumby and grainy texture like other breads. Personally, I much prefer milk breads over regular breads, but they're difficult to find unless you live near an Asian grocery store. An even then, a fresh piece is quite rare. If you love milk breads, I recommend making your own batch for the freshest quality! I was very happy with the results. It came out perfect!
This recipe was adapted from Food52's recipe. I switched up a few ingredients, but still found good results with what I used. I also tried another recipe from the New York Times, but I found better results for Food52.
Serving: 1 9x4 inch loaf pan
Ingredients:
- Starter:
- water, 6 tbsp
- all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp
- The Dough:
- whole milk, 1/4 cup
- active dry yeast, 1 & 1/2 tsp
- all-purpose flour, 2 & 3/4 cup
- salt, pinch
- powdered sugar, 1/4 cup
- evaporated milk, 1/4 cup
- eggs, 2
- softened butter, 2 tbsp
Directions:
- For the starter, simmer water and flour in a small pot until it becomes thick.
- Add warm milk and yeast. Stir and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
- For the dough, sift flour, salt, and sugar together and mix.
- Add 1 egg and evaporated milk into the starter. Mix. Then add milk and mix.
- In the dry ingredients bowl, make a hole in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix all.
- Knead for 5 minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp butter and mix.
- Repeat #7.
- Knead for 5-10 minutes while adding 1 tbsp of flour.
- Cover and let the dough rise for 2 hours.
- Punch the dough and cut the dough into 3 pieces. Roll up the pieces at let it rise for one hour.
- Roll the pieces and put it into a 9x4 loaf pan.
- Use an egg wash over the dough.
- Bake for 350F for 25 minutes.
- Cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!
Links:
Food52:
http://food52.com/recipes/30962-hokkaido-milk-bread
New York Times recipe (alternate recipe):
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016275-japanese-milk-bread