Japanese milk bread may be one of the most famous breads in Japan, but rest assured, you can easily make it at home. When you make this bread, anyone who wants it will definitely love it.
ingredients :
For starter :
- Bread flour: 2 tablespoons (25 g)
- Water: 6 tablespoons
For bread:
- Bread flour: 300 grams (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
- Yeast powder: 2 teaspoons (7 g)
- Milk: 120 ml (1/2 cup)
- Butter: 30 g (2 tablespoons melted butter)
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 3 tablespoons (42 g)
- Eggs: 1 pc
- Egg yolk: 1 pc
Preparation method:
To make Japanese milk bread, you must first prepare its starter. To do this, mix 25 grams of flour with 6 tablespoons of water in a small pan and stir until smooth. Then put it on the heat and stir constantly to thicken. Turn off the heat when it thickens enough to leave a trace of the spoon on it.
In a large bowl, add flour, yeast, milk, melted butter (not hot), sugar, salt and eggs and mix. Then add the starter and stir thoroughly to mix the ingredients. You can do this either with a mixer or by hand. Gently transfer the dough to a level and knead well, adding a little flour if necessary. Then transfer the dough to a well-greased pan. Cover and simmer in a warm place for 1 hour.
After the dough has doubled in volume, take the air out of the dough and divide it into three parts. Spread each piece of dough in an oval shape and fold the dough in half from both sides and glue it together. That means you have to have three layers of dough on top of each other. Then roll the dough gently if needed. Do the same with all three pieces of dough and put all three rolls of dough together in a 22 by 12 cm rectangle that you have greased with oil. Cover again for 40 minutes until the dough is puffed and reaches the edge of the mold.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius. Beat the egg yolks lightly and rub on the dough with a brush. Place the mold in the oven and let the breads bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. After baking, take the Japanese bread out of the mold and place it on a cooling rack to cool. Your bread is ready and you can taste it.
