Japanese milk bread

THE SECRETS OF THE SOFTEST & FLUEST BREAD

Japanese milk bread is a delicate and beautiful know-how that has recently migrated from the shelves of small bakeries to large food chains. Nothing confirms its popularity better than demand, and it obviously is.

A fluffy, cloud-like crumb that retains its softness for a long time, and a sweetish taste — that’s why it is loved in Japan.

At the same time, this bread belongs to the rank of the simplest, it does not require the removal of sourdough, a long and ingenious proofing scheme. Therefore, you can safely bake it at home. You can start in the morning, and by lunchtime you will have a fluffy and tender white crumb that can be fried, or you can just eat it with jam and tea for dessert.

A master class on Japanese milk bread was conducted by Anna Malikova, the chef of the Remy Kitchen Bakery restaurant.

“The Japanese love everything soft and sweet, and this bread is just that — light, airy, fluffy and sweet at the same time. It keeps its softness for a long time and does not stale. This bread can be used for toast, as an alternative to American toast, in which softness is achieved through chemical additives.

In fact, this is a roll, it is a more rich product than ordinary bread. Because it contains butter, an egg, and sugar. Due to its properties, it was popularized in Japan, and the recipe has come down to us as “Japanese”, although, of course, no one calls it that there. It is known as “Hokkaido” or simply “milk bread”.

It quickly gained popularity not only in Japan, but also in other countries, because it is much less labor intensive compared to other types of bread. It does not use sourdough, proofing does not take much time, in total it will take about five hours for bread from and to.

The final proportions of the dough depend on how you want to shape the dough. I am providing a layout for working with a baking dish. If you want to make a loaf of bread, you need to add a little less liquid so that the dough is steeper and thicker and does not blur on the baking sheet. In this case, it is necessary to increase the proofing time. A thinner dough leads to a softer and more brittle texture, which is what we want with Japanese bread. “

1. The recipe is for three loaves of bread.

Let’s start with brewing. This is a mixture of wheat flour and water, brewed on the stove, it is needed to make the bread softer and more tender. The tea leaves are saccharified and not. Sugared tea leaves are often rye ones and, for example, are used for Borodino bread. Malt, coriander, cumin are also added there. Such brewing predominantly affects aromatics.

Wheat brews are not saccharified, they affect the texture of the bread, making it softer and more tender.

Also, bread made with infusion becomes stale more slowly.

Take 30 grams of wheat flour and 150 grams of cold water, you can from the tap. Mix everything in a saucepan, put it on fire and keep it on low heat, stirring so that there are no lumps. When the temperature reaches 60 degrees, the tea leaves will turn into a paste, which is what we need. By the way, tea leaves used to be used as wallpaper glue.

Cover the tea leaves with foil in contact and leave to cool. In the process of cooling, the tea leaves become gelatinous and thicker, like a very cool porridge. The tea leaves can be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours. If it starts to turn gray, throw it away.

2.

You should have about 180 grams of brew. Mix it with 525 grams of flour, 11 grams of fresh yeast, 7 grams of salt, 83 grams of sugar, 38 grams of milk powder, 150 grams of water, 65 grams of an egg, 45 grams of butter in a bowl. You can take any flour. Stir all over again at minimum speed, after five minutes increase to medium.

The yeast will be responsible for raising the dough. Although this bread can be made with sourdough, it will not taste so sweet.

Powdered milk and water can be used. Or whole milk. I don’t see much difference.

3.

Stir the dough for 10–15 minutes. Only experience will help you understand that the dough is ready. It should become uniform, smooth, satin and come off fairly easily from the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a container and cover. After 50 minutes, open, wrinkle, close, leave for 50 minutes, wrinkle again, and then leave for 40 minutes.

4.

The dough should increase in size by two and a half to three times. See the difference. This is the same amount of dough before and after proofing.

5.

Divide the dough into 120 gram pieces. Flatten the dough with your palm, and then roll each piece into a ball or bun and leave to rest under the plastic for 10–15 minutes. Each time after manipulating the dough, you must give it a rest. Imagine that the dough is a muscle, and with any impact it tenses. Unrespirated dough will tear.

6.

Roll the rested dough into balls again, rolling it on the table several times in a circular motion. The photo shows that once again the rolled dough is lighter and smoother.

7.

Ribbing is visible on the underside. With this side down, place the dough in tins, in a row of three balls. Leave it under a towel to rest for another hour and a half.

In fact, after kneading and proving, the dough could be divided into larger pieces and put into the molds as a whole, and not in three pieces. The question of beauty.

Another beauty question — each ball of dough can be rolled into a roll before being put into the mold. This will give the finished bread a slightly flaky texture.

8.

The finished dough rises two to three times. Do a simple test. Press gently on the side of the dough, at the base of the cap (the dough is stretched there). If the dough falls through and does not regain its shape, it means that it has stopped and must be baked urgently. If it recovers very slowly, it means that the condition is perfect — in the oven. If it springs quickly, then it still needs to stand.

9.

Before sending to the oven, brush the dough with melange (yolk diluted in water).

10.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place a container of water in it. Send the bread to the oven, after 15 minutes, remove the container with water and leave the bread to bake for 15–25 minutes. Cool the finished bread on a wire rack.