Shokupan slices are typically what you find in the famous tamago sando, fruit sando, or katsu sando from 7-Eleven or Lawson stores in Japan. While the egg salad or katsu fillings are an important part of each sandwich, the shokupan slices offer a pillowy texture that is perfect for any kind of sandwich. These days you can find shokupan in loaf form or cut into thicker slices from your local Japanese grocery store or bakery. I’m very fortunate to have bakeries like Cream Pan or Mitsuwa Marketplace that makes bread fresh daily.
What is shokupan or Japanese milk bread?
Shokupan is a traditional milk bread in Japan and literally means “food bread” or “eating bread.” While the popularity of bread in Japan has had a complicated and long history, milk bread or fluffy white bread in the style of Pullman loaves weren’t really popularized or even introduced until American soldiers came to Japan in the 20th century. What makes shokupan so special is its extra fluffy and soft texture, but also its ability to stay soft for a longer period of time without processed ingredients. Its high hydration dough (and the dough starter that makes this dough manageable to knead) is to thank for this cloudlike texture. Not to be confused with its cousin, Hokkaido milk bread, this dough is just as milky, but less sweet.
What is Tangzhong or Yudane?
Shokupan dough is similar to Hokkaido milk bread dough because they both use a starter to make it easier when dealing with their high hydration doughs. The higher the hydration, the more water in the dough and the softer the bread will become. Most high hydration doughs (like sourdough) can be tricky because there is so much water in the dough it can become quite sticky and hard to knead—even with a stand mixer. To counteract the difficulty of high hydration dough, Japanese, Tawiwanese, and Chinese bakers have come up with ways to include what’s known as “starters” that gelatinizes the starches in boiling water. Here are the two types of starters:
Yudane method: This is the traditional method of making milk bread in Japan. It’s a patented method involving mixing boiling water and flour and then letting it rest overnight. It uses 20% of the overall flour contents of the entire recipe, and then a ratio of 1-part flour to 1-part water. Tanzghong method: This method was popularized by blogger and author Christine Ho in the early 2010s after adjusting the method from Yvonne Chen’s book, “65° C Bread Doctor.” Tangzhong uses 7% of the entire flour contents of the recipe, and then a ratio of 1-part flour to 5-parts liquid. It’s a faster method and you just make a roux of flour and liquid (often water or milk or both), and heat it on the stove until it thickens to the consistency of thick paste. You are then able to use the starter in the dough once it’s cooled to the touch.
I’ve tried both ways and prefer using the tangzhong method because it’s quicker and gives me the same outcomes in my bread texture as the yudane—a fluffy Japanese white bread.
The bread loaf pan
For this recipe, I used a pullman style loaf pan (also known as a pain de mie) with a lid to get flat even sides that is good for sandwiches, like tamago sando. The specific pan I used for this recipe is 9″ x 4″ x 4.” If you’re unable to find this type of pan, you can also use a traditional loaf pan (like ones for banana bread). Using a lid is also optional if you aren’t able to find a pullman pan with a loaf, but please note that your loaf will have round tops and not have a smooth top.
Baking tips
Use a scale to get accurate measurements of all the ingredients. Like all baking recipes, it’s imperative to get accurate measurements, and weighing out ingredients is a foolproof method. I’ve been known to accidentally add too much flour to my measuring spoons, and weighing out ingredients helps prevent adding too much flour or sugar or worse, yeast! Use a stand mixer to save time with mixing the ingredients and kneading. Premix wet ingredients (like my eggs and milk) for even distribution. Premix dry ingredients to the bowl first & turn on the mixer while you add the wet ingredients. In the past, I have accidentally added all the ingredients willy nilly into the mixer without a second thought (for example, adding eggs, then milk, then all the dry ingredients and starting the machine), and this gave the dough too many lumps with unincorporated flour balls. Check your dough proofing every 30 minutes and use an oven if your room is too cold (colder than 70 °F). Some ovens even have a “proofing” option. I like to use the warming option in my older oven to preheat for about 3 minutes, but turn it off before putting in my dough to proof. You don’t want the temperature to be higher than 90 °F.
