Sourdough shokupan

TIME8 hours MAKES1 loaf PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

An extremely light and fluffy shokupan (Japanese milk bread), which is perfect on its own, toasted, or grilled with pizza sauce and mozzarella. Originally adapted (and modified over the years) from The Perfect Loaf.

INGREDIENTS

  • 240g bread flour
  • 80g whole milk (warmed)
  • 50g egg (beaten)
  • 15g caster sugar
  • 6g salt
  • 100g levain
  • 150g tangzhong
  • 50g unsalted butter

Tangzhong

  • 120g milk
  • 30g bread flour

Egg wash

  • 1 egg
  • Splash of milk
  • Pinch of salt

Night-before levain

This levain will take about 12 hours to mature at room temperatures (22-24ºC).

  • 13g mature starter
  • 7g sugar
  • 40g bread flour
  • 40g water

STEPS

Levain

  1. The night before, make the levain; adjust the amount of sourdough starter and the ambient temperature of the levain as needed.

Mix

  1. In a medium saucepan, mix the milk and flour and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the tangzhong thickens. Pour onto a place in a thin layer, and place in the fridge or freezer to cool down.

  2. Take out the butter, and cut it into 1/2 inch pats. Leave it to warm to room temp.

  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, milk, egg, sugar, salt, levain, and tangzhong, and mix for about 5-6 minutes on medium speed. The dough should clump around the dough hook but still be sticky (and will not fully remove from the bottom of the mixer bowl). Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

  4. Mix for another 2-3 minutes. Then, add the butter piece by piece, letting each incorporate before adding the next (about 8 minutes total).

Bulk fermentation

  1. Leave the dough in a warm spot to bulk ferment for 4 hours1. Perform 2 sets of stretch and folds at the beginning, 30 minutes apart — after completing the second set, form the dough into a tight boule on your counter and then return it to its bulk fermentation container. When using my proofing box, I like to set the bulk fermentation temperature to 26-27ºC.

Shape and proof

  1. Spray a 9x4x4 inch pullman pan with neutral oil. Tip the dough out into the counter, divide into 3 portions of about 200g, and shape each into a taut ball. Place each ball into the pullman pan container.

  2. Cover the pan with plastic, and leave to proof in a warm spot for 3.5 hours. When using my proofing box, I like to set the bulk fermentation temperature to 27ºC. When fully proofed, the dough should rise almost to the rim of the Pullman pan.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven with a rack on the bottom third to 180ºC.

  2. If baking without the pullman pan lid, brush the top of the dough with egg wash, and bake for 30-40 minutes. If baking with the lid on, remove the lid at this point and return the pan to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

  3. After 20 minutes, vent the oven and remove the baking tray with water. Continue to bake for another 30-35 minutes. The internal temperature of the loaf should be 96-99ºC.

  4. Leave to rest on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing.

NOTES

  1. Due to the dough enrichment, the dough might take longer to rise — simply give it additional time as needed. ↩︎

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