The Science of a Japanese Milk Bread: A Shokupan Recipe

Of the asian breads that have risen to fame, Shokupan must be a sure shoo-in for one of the most popular breads. Although it looks practically identical to regular white breads in shape, this Japanese milk bread stands apart by having an incredibly soft and fluffy texture that lasts for days. This is largely thanks to its popular derivative ingredient, Yudane, the gelatinized starch mixture that also adds a natural sweetness to the bread. When this Yudane is paired with the right composition of ingredients, we get a perfectly made loaf. That is exactly what we're going to do in this video, and naturally, we're using science to guide our way. From the proper making and use of Yudane, to the optimum amounts of milk, sugar, salt, and butter, we'll look into everything we need to know for the perfect loaf. Watch the video for more!

Loaf Pan
External Dimension 21x11x12 cm3
Internal Dimension 19.5x10x10.8 cm3

Ingredients:
Tangzhong
Bread Flour 60 g
Boiling Water 120 g

Final Dough
Bread Flour 240 g
Sugar (Sucrose) 18 g
Milk 50 g
Butter 15 g
Whole Egg 50 g
Salt 5 g
Instant Yeast (1/2 tsp) 1.8 g

Note on hydration calculation:
Water in Tangzhong 120 g
Water in Milk 0.87x50 = 43.5 g
Water in Whole Egg 0.74x 50 = 37 g
Water in butter 0.18x15 = 2.7 g
Total Liquid = 203.2 g
Total Flour = 300 g
Hydration = 100%*203.2/300 = 67.7%

#tangzhong #shokupan #milkbread #bread

References:
1. The Staling and Texture of Bread Made Using the Yudane Dough Method
Hiroaki Yamauchi et. al. Food Science and Technology Research.
2. 湯種添加量與熟成條件對麵包品質之影響 柯玉文
3. Rheological Dough Properties as Affected by Organic Acids and Salt
A. Maher Galal et al. 1978.
4. The Taste of Bread, Raymond Calvel
5. Baking tests: Effect of sucrose and water on yeast gassing power
Pierre Gélinas | Carole McKinnon
6. Iuga, Mădălina et al. “Impact of Dairy Ingredients on Wheat Flour Dough Rheology and Bread Properties.” Foods (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 9,6 828. 24 Jun. 2020, doi:10.3390/foods9060828
7. Fats and Oils in Bakery Products Clyde E. Stauffer
9. Baking tests: Effect of sucrose and water on yeast gassing power
Pierre Gélinas | Carole McKinnon
10. The Effect of Gelatinized Starch on Baking Bread

Chapters
0:00 Opening
0:38 Shokupan
0:57 What makes it a Japanese milk bread?
1:16 Tangzhong/Yudane
2:45 Recipe Walkthrough
16:40 Ideal Recipe
17:16 Preparing Tangzhong/Yudane
18:09 Final Dough
20:58 Preshaping
22:55 Shaping

[michaelprozonic]

Since I come from an engineering background, you know I had to spreadsheet all of my dough recipes and mine is eerily similar to yours including sections for yudane, poolish and the main dough. I really appreciate your scientific explanations and research

[vanessachrista]

I like how you include the science on your explaination of shokupan, thank you for sharing this.. ❤❤❤❤

[MikiCab]

More information than I will ever need for making bread. Thank you for your in-depth video on making bread. I am making this recipe while making the bread. Also thank you for making a recipe that is perfect for a one pound pan. Very good presentation skills. Update: Bread just came out of the oven and it looks great. Best Shokupan recipe yet. This is about the 4th recipe I have tried and seems to be the most successful as far as looks. Will be biting into it soon. Update: This is the recipe. Family just had it for dinner and they all agree this is the best Shokupan that I have made. Thank You so much for sharing this recipe and your very detailed video. Best tasting recipe for Japanese Milk Bread.

[brucejohnson]

I have made this a few times now, and it has always turned out great. It does take quite a while to proof compared to regular white bread.

[IrfanMulla-lcjh]

Just tried this. Turned out amazing. Enriched dough...quite soft and tastes great. Thank you

[markgreer]

Another fantastic video! Professor Seraphine is consistently a great presenter and I truly appreciate her ability to concisely and fully explain the basis for her conclusions. For those unfamiliar, I encourage you to check out and support her channel. After searching for years and testing dozens of Shokupan recipes, the recipe she posted previously has been my absolute go-to, perfect, at least once a week recipe. I'm excited to try her new (researched and tested) no honey, no condensed milk recipe. Thanks Seraphine! I look forward to you future videos. [from Hawai`i]

[CatbaronAle]

Beautiful science and research presentation. Extremely informative, thank you

[mercedesaschenbrenner]

Thank you! Finally, the science part AND recipe! ❤

[grijalvafamily]

This recipe is absolutely fantastic! I've tried four other recipes, but this is definitely the best by far.

[gerardquimbo]

I was just thinking of making shokupan, so serendipitous finding this video today!

[renee.]

Thank you soooo much!With your guiding I made my best shokupan ever!!!Thank you so much for it!!!!

[mold_wizard]

This is exactly what I need! Big thanks for all your work

[adangarcia]

Great info and well explained, tank you so much ❤

[marcs]

ANOTHER Awesome video! Really glad I subscribed... I love food science! THANKS for all your hard work!

[panasousa]

Incrível! Receba os parabéns de uma padeira do Brasil. :)

[duskodozet]

Thanks. Sraphine, you changed my baking to miracles although it's just science. Perfect representation.

[jossluizeman]

Multiply the recipe by 3 using the baker's formula.
Dough will not rise, dough temperature 27 degrees Celsius. Let it rise in a proofing cabinet for 2 hours. Use dry yeast. Question why is the yeast percentage so low? Normally that is around 1.7% of the flower weight, right? I kept your prescription. It doesn't work, what could I have done wrong? If milk powder is used instead of milk, the ratio is then 15 grams of milk powder with 135 grams of water is 150 grams of milk. Do you have an idea what it could be? The Thangzhong made with boiling water and placed in the refrigerator for 1 night. Then the temperature of the Thangzhong for water was taken into account for water temperature

[antonc]

Thanks for this.. I’ve been trying to experiment with shokupan recipes for my son’s lunchbox with limited success.

[martintide]

Love it, u inspired me to bake my own bread

[michaelhuang]

In Yamauchi's article, they reported "the resultant starch swelling and gelatinization and protein denaturation in Yudane dough make the gluten networks of the bread dough thick and rough."

So, theoretical if you make a 40% yudane bread (which is sweeter), it will have poor crumb structure, but this can be overcome by adding more vital wheat gluten to the recipe.