To make milk bread, you technically do not need the starter 湯種, or yudane (“you-da-ney”, Japanese) or tangzhou (“tahng-drung”, Chinese). But chances are that the most popular recipes you’ll come across will use one as a means to get a taller, fluffier and softer milk bread.
Yudane and tangzhong are technically the same word, just a different pronunciation of the same characters in Japanese and Chinese respectively and a slight variation on the method. Despite the debate about which came first, the Japanese or the Taiwanese/Chinese, my theory is that the word itself give us a clue. As I come from a Chinese family and my sister-in-law is Taiwanese, I learned that in Chinese and Taiwanese the word 湯種 literally translates to soup and to plant (verb), which doesn’t really have a strong meaning but could roughly translate as water/liquid starter. Because of this, the term in Chinese seems more like an adaptation word, or borrowed term, which leads me to believe that it must have actually originated in Japan. The second reason why it seems quite plausible that it started in Japan, is that Taiwan has strong influences from Japan and it’s common to see Japanese style breads in Taiwan. Therefore, it’s not unlikely that the famous Taiwanese baker that came up with the tangzhong method would have been inspired by the Japanese yudane. A sort of weird irony is that the well known “Hokkaido milk bread” seems to more commonly call for tangzhong rather than yudane… But I think it might be one of those things that’s called Hokkaido not because it’s from there but rather that it was inspired by Japanese milk bread. If anyone has more ideas or information on this, please let us know in the comments below!
Typical bread recipes have around 60% moisture content. Using either the yudane or tangzhong technique allows for higher hydration, like about 80% hydration! The higher water content means the bread will steam during baking which creates height and fluffiness. The increased moisture also helps the bread’s shelf life. Yudane uses a 1:1 ratio of flour to water. You simply mix boiling water with flour and comes out pasty and gritty. Tangzhong uses more liquid, somewhere closer to 1:5. You mix your water, sometimes milk, and flour and then cook it until and comes out as a smooth paste.
Sourdough Milk Bread
For our first foray into milk breads, we’re testing both a popular yudane and tangzhong recipe just to get a sense of how they are made and what they might taste like. We’ll use the popularly Google searched Chopsticks Chronicle Shokupan (yudane) and the popularly Youtube’d milk bread recipe Umi’s Baking Tangzhong Milk Bread. We’ll try out both recipes and get familiar with the techniques and see if we have a preference!
In the finished breads, there weren’t super distinct differences though the tangzhong recipe did come out just a tiny bit softer and with a hint more flavor. The yudane had a little more chew and a more distinct crumb. Both excellent breads and they are reminiscent of Hawaiian bread though lighter. And similarly, I could eat the tangzhong one by itself, otherwise with some butter and jam would be really nice. As sandwich bread it probably needs toasting as both are a bit soft to hold anything too wet.
There’s nothing like eating it fresh, though it’s still super moist the next day. Both breads will firm up a bit on day 2 and Umi’s tangzhong recipe tastes a bit more gummy or melt in your mouth while the Chopstick Chronicle’s yudane recipe held a nice delicate chew. Next time we’ll be testing Kitchen Princess Bamboo’s recipes where it’s a more direct comparison of the yudane and tangzhong techniques themselves. Check out Part 2 of our experiment here.
Japanese Hokkaido Milk Bread Recipe
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The Best Milk Bread Recipe Experiment Ep 2 | Kitchen Princess Bamboo Shokupan The Best Milk Bread Recipe Experiment Ep 3 | Josh Weissman v. Inga Lam The Best Milk Bread Recipe Experiment Ep 4 | Recipe Winner Fluffy Pita Bread
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Japanese How To Make Soft & Fluffy Tangzhong Milk Bread (shokupan)
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Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.All of the above are different terms used to refer to the same cloud-like, soft and fluffy milk bread. This milk bread is special not just for its soft texture, but also its capability to remain springy and moist for longer than ordinary bread. How is that possible, you might ask?
Hokkaido Milk Bread
This is a popular Asian method that involves cooking a ratio of 1:5 flour with liquid (either milk and/or water) into a gelatinous looking paste. This paste is then left to cool before adding to the rest of your ingredients.
The pre-gelatinized starch when cooked at high temperature is able to absorb a higher amount of liquid. When this is added to the dough, you are essentially adding more hydration to the dough. To put it simply, the dough is able to retain more water during kneading, proofing and baking. This in turn result in soft, cloud-like final baked product. If you’re keen to learn more about how the Tangzhong method affects your dough, King Arthur Flour provided a more detailed explanation here
If you would like to recreate this ultimate soft, fluffy and extremely milky Japanese bread at home, I have two different recipes – this Tangzhong Milk Bread recipe below, or the Hokkaido Milk Loaf recipe that I adapted from Christine’s Recipes. If you were wondering, they’re slightly different ingredients wise, but both recipes yield a delicious, soft and fluffy loaf. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. If I had to choose though, I’d say this recipe below yields a slightly taller loaf and is my current ultimate favourite go-to.
Strawberry Swirl Japanese Milk Bread
When baking this Tangzhong Milk Bread, you have the option to either bake the loaf with or without the Pullman tin lid.
Baking the loaf without the Pullman tin lid would result in a domed loaf as pictured below. Usually for dome-shaped loaves, I would egg wash to create a beautiful golden brown loaf. The loaf tend to brown a lot faster without the lid, so if your oven heats up quickly, you may want to tent it with some aluminium foil towards the last 5-10 minutes.
You will need the Pullman lid if you want a square-shaped loaf – which is more suited for sandwich making. My tip is to ALWAYS ensure to grease the lid! We don’t want the bread stuck to the lid.
Best Japanese Milk Bread Rolls Made With A Bread Machine
You will not require a wash if using the lid, so at Step 5 under Dough Shaping, when the loaf is at about 80% full to the rim of the tin, I would simply put the lid on and send it straight into the oven. The dough will expand in the oven to take up the remaining space and form a square-shaped loaf.
With the lid on, the dough takes a while longer to brown so you would need a slightly higher temperature. I would preheat the oven to 190°C and bake the covered loaf for 25 minutes, before lowering down the temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 5 minutes.
In my recipe below, I have included two methods for tangzhong making and dough kneading, using either conventional or Thermomix so do take note of the sub-headings. I have also prepared video guides showing you how you can make your own loaf of Tangzhong Milk Bread from start to finish. There are two videos – one each for conventional and Thermomix method respectively:
Japanese Milk Bread Recipe
This video below demonstrates how the dough is kneaded in the stand mixer. If you’re using a bread machine, please refer to this video HERE for dough kneading steps, and the video below for shaping.
If you enjoy this Tangzhong Milk Bread recipe, you may also wish to try my Tangzhong Wholemeal Bread
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