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Soft, rich, and slightly sweet, Hokkaido Milk Bread has a texture that is unmatched. Popular in Asian bakeries, this bread has its distinctive texture due to the usage of a tangzhong, a cooked starter. The tangzhong is cooked to the consistency of pudding before it is incorporated into the dough.
A staple at Asian bakeries, Hokkaido is created by beginning with a cooked starter, also called a tangzhong. This mixture is created by mixing together flour, milk, and water and cooking it on the stove until it is thick and pudding-like in texture. This starter makes the bread soft and springy.

Hokkaido Milk Bread Recipe
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Electric Mixer
- Medium-Sized Bowl
- Small Microwave-Safe Bowl
- Wire whisk
- Deep Loaf Pan
- Sharp knife
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Flour
- ¼ cup Milk
- ¼ cup Water
- 2½ cups Flour
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 1 teaspoon Dry Milk Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Milk
- 1 pc Egg
- ¼ cup Softened Butter
- Heavy Cream or Melted Butter
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, Mix together the ¼ cup flour, the ¼ cup milk and the ¼ cup water. Stir this constantly for four or five minutes, cooking the ingredients together until it makes a mixture that is the consistency of mashed potatoes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and put the lid on it. Let it sit out at room temperature for twenty to thirty minutes or until the temperature of the mixture drops to room temperature.
- Using the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, stir together the 2 ½ cups flour, the ¼ cup sugar, and the yeast, along with the milk powder and the salt.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl or a 2 cup measuring cup, microwave the milk for about 25 seconds to bring it to room temperature. Crack the egg into the warm milk and beat them together.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture into the flour mixture. Add the pot of the flour mixture that you heated up earlier. Make completely sure that this mixture is not too hot or it will ruin your yeast and the bread will not rise well.
- Turn on the mixer and, using the dough hook, mix the mixture at low speed for about five minutes. Add the softened butter and mix with the dough hook for another five minutes on low speed. Finally, turn the speed to medium speed and knead the bread dough for a final five minutes.
- By now, the dough should be smooth and elastic and starting to make a dough ball. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and take the dough hook off. Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil over the bread dough along the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough ball so that the entire ball is coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and remove it to a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a log shape.
- Lightly grease a deep loaf pan.
- Use a sharp knife to divide the dough into four equal pieces. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each quarter into an eight by five inch rectangle. Roll the rectangle up from the short side to make a kind of tube.
- Place this tube in the prepared pan with the seam down. Repeat with the remaining dough quarters.
- Cover the pan with a clean dish towel and let the loaf rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread dough has risen, brush the top of the dough with heavy cream or melted butter.
- Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until it is golden brown.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for about 30 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Notes
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