Shokupan (Japanese White Bread)

 24 October 2023

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, May 2022

I alluded to this recipe in my post about Pain de Mie which is made using a Pullman Loaf Pan. This loaf pan has a cover leading to a square loaf with four straight sides. The Pain de Mie was disappointing so I was looking forward to trying this other recipe using the Pullman Loaf Pan, doubly so because of some similarities to the recipe for Japanese Milk Bread which had been my favorite white sandwich bread for several years. 

The first step was creating yudane by mixing flour with boiling water, similar to the tangzhong used when making Japanese Milk Bread or Fluffy Dinner Rolls. This was mixed with cold milk after which flour and yeast were mixed in and the mixture rested for 15 minutes. Sugar and salt were then added to the dough which was kneaded on the stand mixer for 10 minutes. Softened unsalted butter was then mixed into the dough which was kneaded for an additional 5-10 minutes. After rising until doubled in volume, the sticky dough was divided into four portions each of which then rested for another 15 minutes. Using oil to offset the stickiness of the dough, each portion was patted into a square. This was folded in thirds and rolled to form a rectangle. The rectangle of dough was then rolled into a cylinder and placed into the Pullman Loaf Pan. After rising in the Pullman Loaf Pan, the dough was baked in a 375° oven. It takes a long time to make this bread: the total time, excluding the long cooling period, was almost 5½ hours, much of which was hands off.

This is a very good white sandwich bread. It features a pillowy interior with a uniform, fine crumb and a tender crust. It rises to nicely fill the Pullman Loaf Pan and retains its shape while cooling. It keeps well, staying tender and moist for days at room temperature and it stands up well to freezing. This is my new favorite white sandwich bread!