Milk Shokupan (Japanese Style White Sandwich Bread)

Japan is generally regarded as being a rice-based food culture. However, bread — or pan in Japanese, derived from the Portuguese word pão — is eaten almost as widely. Many people prefer toast for breakfast over a bowl of rice, and sandwiches and filled sweet or savory breads called kashipan are just as popular for lunch as bentō and onigiri rice balls.

The most ubiquitous type of bread in Japan is the white and pillowy square-shaped bread called shokupan, which simply means “eating bread.” In the local supermarkets, cellophane bags filled with thick (up to one and half inches thick!) square slices of white bread, with the heels cut off, are very common. (In Japanese, the heels are called pan no mimi, which directly translated means bread ears.) Made of white flour, yeast, milk or milk powder, butter, salt and sugar, shokupan is both loved and taken for granted by most. It is basically a Pullman loaf derivation - sliced sandwich bread, usually made of plain white flour.

Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan)
from https://www.marthastewart.com/

This pillowy soft, subtly sweet sandwich bread is a beloved breakfast staple in Japan and is typically eaten sliced very thick, lightly toasted, and served with accompaniments like butter and jam.

Starter
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unbleached bread flour

Dough
6 cups unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup nonfat milk powder
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (not rapid-rise; one whole 1/4-ounce envelope)
1 1/3 cups whole milk, heated until warm to the touch (110 degrees)
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing
1 large egg white

Starter:

Whisk together milk, water, and flour in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until thickened slightly but still pourable (it should have the consistency of loose pudding), 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; let cool until warm to the touch but no longer hot, about 10 minutes.

Dough:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, and yeast. Make a well in center of mixture. Add milk, melted butter, and starter to well; stir until a dough forms. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic and springs back when lightly pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl brushed with butter; brush top of dough with more butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush two standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with butter. Punch down dough. Transfer to a clean work surface and divide in half. Roll each half into an approximately 9-inch log; transfer to prepared pans. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise until more than doubled in volume (doughs should rise about 1 1/2 inches above tops of pans), 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Whisk egg white with 1 teaspoon water and gently brush onto tops of dough. Bake until puffed, golden brown, and a thermometer inserted in centers registers 200 degrees, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack 15 minutes. Flip loaves out onto rack; let cool completely before slicing and serving, or store, unsliced and wrapped in parchment-lined foil at room temperature up to 3 days, or sliced and frozen up to 3 months.

Yield: Makes two 9-by-5-inch loaves