i grew up eating japanese milk bread all the time and my mom has been begging me to try to bake it. after SEVERAL tries, i finally got the moist, milky, melt in your mouth, fluffy, texture japanese milk bread should be.
for the tangzhong starter:
1/3 cup of condensed milk
1.2 ounces of fresh yeast - aka appx. 1 package of active dry yeast
2&1/2 cups of bread flour (regular all purpose also works if you don’t have any bread flour!)
1/2 cup of evaporated milk
extra evaporated milk for a milk wash
in a small sauce pan, over medium-low heat whisk together your bread flour, water, and whole milk
whisk for appx 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens into a paste
set aside and let it hang out
in a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, milk powder, and salt
in a saucepan, heat up 1/2 cup of evaporated milk, whisk gently until milk is scalding hot
once the milk has reached the desired temperature, remove from heat and stir in condensed milk until dissolved, immediately add in yeast. let yeast mixture hang until foamy.
in the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, add your melted butter, tangzhong, whisked egg, and yeast mixture
knead together until a wet, but supple dough is formed
i used the dough hook attachment on my mixer for like 5 minutes, scraping the sides down as i went
place your dough ball in a lightly greased bowl and let rise for an hour - an hour and a half, it should not be doubled in size.
once dough is proofed, turn out onto a lightly floured surface:
if you want to make rolls: cut your dough into eight equal parts and roll into little balls
place into a 9 in. cake pan
cover and let proof for an hour
brush lightly with evaporated milk
bake at 350 for 25-30 mintues
if you want to make a loaf: cut dough into four equal parts
roll out each quarter into a 4x8 rectangle and fold in half, twice
place them side by side into a 9x5 loaf pan
cover and let proof until dough has risen to the top of the loaf pan (appx an hour)
brush lightly with evaporated milk
bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes
