The product we used:
Make Puffy, Fluffy Bread Bricks
Japan loves rice, but they love bread, too. Really, they enjoy just about every carbohydrate.
And when they make bread, they really make good bread. Go to any of their bakeries and you’ll be mesmerized by all the scrumptious morsels on display. Among them is the beloved shokupan, the simple white bread we all love.
Japan white bread is known for its delicious flavor and chewy, soft bite. The crust is nearly as soft and delicious as the fluffy, white interior, making it perfect for young children who are not so fond of the crust found on typical American breads.
Another signature characteristic of Japanese white bread is the perfect cubical shape of the bread. The shape makes great, square slices that are perfect for sandwiches.
Our friends at EBM in Niigata, Japan make a great loaf pan that’s designed to help you make the best shokupan right at home. Continue reading to learn how to prepare your pan for first use, and then get a good shokupan recipe and some tips on how to get the most out of your EBM Altaite Loaf Pan.
Clean and Dry
If this is your first time using the EBM Altaite Loaf Pan, first clean and dry it thoroughly. Since it has a few places for water to hide, our recommendation is to clean it, wipe it down, and then put it in the oven to dry.
Season
After the pan is dry, you need to season it. Seasoning is the act of coating a metal pan with oil and then heating it in order to create a hard, stick-resistant coating on the outside of the pan. The Altaite isn’t naturally non-stick, and will require seasoning or else your bread will stick to it.
To get started, coat the inside of the pan with oil. Also coat the underside (the “inner” side) of the lid. We used shortening to season our pan. After applying the shortening, we placed the pan and lid (lid facing up) in the oven and we baked it in the oven at 200c (around 400f) for 20 minutes. We repeated this process three times. We tried to use the pan after only one seasoning, but the bread stuck to the pan. After seasoning three times (and using another small technique we’ll mention later) we were able to get flawless loaves of bread.
Now that you have a seasoned pan, let’s get baking!
Recipe
Ingredients
- Bread flour (domestic) 500g (1.1 lbs, or about 4 cups)
- Sugar 30g (2 tablespoons)
- Salt 6g (1 teaspoon)
- Dry yeast 6g (2 teaspoons)
- Margarine or butter 30g (2 tablespoons)
- Milk 370cc (1.56 cups)
Mix and kneed ingredients
Add the ingredients to a large bowl. Either by hand or with a bread mixer, mix and kneed the ingredients.
Rest the Dough
Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.
Shape and Rest again
Shape into three balls and let them rest for 10 minutes.
Roll Out, Fold, Roll In
Roll out each dough portion with a rolling pin, fold both ends, and roll from the near side to the far side.
Place in Loaf Pan
Place the dough portions into the pan, alternating clockwise and counterclockwise.
Raise the dough
Use your oven’s proofing function for the second raise at 40°C (104°F) for 30 minutes. Observe every 10 minutes as the rising may vary depending on temperature and humidity.
On hot days, let it rise to about 70% of the pan’s height. On cold days, let it rise to about 80% of the pan’s height, then remove from the oven once.
Bake
Preheat oven and then bake at 190°C (374°F) for 35 minutes. When baking is complete, take the pan out of the oven. To help take it out of the pan and to prevent shrinkage, tap (drop from a short distance) the pan on your countertop or cutting board
Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. I know you’re tempted to start cutting immediately (fresh bread is the best), but let it cool off first! That’ll help keep it moist and delicious.
Serve and Enjoy!
After the bread has cooled, it’s ready to eat! Slice into that bad boy and enjoy your genuine Japanese shokupan! Consider making a greedy grilled sandwich with your homemade shokupan! Yum!
