Super Soft Asian Milk Bread 牛奶麵包
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UPDATE: By popular demand, I have shared an updated recipe and video tutorial on how to make Asian Milk Bread by Hand. Subscribe to my YouTube to see more delicious videos!
If you grew up in Asian communities, you probably need no introduction to the popular Asian style milk bread.
Commonly known as Hokkaido milk bread or Japanese milk bread, or milk toast, this super soft and fluffy bread has always been my preferred bread. Since this bread does not necessarily require ingredients from Hokkaido, Japan, I like to just call it soft milk bread for the sake of simplicity.
What makes this bread so special is the flavorful and texture.
The strong milky and slightly sweet flavor of this bread makes the traditional white bread taste so bland. And there is that signature soft texture. That incredibly fluffy and soft-pillowy texture makes this bread so addicting!
Don’t believe me? Take a look at this Instagram video I posted on pulling the bread apart:
The secret? All lies with the use of TangZhong – a special technique used in Asian bread baking.
TangZhong or 湯種 translates to water roux in Chinese. It is basically a creamy paste or roux made from cooking the water and flour mixture. Because the roux contains large amount of liquid, when it’s added to the bread it makes the bread traps extra moisture, hence the long lasting soft and fluffy bread.
The milk bread is so versatile that can served it as a toast for breakfast, make a sandwich for lunch, and serve as table bread for dinner. When I am bored, I also like to eat it as a snack with some soft butter or good jam. I am not crazy but the bread is just that yummy!
I have been experimenting my milk bread recipe on and off for a little over a year now. After testing over a dozen of recipes available online, I finally came up with this recipe to make the milkiest, softest, and fluffiest bread you’ll ever had. Ever since then, I have not bought a single loaf of bread from stores…which is a good thing I suppose considering all that crazy chemicals used in making some commercial bread.
The process of making this bread is slightly more complex than normal white bread baking due to multiple stages of proofing. Also, the dough is on the wet and sticky side so if you plan to knead the dough by hand, make sure you bring plenty of patience and strength.
Sounds like a lot lot of work? Yes!
Is it really worth it? Absolutely!
Super Soft Asian Milk Bread 牛奶麵包
Yield: 1 Loaf
Prep Time: 180
Cook Time: 35
Total Time: 215
Ingredients:
- 25g flour
- 100ml milk
- 330g bread flour
- 115g chilled water roux (TangZhong) from below recipe
- 1 large egg, about 60g + more for egg wash
- 5g active yeast + 35ml warm milk or water
- 70ml heavy cream
- 50g sugar
- 4g salt
- 30g butter, softened in room temperature
Directions:
To Make the Water Roux
- In a small sauce pan, combine the milk and the flour. Whisk using a egg beater until lump-free
- Place the pan over low heat while whisking to keep the lumps from forming. In 3 minutes, the mixture starts to thicken. Keep stirring for 2 more minutes until the mixture becomes a smooth pasty roux. You should be able to get soft peaks out of the roux. Cool down the roux completely before you use. I suggest you to make the roux the day before and chill it in the fridge overnight
To Make the Bread Dough for 1lb Loaf Pan (8.5" x 4.5" x 2.75")
- Proof the active yeast with 35ml of warm milk. Skip this step if you use instant yeast or fresh yeast
- In a stand mixer or bread machine, combine all the bread dough ingredients except for the butter. Place the wet ingredients on the bottom and the dry ingredients on top. Start kneading the dough in medium speed or according to the bread machine instruction. As the dough starts to form, feel the dough with your finger to make sure it’s soft and slightly sticky
- About 20 minutes into kneading and when the dough is completely formed, add the softened butter. Continue to knead to another 10 minutes or so
- When the dough is done, cover with a lid and let it ferment until the dough doubles the size.
- It normally takes between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours for the dough to fully rise depending on the room temperature. To speed up the process, you can preheat your oven to 100 F. Turn off. And place your dough in the oven
- When the dough is risen, place it on a workstation. Deflate by pressing down and pushing out the air. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes and divide it into four portions
- Knead the dough into four balls. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes
- Take a ball, roll into a rectangular sheet using a rolling pin
- Take one end of the sheet and fold into the middle. Take the other end and fold it to the middle but slightly over laps the first fold. Start from one unfolded end and roll the folded dough from one end to the other end to form roll
- Cover all four rolls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes
- Slightly press down the roll with your palm and roll out the dough to a rectangle. Flip over the dough and roll the rectangle into a cylinder. Pinch to seal the end
- Place all 4 cylinders into a parchment-paper-lined or well-oiled loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and proof for 1 to 1.5 hours depending on the temperature
- Preheat the oven to 350 F or 177 C. If you like slightly denser texture, stop proofing once the dough doubles the size and reaches the height of the loaf pan. For super soft bread, continue proofing the dough until it’s 1 inch above the pan
- Brush the loaf with egg was and bake at 350 F or 177c for 15 minutes. Take the loaf out and cover with a sheet of foil to prevent it from further browning. Place the loaf back to the oven
- Continue to bake for another 20 mintues. Remove the leaf from the pan and let cool on a cooking rack. Cut into slices once it’s completely cool down and serve fresh
Ready for more? Try these delicious dishes made using the milk bread!!
Truffled Egg Toast
Hong Kong Style French Toast
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May I ask, what type of flour does one use for Water Roux (TangZhong)
A P Flour or Bread flour?
Thank you
Amazingly soft with a delicious chew, Asian milk bread is wonderful to eat all by itself or as part of a very tasty sandwich. It’s better than regular plain breads, and if you’ve never tried it, you don’t know what you’re missing!
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I made this and followed the recipe . This is by far one of my favourite breads out there if not my favourite. Thank you so much!
Thanks Mariam for following my recipe. Glad the bread came out great!
Thanks for your recipes Yi! Will it be possible to let it proof overnight during the last stage and bake in the morning to get freshly baked bread? Thank you! Stay well!
Hi Tiffany, yes it’s possible but you need to leave the dough in the fridge overnight so it won’t get over-proofed. I did that before and it worked out reasonably well.
Hi Yi does it mean I put in the fridge after I have rolled the dough in the bread tin? Meaning only proof the next day?
Or
#2 put dough in tin. Proof it. Then when it reach the size I want. Put in fridge covered with cling wrap?
Thanks so much.
hi Tiffany, it’s the first one. The dough will slowly proof in the fridge overnight. However if you fridge is cold, i’d let the dough proof in room temperature until dough is slightly bigger than put in the fridge overnight for the slow proof. There will be some experimenting for sure. Hope this helps.
Hi Yi I made it yesterday and find the bread quite dense. I used instant yeast so skipped the 35ml milk. Is this why the bread is so “heavy”? Help. Thanks.
hi Tiffany, next please add the extra 35ml milk to the dough. The liquid to dry ingredient ratio needs to stay the same. Also, please let it proof a bit longer the second time, the texture will become lighter. Hope this helps.
I’m so excited, I tried this recipe and it turned out great! Best bread recipe so far.
My adjustments
1. Used all purpose flour, couldn’t get bread flour
2. Used full cream powdered milk and added extra butter in place of the heavy cream
I need assistance with the below please
Question 1
Can I use full cream milk at the same quantity specified in the recipe above in place of heavy cream?
Question 2
Can I use all purpose flour in place of bread flour?
I just tried this with these exact substitutions: I had no heavy cream (only whole milk) nor did I have bread flour (it’s sold out everywhere; I only have AP). It worked BEAUTIFULLY.
The only thing I noticed was that with 20 minutes of kneading, the dough was still very sticky. I ended up having to add a little bit more AP flour (did it teaspoon by teaspoon) until it was right. The bread turned out wonderfully soft-as-a-pillow, so I think this was okay to do in the end.
Hi Grace, thanks for trying out the recipe and glad that you could make it work with your own adjustments.
Thank you for your response. I just made mine too and it worked
hi Marian, thanks for checking out the recipe and glad that you were able to work out with the adjustments. Happy baking!
Did an adaptation based on the 1-2-3 Sourdough Method with a few adjustments due to the peculiarities of Sourdough as a leavening agent vs baker’s yeast. Turned out absolutely fantastic. I also slightly adjusted the sugar and salt to my own taste. Made my home-cultured starter, Bread Majors, very proud, and myself as The Glutenfather even happier.
Thanks for the guidance! Using your recipe as a baseline and then reconstructing it with different methods was much better than taking existing sourdough Hokkaido recipes and trying to bend over backwards to make them work.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad that you were able to adapt the recipe sourdough!
For the kneading after the first rise, do you recommend hand kneading or sticking it back in the stand mixer?
I normally just knead by hand. You can also use the stand mixer but you still need to roll the dough into balls by hand.
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Thank you for this easy to understand recipe. I’ll def. give it a go.
Thanks for checking out the recipe. Please let me know how it turned out.
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Hi, why do you add dough from previous bread making exercise? I want to try out the recipe and noticed this requirement in the video. Thanks
hi Theresa, the reserved dough enhances the taste and texture of bread. It’s not absolutely necessary but if you intend to make this bread frequently, it’s an easy step to bring your bread quality to the next level 🙂
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I mixed the dough in a stand mixer for 20 mins then added butter and another 10 mins, it still wasn’t very stretchy and was breaking so I kneaded it with hand for a few mins. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly but after the second rise before the bread went into the oven they had split on the top. (I used instant yeast and left it for 45 mins to rise in the oven with the lights on)
Hi there, thanks for checking out the recipe. Not sure why the dough had split on top before baking but one reason could be that the dough was not covered during proofing so it dried out a little. How did the bread come out though?
The bread tasted amazing. One of the best breads I’ve made so far. For the time it takes I will definately make a double batch next time considering how fast it is getting over
I did cover it with cling wrap during proofing, not sure why it split. Hopefully will have better luck next time. Will keep you posted.
Also is it possible to make this with whole wheat flour?
Thanks Noora. Glad to hear that the bread came out good. And yes, whenever I make this I try to double up the recipe so my lastover can actually last a few days…
To answer your question, the use of whole wheat flour requires a bit of modification. For one, you do need a little more liquid as the WW flour soaks more water. Also, the dough will not rise as much as regular flour. I had the most succes by using 50% WW flour in my recipe so I think that could be a good starting point if you are interested in using WW flour. Hope this helps.
thank you for the article and nice review you have done, keep up the good work.
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Hello. Why does in the ingredients it says 35 ml milk or water (with the yeast) and in the instructions, it says to add 30 ml milk?
Hi, thanks for bringing this to my attention. It was indeed a typo as it should be 35ml in the instruction section. I have updated the post. Thanks!
Thanks a lot. I’ll follow your suggestion for sure. Have a beautiful day.
Hi Yi, This recipe is a must for me and it works very well but for health reasons i skipp egg and milk. I only leave the butter. Have you any idea how I can substitute or if I must put more water? I did not change nothing else and it is good and beautiful every time. Have a Happy New Year with many greetins from Venice.
Happy New Year Anna. If you would like to skip egg and milk then just substitute with water and maybe use a slightly more butter to compensate the fat from milk. Hope this helps.
Do you have this recipe in cup/tablespoon/teaspoon measurements?
Hi Angela, thanks for checking out the recipe. I’ll have to convert that information and make an update on the original ingredient list. Will let you know once that’s done.
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Hie Yi. when I mix the dough, do I have to add water or the roux is enough? And do I have to wait for the roux to cool before putting in the fridge.. Thanks.
hello Nani, thanks for checking out my recipe. It’s better to cool down the roux before putting in the fridge. That way you won’t have too much condensation. As for the water, you do need additional milk or water for the main dough. It’s listed in the ingredient list. Hope this helps.
I made this bread for two days in a row. For the first day, I made the roux and use it when it’s warm. And I only roll the dough once then put it on the loaf pan left it to rise until double. Tasted quite dense.
The second day, I followed the recipe exactly like you explained, it was a success but way more time consuming than the first day as I use the roux straight out of the fridge, it was pretty cold so it definitely slows down the proofing time. I roll it twice accordingly. Let it proof more than 1,5 hours though. Results came out nice. Fluffier & softer than the first day.
Overall this bread is really time consuming. A lot of patience needed. Tastes good too! I’m debating if it’s worth the time to make one on any other day, because honestly grabbing the same type of bread on a bakery is faster
But I will definitely follow your recipe again! Thank you!
Hi Cynthia, thanks for trying my recipe and providing the feedback. I am glad to hear that the bread came out soft and fluffy. Yes I agree that it’s a lot of effort for a loaf of bread and to this date it still takes me over 3 hours but I still think it’s worth it :). Hope to see you around on this blog!
Hi Yi! I tried your recipe 3 times and just can’t seem to get it to rise. First 2 times, I use all purpose flour, and finally got bread flour the last time. It’s always so dense. When I used the bread flour, it seemed to rise more during the first 2 steps. Also, we don’t drink regular milk…. So I used soy milk the first 2 times, and evaporated milk the last time for the water roux. The bread tastes great… But just couldn’t get it to be as fluffy as yours. I am using the dough hook attachment on a standing mixer. It seems like the dough isn’t sticky enough. Should i add more heavy cream if it’s too dry? Thanks for your help!
Hi Winnie, thank you for checking out my recipe. Before I answer some of your questions, I’d just like to mention that I have posted an updated milk bread recipe and video. Please have a look if you haven’t.
To answer your questions, the first thing I’d look at is the expiration date of the yeast used. I used to have the exact same problem as yours and it turned out that the yeast was a few years old and once I used a batch of newly bought yeast the result improved dramatically. You mentioned about the liquid. If the dough was hard to knead, then it’s possible it was too hard. You can gradually add 1/2tsp of water/milk until the dough is soft enough to knead. I also use the hook attachment so that’s perfectly fine. Please try the above changes and see if the bread rise better next time. I hope this helps you trouble shoot.
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Hi Yi,
If I use instant yeast, do I still need 35mls of milk/water?
Can I substitute 70ml of heavy cream with milk or water?
Thanks
Hi, thanks for checking out the milk bread recipe. To answer your question, you will not need the 35ml of water if you use instant yeast. And yes you can go heavy cream in the place of milk and your bread will be even softer! I actually recently post an updated milk bread recipe to show how to make this bread entirely by hand. In that recipe I used instant yeast instead 🙂
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Hi! I’m gonna try your recipe this weekend! Planning to use high protein flour and instant yeast. Do I still need to use 5g of instant yeast or increase it?
Yes 5g sounds about right for high protein flour (or bread flour as what we call in the US). Thanks.
Hi Yi,
I made this bread today, using a breadmaker entirely from the start, I dumped all the ingredients into the breadmaker and turned it on and a few hours later, done. The result was as expexted- fluffy, soft & flavorful. After having trying quite a handful of soft bread recipes, this is definitely a keeper! This will be my go to bread recipe from now on.
Thanks a lot for sharing this great recipe with us.
Thank you Akma for the feedback. Glad to hear that the bread came out nice and fluffy!
I tried your recipe for the first time, and it turned out incredible. I hand knead all the way, using the maximum proofing time at room temperature. I reserve 2 slices in the fridge for next day to test its softness. Voila, it is still very soft. Since it takes time, I think I will bake 2 loaves next time and enjoy the softness!! Thanks you for the genuine and wonderful Recipe!
Hi There, thanks for checking out my recipe. I am so happy to hear that the loaf came out good and good job on hand kneading it all the way! Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Happy baking/cooking!!
Anyway to make this bread without the roux but with milk powder? Do you have a recipe?
Hi Katherine, thanks for checking out my blog. You can make this bread without the roux but it will not be as soft (the purpose of . To do that, you can skip the roux and add the following to the bread dough:
•25g flour
•80ml water
•10g milk powder
You might need +/- 10ml of water so please do experiment a little.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve tried at least 5-6 other milk bread recipes and this one is by far the best of all of them 🙂
Behold! What was made possible thanks to you!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BH3DrBkg3XV/
Hi Khanh, thanks for the feedback and share the bread on IG! The bread looks so soft and fluffy!
Instead of dry yeast can i use fresh (wet) yeast and what is the quantityin gms to be used.
Thanks
Hi Linda, sorry for the late reply. I’d double the weight if using fresh yeast so in this case it would be 10g. Hope this helps.
If i use fresh (wet) yeast what is the quantity in gms to be used.
Thanks
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Hi Yi, greetings from Singapore. I tried your recipe but added Kaya during the folding stage as I left a lot of Kaya in the fridge. It turns out wonderful and sooooo fragrant and yummy. Few hours after baking, it turns out a bit hard and I was quite worry. But to my surprise, after putting it in an airtight container for tomorrow’s breakfast, they turned out to be so so so soft…. After 3 days, the bread is still fresh and soft. Will definitely recommend your recipe to friends. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. One question though, I thought the ratio for water roux should be 1:5, which in this case 25g of flour should be accompanied with 125ml of milk? Anyway, I followed your recipe and it turns out great… 🙂
Hi Elise, thanks so much for the feedback. I am glad that you liked the recipe. I have heard about kaya but have never used it. Will give it a try next time. Thanks again for visiting my blog!
Thank you Yi….the kitchen smells oh so good, the bread looks sensational & it tastes like no other bread. I first tried this bread in Singapore & wanted to be able to make it at home & thanks to you I can & have done so.
Hi there, thanks for the feedback. I am happy to hear that the bread came out good. Enjoy!
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Hi Yi, Thanks for your post. Such a lovely recipe. It was spot on. My roux thicken so much on fire so I had to add 75ml of milk to thin it one tablespoon at a time. I doubled the recipe and I have 12 seperate rolls just the way it is in the picture but seperated. I increased the sugar by 25g and added 2 tablespoons of full cream milk to the final mixture. I don’t have a bread machine so I mix by hand. I will glaze with milk and top with flaked coconut. I will et you know how it turns out.
Hello Helen, thank you for the feedback. Would love to know how the flaked coconut version came out 🙂
Hi, I’d like to use this recipe for to make Sweet buns for Thanksgiving dinner. During step 10 – 13 you’re rolling out and folding the dough; I was just wondering if there should be any specific way I should roll out and fold the dough to make a sphere/roll shape & if the rolling out and folding is even necessary when making sweet rolls.
-Thank You
Hi Russell, thanks for checking out the bread recipe. If you are making rolls, you probably won’t need to roll out the dough like described. Once you deflate the dough after the second rise, you can simply divide the dough and shape each dough using your palm like you do with pizza dough. I hope this helps and pls let me know how the rolls came out! Happy thanksgiving!
I made sweet rolls using the above method but sourdough … I did fold over twice and was surprised to see they were flakier ….. so I made more today with the folding as with loaf bread. I added fresh rosemary and roasted garlic to the fold overs which is a first for me!! We will see how it turns out!
Hi Sharon, sorry for the late reply and hope you had a great thanksgiving. The rosemary and roasted garlic idea sounds interesting….how did it come out?
They turned out great ….. very nice and tasty!
Thanks for your feedback Sharon.
Water Roux (TangZhong)
25g flour
100ml milk …… This states Water Roux but made with milk ……. I am a bit confused….
Thank you for the detailed recipe …. I have made TangZhong using water. I am sure it will be more moist with milk
Hi Sharon, you are right, the original tangzhong is made of water but I found the milk version tasted even better so I have been doing all-milk ever since
Thank you …. have you tried to convert this recipe to sourdough. I have read to convert use the 1-2-3- method. I love reading your posts…… Happy Thanksgiving!
I want to try your bread recipe. I use a kitchen aid stand mixer. I don’t think I can knead the dough for 10 minutes or else the mixer might malfunction , any suggestions?
I love your recipes. I used your mantou recipe and made pork belly buns which were a big hit for my girls night in party.
Thanks
Hi Sophia, if you use stand mixer you can still mix for 10 minutes with two 1-minute breaks in between. That’s exactly what I do now 🙂
Thanks YI. I have made the roux and it is sitting in the fridge. I am so excited to make the bread tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing your bread pix with my on IG!
if i use bread machine, when should put the water roux, together with the wet ingredient? or during the kneading start?
Hi Amy, thanks for the question. I usually put the roux in right after I start the bread machine. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Yi I love tangzhong bread but I only use water not milk not wipping cream and it works beautifully every times. For the butter I just add 30 gr. So it is water roux 120gr 5gr salt 55 or 40 gr sugar 125 gr water 350gr all purpose flour 6gr instant yeast 30 gr butter. I ask you is it correct to dilute the tangzhong in water ? This make me ansious every times but it works very well and the bread or rolls come out fluffy and smell good. Thnks you so much from Italy
Hi YI,
Good morning to you, I don’t know if you have tried the Filipino classic breakfast bread “pandesal”. I have been trying to make it since I’m currently here in US. And there is not much bakery here like in Asian culture. I’m pretty sure it’s similar to your milk bread, it’s just smaller and by bites. And I’ve been researching how to preserve the softness and keep it moist for even just 2 days because that’s how I remember the pandesal are. I will really try this recipe and hope it will help. Thanks for this! 🙂
I just want to say this is the best milk bread recipe I found! I tried many and this one was the best by far. It’s not overly sweet and is so fresh! I ended up baking it in my bread machine too and next time will put in red bean or coconut in step 13. Thank you so much Yi.
Hello Lisa, first of all thank you for checking out my recipe. I am so happy to hear that you liked the recipe. I am also experimenting with adding toppings to the basic dough so please feel free to share your experiments if you come across with something good. Thanks again.
Hey, did you knead the dough before baking it in the bread machine? or just put inside everything and let the machine do the works? i only have bread maker, no oven! T.T
Hi Angel, the recipe uses bread machine to knead the dough initially. All other steps were done outside of the bread machine. Some of the steps require you to manually fold the dough but if you just want to use bread machine, you can skip those steps but the bread won’t have the same structure. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the reply! Do you have the recipe for wholemeal/wholegrain bread? It would be nice if wholemeal breads have this kind of structure.
You are welcome. I’ve used this same recipe with whole wheat flour and the bread still came out relatively soft. I’ve not done whole grain bread though. Perhaps that’ll be my next time I make bread.
Hi Yi!
Can i bake the bread in my bread machine? (My oven is rubbish)
Hi Ellen, yes you can absolutely use your bread machine. I’d fold the dough as per the instructions to get the best texture. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
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Can this be used to make cinnamon rolls or how can I convert recipes for sweet rolls on my traditional recipes
Hi Cheri, you can absolutely use this recipe for cinnamon buns or sweet rolls.
How do you convert it to existing recipes that do not have a lot of liquid
It’s tough to say without knowing your recipe. The best way to find out is to do a trial run and see how many rolls you can make.
I guess the question is is the roux seperate from the liquid in the recipe so if my recipe calls for 1/2 cup water do I make the roux and still put my half cup water in the recipe
I just made this and it came out perfect! Thank you for sharing the recipe, I’m looking forward to experimenting with it.
Hi, at what stage of the dough the night before I can keep in the fridge so I can bake fresh in the morning? How long should the dough be kept on table too before I bake? Thanks
Hi Amy,
Thanks or checking out my recipe. If you would like to refrigerate the dough the night before, I’d do that on step 14 right before the final proofing. The dough is going to rise a little bit in the fridge over night but next day morning you’ll have to let the dough continue to proof in room temperature until dough becomes ready as shown in step 15. This may take 1-2 hours depending on the surrounding temperature. I hope this answers your question. Thanks.
Hi yi, just want to check if u meant instant yeast can replace ‘active yeast + milk or water’?
Hello Nie, yes you don’t need to dissolve instant yeast in water or milk. If you use instant yeast please make sure you keep the amount of total liquid the same as the recipe indicates. Hope this helps.
Hiya,
I was wondering, can I make this bread with speltflour instead of breadflour or all-purpose flour?
Thanks in advance!
I just couldn’t wait for an answer 😉 The roux turned out great with speltflour and a pinch of yeast. Still waiting for the last proof. Thirty minutes to go.
Hi there, sorry for getting back to you late. I’ve never used spelt flour in this recipe but I am glad to hear it is working. Please let me know how it came out!! Thanks!
That’s alright, I don’t expect people to sit by there computers all day 😉
The bread turned out great! It’s really soft and fluffy, I’ve got a bad cold, so I can’t taste or smell it, more reason to make it next week again 🙂
what can i use aside from bread flour? for the dough
hi there, you can also use all purpose flour. Please let me know if this answers your question.
Hi Yi, if I use a bread maker to bake the bread, do I still need to make the water roux first??
Hi Gillian, the water roux step makes the bread soft and fluffy and it’s a key feature of this kind of bread. With that said if you would like to skip this step you’d have to adjust the liquid level. Hope this helps.
Hi Yi,
For Step 16, how should i cover the loaf? jz cut a piece of aluminium foil and put it on top? or i hv to wrap the loaf with the foil.
thanks
Hi Denise, thanks for checking out my recipe. To answer your question, I normally use a large piece of foil and completely cover the dough. You don’t have to wrap the loaf from top to bottom but just need to make sure the dough is not directly exposed. Hope this helps.
Thanks! Will try it today.
Hi YI,
Can i have the bread machine to knead and bake instead of kneading with bread machine and shaping it and baking in oven?
Hi there, thanks for visiting. Yes you can use the bread machine to bake the brad however since each machine works differently you might have to experiment the setting to get the best texture. Hope this helps.
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Hi Yi. Thanks for the recipe. It looks so good that I must give it a try. One question tho: why must we have step 13 where the 4 bread rolls are reshaped into cylinder-shaped rolls? Can we not proof straightaway for 1.5 hours from step 12? Thanks for helping with my queries:)
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Hi Yi, I chanced upon your recipe when I was looking for soft bread since we just bought a breadmaker. It is still quite a bit of work but still fun, I will do this again with my niece of 4 since kneading and part rising is done by the breadmaker. Turned out fine though still dense for the first one since I didn’t let it proof for longer as required. I’m doing my second batch now so will definitely let it proof longer. 🙂 thanks again!
Hi Rosaline, thanks for your feedback. Please let me know if the second batch came out better with a longer proofing time.
Hi Yi,
I’m happy with the result of my bread using your recipe! I bake it into small bun and top with mayo and pork floss, super!!
Can I check with you – if I would use your recipe to bake Hokkaido milk loaf, then can I take away 3 tbps of bread flour and replace the same with milk powder? Will it effect the bread texture?
Thanks for your reply 🙂
oops! sorry ! double post 🙁
Hi Yi
I should said I’m happy with the result of my bread using your recipe! I bake into small bun and top with mayo and pork floss 🙂
Can you please advise me if I’m going to bake Hakkaido milk loaf using your recipe, can I take away 3 tbsp of bread flour and replace milk powder in it? Will it effect the texture?
Thanks for your reply.
Hi Yi
I’ve been trying out tangzhong method but the bread somehow doesn’t stay soft the next day. The recipe I use doesn’t hv heavy cream. Also, the bread doesn’t hv the oven spring rise. It stays the same after the final proofing and sometimes deflate. So it’s a bit dense even though it’s soft only for a short while. What do u think it’s wrong? Thanks.
hi there, thanks for visiting my blog. There could be many factors affecting the texture of a loaf of bread. Do you use either butter or oil in your dough? Heavy cream is not always necessary but form my experience the addition of it definitely makes the bread softer. You mentioned you have been using a different recipe, have you tried the recipe posted on this site?
Oh yes I’m going to try out this recipe this weekend. I still hv 1/2 litre of heavy cream left fm making ice cream. Actually the recipes that I’ve been using r the same except for the heavy cream n the proportions. And I find all the
recipes that I’m using end up w very wet dough. I use a stand mixer n the longer I knead it the dough becomes very gluey n not firm but draping frm my hand. Is it too wet? It’s the same for all the recipe w tangzhong that I’ve tried. I can’t wait to try yours.
Hi Yi
I’ve been using tangzhong method to bake my normal bread without the heavy cream like yours. Do the heavy cream make the bread softer and fluffy or can I add more tangzhong to make the bread more softer and fluffy? Thanks!
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Dear Yi,
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. I didn’t know about the water roux method but I am experimenting on it lately.
I followed your recipe, with a personal “editing” I would like to share.
I used soy milk (unsweetened) instead of regular milk and heavy cream; as for the flour I used 50% of white bread flour and 50% of whole wheat flour.
The result was a semi-whole-wheat soy milk bread super fluffy and fragrant. I find your version, with the egg in the dough, more like a brioche-like dough. I also tried another version without eggs and with olive oil instead of butter, which was more like bread. Anyway, great stuff. Thank you for this yumminess!
Hello Valeria, thanks for sharing your recipe. I love soy milk (as you can see from my soy milk recipe) and I am so going to try this soy wheat bread recipe. Thanks again for sharing!!
Hi, for the water roux, what kind of flour should I use? All purpose flour?
JJ
hi, i normally use bread flour but all purpose flour is fine also. hope this helps.
Can this be used. To make wheat and or multi grain breads. Thank you
Hi Yi,
I like you r methods, thanks for sharing! Although I had used Tangzong prior to this, the proofing method was different. Yours yielded better result definitely. I do not have a habit of keeping strictly to measurements and I hand knead all my dough. Tangzong method dough usually is softer and stickier, harder to knead by hands but that’s how it is with me. The bread looks pretty like yours, so I am going to keep to your method. (My tangzong is 1 flour:3 times liquid. (sometimes, I use just plain water only, other time, I use 2/3 milk and 1/3 water)
Have a great day!
Stacey
Hi Stacy, thanks for stopping by my blog. I am sure your bread comes out pretty good given its kneaded by hand – something I only do occasionally. And yes I am in love with Tangzong method. It definitely produces softer bread than without it. Hope to hear more about your bread making experience in the future!
Hi Yi,
I am making my 4th batch! My 3 boys and hubby loves this bread so much that they are always requesting it. Have been baking everyday:)
Thank you Yi!
Rosanna
Glad to hear that you and your family like the bread recipe. Thanks!
hi! what do you mean heavy cream? is it whipping cream? nestle cream?
Hi Veronica, heavy cream is a type of cream used to make whipped cream. It looks like milk but thicker. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
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Hi
Regarding the Tangzhong, after it has chilled in the fridge and gelatinized, do I let it warm up, or do I warm the milk and put it in the milk and dissolve it with the liquids?
Thanks!
Hello Annette, thanks for checking out my recipe. Regarding the tangzhong, you don’t need to warm it up before you combine with the rest of the ingredients. You can just add it when it’s cold. I hope this answers your question.
Hi Yi!
There are about 11,000 of us in a bread making group on Facebook, called “Bread Baking”. We are all crazy about this. I did some research and found a recipe on a Chinese cooking site that called for “Caska”. Here is the recipe I found and translated with Google: Caska Super Soft Toast
Ingredients
• High gluten flour (300g)
• Yeast (3g)
• Sugar (30g)
• Milk (120g)
• Salt (2g)
• Butter (25g)
Seasoning
• Egg yolk (1)
• High gluten flour (15g)
• Granulated sugar (10g)
• Milk (65g)
Caska Sauce Ingredients: 1 egg yolk, sugar 10 grams, 15 grams of high-gluten flour, milk 65 grams. Put in pot and cook. Set aside in fridge for one hour.
Have you used this method, as well?
Posting your recipe to our group, so I hope you get more traffic to a great blog!
Annette
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Hello Yi, I want to use this kind of loaf pan http://www.allthingsforsale.com/bakery-baking-sweet-mold/3333-japanese-loaf-pan-bread-mold-square-4901601323160.html instead of loaf pan you recommend, because I want to get a perfect square shaped bread and I wanted to ask if I have to knead the dough into four balls or I can skip this step and it’ll work anyway?
Hi Tei, sorry for getting back to you late. What a cute square loaf pan! I really like it and I think it will make perfect toast bread!! To answer your question, i agree that you won’t need to divide the dough into four smaller balls. instead you’ll work with one large ball! I hope your bread comes out perfectly!
Hi, can the heavy cream be omitted?
Hi Jennifer, yes you can just use milk instead.
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Will the bread be successful if I accidentally put in the heavy cream together with the butter halfway during the kneading process?
Thanks for visiting. To answer your question, yes it should work as long as the total liquid to dry ingredient ratio didn’t change. Please let me know if the bread came out good!
Mine is rising and it already looks amazing
thanks for the feedback! hope the bread came out good!
Hi Yi! Thanks for much for your recipe and instructions 🙂 I am going to try it out soon, but was wondering why you did not finish the baking in the bread machine itself and only used the dough function? I want to use my bread machine (because I’m lazy :P), will it actually affect the texture if by machine? Thanks!
I have enjoyed this kind of bread but it’s great to see such a good, detailed recipe like what you’ve laid out for us here. Thank you!
Hi! This bread look really yummy but I can’t find the ounces or tablespoons and my electric scale doesn’t weigh grams, only ounces. Can you please tell us the measurements in ounces or tablespoons or cups? Thanks
Oh I forgot to say that I always find different answers on the internet, so it’s very confusing.
Hi Selena, thanks for checking out my blog. There is actually a measurement converter located on the right panel of this site. You should be able to use it to convert between different units. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!
Thank you so much! Your website has lots of good food!
hi
thanks for sharing this but may i use this in industrial bakery in 150kg mixing machine if yes then help me out what will be the dosage of Tangzong and the ratio of water and flour to make Tangzong
Hi there, i just did a quick math, if you were to use 150kg of flour for the main dough, you’d need tangzong made from 11.4kg of flour and 45455ml of milk/water. Hope this helps! Thanks for visiting!
A little correction ok? How can you measure 150 Kg ? That is a very big bag
of flour.may be you want to say 150 gr instead of 150 Kg?
He’s going to use it in an industrial bakery. And how can u make a bread with a 150 grams ofwflour?
I nearly gave up on bread making as I find it very challenging and my earlier attempts were not quite successful. When I saw your recipe I decided to give it one last try. I followed the instructions and tips carefully and I was overjoyed when my loaf turned out soft and fluffy and delicious! You have reignited my interest in bread baking! Thank you so much for your tips!
Hi Esther, thanks a lot for the feedback and congrats on your soft and fluffy bread! Keep up with the good work!
Fantastic bread. My dough was too crumbly so I added warm milk and double cream (50 ml in total) and follow the rest of your recipe. I made 8 little rolls (which is big after proofing) and fill them with bacon&cheese, ham&cheese and chocolate. They are gone in a blink….
Thanks for the feedback Daisy. Yeah this dough is perfect for buns with stuffing in there. I also use this dough to make some traditional Chinese baked buns. Glad you have enjoyed the recipe!!
Yi, I’m glad i found your blog and I’m glad that i decided to try your recipe instead of the other bread recipes out there for my first time making soft bread. I followed your recipe almost exactly (i add more sugar cuz i like sweet bread) and the bread turn excellent. Everybody said it’s delicious and super soft! Thank you Yi for sharing this recipe!!!
Made the bread, but had a problem with the 330 gm of flour. It was so wet that I added more than a cup additional four. Are the measurements correct?
Hello Ada, thanks for checking out my blog. Normally the amount of flour can be off by 20 to 30g but it should be off by one cup. I’d check the amount of liquid used in making the roux and proofing the yeast. When the roux is too watery it would affect the amount of flour needed. Hope this helps.
ASIAN BREAD! This is the type of bread I grew up with, and though I have learntto love hard hearty crusty sourdough loaves, I have a special place in my heart for this sort of super soft asian bread. Good one Yi!
Hi Yi,
I just discovered your website and I absolutely love it!!
I am so excited to make this bread BUT I don’t have a bread machine. Is it possible to bake this wonderful bread without the machine?
Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you Yi and have a wonderful day!
Rosanna
Hello Rosanna, thanks for checking out this recipe! You actually don’t use a bread machine but only use it to knead the dough. You can knead the dough by hand or using a stand mixer. Hope this helps!
I have had this bread in Hong Kong and it tasted superb. Your food pics tell that this bread was extremely fluffy and delicious. I am saving this recipe. Thanks!
This is the type of bread that I would eat right out of the oven and not stop eating until I was quite full or all of it was gone! I love that it uses a roux. Have never seen that. Can wait to try this! Thanks for sharing!
Perfect looking! So fluffy and soft. I have bought a cookbook about making bread with TangZhong. Since bread making takes a lot of time, the book is still sitting on the shelf. After looking at your bread, I think I have to try your recipe very soon!
What a fun bread, Yi! Can’t wait to give it a try!
Gorgeous bread! I love the photographs of different stages. Baking cakes and breads is such a fascinating process, isn’t it? Your bread looks so light and fluffy, I think it wouldn’t be left alone in my house for a long time.
That’s a fantastic bread.
Golden browned, fluffy and moist. Who couldn’t wish for more?
Wow! I saw your pics and I only can applaud you on your masterpiece! What a great outcome…Love it! Well done!!!
I know that bread well. Growing up, I thought of it as squish bread! Because you could practically squash it up to the size of a marble. Well, almost. 😉
I have enjoyed this kind of bread many times and I’ve heard of this method recently…but it’s great to see such a good, detailed recipe like what you’ve laid out for us here. Thank you! Looks wonderful – I can almost smell it!
Have heard about the Tang zhong method that gives soft, moist, fluffy bread – and that is really true from the look of your bread. Too bad I don’t do baking 🙁
I’m not too sure whether the recipes fully match, but it sounds a lot like our Portuguese “pão de leite” (“milk bread”). I love it so much: had mountains of it with ham when I was little.
Hi Yi, your bread definitely looks soft and fluffy! I have baked bread with this method before and love it but sometimes too lazy to go the extra step of cooking the tangzhong:P
I always wondered how they made the milk bread here. thanks for the lovely recipe. I also like how you divided the dough into 4 sections and then let them rise together. Nice touch. Take Care, BAM
Hello Yi,
Loaf or bread that has whipping cream and butter incorporated into it will definitely be soft and fluffy even without the use of Tangzhong.
I knew of this Hokkaido Milk Loaf thru Christine’s recipe some years ago. Recently, I was left with short amount of Tangzhong so could not proceed to make the loaf using Christine’s Hokkaido Milk loaf recipe. However, last minute, I quickly cooked up the custard paste and added the custard paste to the tangzhong to make up the short fall. Well, imagine, I got the world’s softest and flutter loaf! I did not even need to use whipping cream and butter but only some cream cheese is being added to the loaf and finished product stayed soft and fresh for more than 1 week.
So much healthier without the whipping cream and butter. Ingredients for custard paste are 65g water, 1 yolk, 15g bread flour, 10g sugar.
Blessings
Priscilla Poh
Hello Priscilla,
Thank you for taking the time to share the custard trick!! I can’t wait to try this myself soon. It’d be great if I can achieve the same texture without using cream and butter. Thanks again!!
Thanks Yi for the response.
Just a example, The Hokkaido Milk Toast using 540 bread flour called for 184g tangzhong. I normally used all the custard paste and balanced with tangzhong. I add some 50g cream cheese in place of whipping cream and butter.
Hope you find success in trying out this method. However, on the side note, loaf or bread made with custard paste is more reliable than tangzhong. I find better success using custard paste. You may google for super soft bread using custard paste, very infallible method!
Blessings
Priscilla Poh
Yi, If you do make a loaf using her custard “sauce” instead of the Tangzhong, please do a post on it and let me know!
Thanks!
Annette
will do!
Your loaf of bread turned out beautiful, awesome texture…indeed this is a great technique…
Have a great weekend Yi 😀
This looks wonderful! We do tons of bread baking (in fact we rarely buy any these days) — I’ll have to tell Mrs K R (the baker in our household) about this. Terrific recipe — thanks.
Hi Yi,
Thanks for the recipe. I tried to make the Water Roux, but it didn’t turn out as well as yours. I was wondering if the heating time has to be very precise? It started out watery and then it took a long time to start thickening, but once it started to thicken, it thickened really really fast and basically became a paste by the time i was done. It’s not watery like in your pictures but very thick. Once it starts to thicken, should i remove from heat immediately and continue stirring? Also, does the flour type matter? Does it have to be All purpose? I used bread flour. And I used 2% milk, is that ok? Thanks so much.
Hello Kent, thanks for checking out the recipe. To answer your questions, you can use either bread flour or all purpose. I use all purpose normally. 2% milk should be fine as well. I keep my flour to liquid ratio at 1:4. So 25g flour goes with 100ml liquid.
Before I heat up the roux, I use a egg beater to do a thorough stir to make sure there are no lumps and the flour is well dissolved. When heating up, I keep a constant stir even at the very beginning when the mixture is still watery (yes it’s labor intensive :). When the mixture starts to get thicker, I turn the heat to the lowest and increase the intensity of the stir.
I turn off the heat as soon as the mixture is smooth and leaves a trail or form a soft peak. The consistence is sort like soft ice cream. After removing from the heat, the roux will continue to cook a little bit because the sauce pan is still hot. By the time it cools down completely you should have a good roux that is slightly thicker than when it was hot.
I hope this helps and please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.
The bread has turned out perfectly soft, fluffy and beautiful!
Hi Yi, This bread does look indeed super soft and fluffy and moist too! It just look great and am very confident it’s delicious too. Am going to bookmark this super recipe of yours. Thanks so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe, Yi. You have a great weekend ahead and Cheers 🙂