08/29/2026
🍞Making Shokupan
It takes about three days to make shokupan!
We start by making a "seed," a special ball of dough that sits overnight in the walk-in refrigerator so the dough's starches can absorb moisture.
The next day, we mix in the remaining ingredients including more flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and powdered milk. The last is what gives this bread its nickname "milk bread." The dough goes into a bowl and sits in a warm proofing box for an hour or so until it rises to about twice its original size.
After spending some time in a mixer to punch out any large air bubbles, the dough is divided into smaller sections, rolled into a ball, and allowed to rest so the gluten relaxes and doesn't snap back after final shaping.
Once the gluten is relaxed enough (after the hot tub, a quick message, perhaps some plum wine and relaxing music), the dough is flattened and then the flattened pieces are rolled into cylinders. The cylinders go into bread pans and are allowed to rise one final time.
The way the cylinders are rolled gives the bread a distinctive appearance when viewed from the side.
When the dough has reached the top of the pans, the lids are added and the bread is popped in the oven.
After baking for around half an hour, the process still isn't done! The pans are removed and immediately dropped onto the table (from a height of about a foot, don't be dramatic!) to release trapped steam and to release the bread from the pan. The loaves are turned out onto wire racks to cool.
After they're cool, the loaves are wrapped so they don't dry out.
At this point, the loaves are much too soft to cut. Even with our bread-slicing machine, which has wicked sharp blades, trying to cut the bread right away crushes it.
The bread needs to sit at least overnight until it's firm enough to slice. Then we can finally slice it or leave it unsliced, and divide it into long loaves or short loaves, all for your sandwich making pleasure!
