My mom gave me a beast of a Zojirushi bread machine that she no longer planned on using. I had been making bread by hand at home, and this was a welcome change. One of the breads that I could never make quite right is Hokkaido Milk Bread–a sweet, buttery white bread that’s a staple at most Asian bakeries. No matter how I did it, the crumb would always come out denser and cake-like, and I thought perhaps a bread machine would fix that problem.

It did not, in fact, fix that issue, much to my immense frustration. I tried different ratios of things, wondering if it was an the salt killing the yeast or if the milk needs to be heated, less butter, more butter, I scoured the internet for the recipes trying to figure out exactly what I was doing differently than all those blogs with beautiful, pull apart bread. I thought maybe I wasn’t doing the Tanzhong (flour roux) correctly. I tried all sorts of things, failed bread after failed bread. They were delicious, and didn’t go to waste, but they weren’t what I was after. Even if they were springy while warm, they quickly cooled to a crumbly consistency.

After researching gluten formation, I realized that the milk, butter, and sugar component of the bread that gave it its signature flavor was interfering with the bread’s ability to form gluten! It truly was an AHA! moment. The fats from the milk and butter prevents the proteins from making the long sticky strands, and the sugar competes with the flour (and wins) for the water. Most of the recipes called for putting the ingredients together, even the recipe booklet that came with the bread machine–but I realized in order to get the fluffy, pull apart texture, I needed to allow the gluten to form first.

This takes just an extra step, but the result is well worth it.

You can also do this in the oven, but you’ll need to do the kneading to incorporate the other ingredients.

If the shokupan loaf is STILL tight/crumbly on the inside:

1. Make sure your machine is not over kneading your dough. 10-15 minutes after all the ingredients have been combined is all you need so you may have to adjust the machine, especially if it kneads twice.
2. Make sure you are allowing for ample rising time, you may need to adjust your machine’s cycle to increase rise time.
3. The cycle I have is this: 13 minutes knead time, 2 rises (1 hour each), 1 hour bake. (On a Zojirushi BB-PAC20.)

Ingredients

• 3.5 cups flour (bread or all purpose) plus 4 heaping tablespoons for the tangzhong
• 1 cup water, plus .5 cup for the tangzhong
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (for stabilizing and softness when cool)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk powder (Purchased on Amazon, stored in the freezer)
• 1 packet active dry yeast

1. Make the tangzhong by heating four tablespoons of flour with the half cup water in a saucepan on the stove. Once the mixture is thickened, about one minute on high, remove from heat. Allow the tangzhong to cool in the fridge for an hour, best overnight.
2. Proof the active dry yeast in 1 cup water, and combine with tangzhong and flour, kneading until it just forms into a ball. If using a bread machine, place the rest of the ingredients on top of the dough and begin a regular cycle. It will have a rest phase at the beginning. If not, continue below.
3. Allow to rest for 20-30 minutes in order to allow the gluten to form. Then, with a stand mixer, combine the butter, egg, salt, sugar, and milk powder with the dough until smooth.
4. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to proof for an hour.
5. Once it has risen to about twice the size, punch down and knead for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a loaf pan and allow to rise for another half hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake bread for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove and cool.