FEATURE: SHOKUPAN

Breaking bread

Two bakers reveal the ins and outs of making Japanese milk bread.

-WORDS Aristine Dobson

SHOKUPAN IS PERHAPS the pinnacle of what white bread should be — light, pillowy and slightly sweet. The milk bread is made in loaves and is consumed daily in Japan where it’s toasted or used to make sandwiches — fillings of fruit and cream, egg and katsu are just the beginning.

The bread has been steadily increasing in prominence on local shores thanks to bakers who are making their own versions of the cloudlike loaves. Hospitality speaks to Azuki Bakery’s Shunsuke Hashimoto and Little Cardigan’s Satoshi Narusawa about the prevalence of shokupan in Japan, perfecting recipes and how to pull off the yudane baking method.

Shokupan is a representation of Japan’s baking culture and was incepted out of necessity shortly after World War II when there was a nationwide shortage of rice. “We got bread and flour from the United States, so we created our own bread culture in Japan — shokupan,” says Shunsuke Hashimoto, owner of Azuki Bakery in Sydney’s Newtown. “The shape is similar to white bread, but the taste and method is different.”

Azuki Bakery opened in 2017, producing an array of Japanese and Korean-inspired baked goods to the neighbourhood including shokupan, which has been sold since day one. “We make 20 loaves of shokupan a day,” says Hashimoto. “We sell it by itself and do wholesale and also use it for our French toast and sandwiches.”

Satoshi Narusawa from the soon-to-open Little Cardigan in Brunswick, Melbourne, grew up eating shokupan and believes it has evolved beyond being a corner-store product.“About four or five years ago, someone started to make ‘fancy’ shokupan and it spread all over Japan,” says Narusawa. “It tastes good, it’s really soft and it doesn’t go stale too quickly, but it’s quite expensive.”

You have to have consistency with everything: scaling, temperature control, mixing and development.

– Shunsuke Hashimoto

Narusawa has been making shokupan for the past seven years and has been supplyingSaint Dreux in Melbourne’s St. Collins Lane with the bread. The baker will soon open his own specialty shokupan store which will hero his signature recipe. “My shokupan is not overly sweet,” he says. “It’s a subtle sweetness and it’s fluffy, soft and moist.”

Shokupan is made using flour, salt, sugar, yeast, milk and butter. “It has a little bit more sugar compared to European-style bread, so it’s softer and a little bit sweeter,” says Hashimoto, who incorporates “egg, cream and butter so it’s richer”.

Choosing the right kind of flour is crucial to making a high-quality loaf. Azuki Bakery uses flour that is high in gluten and protein. “We use a strong gluten flour which contains 12 to13 per cent protein,” says Hashimoto. “As for the yeast, it’s standard and is good for making rich dough.”

Narusawa encourages bakers to think about the flavour profile when determining which flour to use, with high-quality options often leading to more diverse notes in the end product. “It doesn’t have to be organic, but maybe avoid conventional flour because it can taste bland,” he says. “I’m using wholegrain milling flour from New South Wales which is an organic and sustainable flour made on a small scale.”

Shokupan requires the use of a starter called yudane. The yudane method is intrinsic to Japanese baking and requires makers to create a tacky doughball of cooked flour. “You have to gelatinise the flour by adding boiling water to it and mixing it, so the starch is cooked,” says Hashimoto. “It creates a soft and chewy texture and is similar to rice.”

Narusawa cooks the flour in water until it reaches 65 degrees Celsius and begins gelatinising. “In Japan, you use equal amounts of water and flour,” he says.

Yudane plays a dual role, with the method helping the bread retain its moisture while giving it a longer shelf life. “The bread keeps its moisture for a longer period of time,” says Narusawa. “Yudane means it doesn’t go stale so quickly.”

Hashimoto lets the yudane mixture cool overnight before its used for baking the next day. One loaf of shokupan requires around 200–250g of flour which is added in with the rest of the ingredients before it is mixed. “We use the sponge method which where we separate the mixing process in two,” says Hashimoto. “For the first mix, we [add] flour, water and a little bit of sugar and let it prove outside for more than an hour. The process makes the dough a little bit softer.”

I’m using wholegrain milling flour from New South Wales which is an organic and sustainable flour made on a small scale.

– Satoshi Narusawa

Kneading and mixing is something that cannot be rushed for Hashimoto. “You have to have consistency with everything: scaling, temperature control, mixing and development,” he says. “When you mix the dough, you have to see if you need to add extra water or mix it more. That’s one of the key tips for bakers to make good shokupan.”

Cream, butter and eggs are then mixed through before the dough is proved for a second time. “We mix it again and let it prove for 20 minutes and then divide and shape it,” says Hashimoto. “It proves for another hour depending on the temperature and the condition of the dough.” The shokupan is baked in loaf tins at a temperature of 210 degrees Celsius.

Little Cardigan relies on professional equipment to make its dough. “You can make it by hand, but we put quite a lot of butter in the bread, so using a benchtop mixer or any other mixer helps to make the dough. I personally use a double-arm mixer,” says Narusawa.

The baker lets the dough prove for at least two hours before it’s shaped and placed in symmetrical square pullman loaf tins. A whopping 20kg of flour is used to make 40 loaves, with each weighing in at around 910g after time in the oven. “I’m using convection ovens for my shokupan and it takes about half an hour to 35 minutes,” says Narusawa. “The temperature is usually set between 186–188 degrees Celsius, depending on how many tins I put into the oven.”

Shokupan is ubiquitous throughout Japan and is often consumed in the morning with sweet spreads and condiments. For Hashimoto, the bread has gone above and beyond its original application and has become a versatile foodstuff. “Back in the day, it was a common food to have for breakfast,” he says. “Some people still eat it for breakfast, but it’s also getting more popular at dinnertime as well.”

Narusawa says the bread is frequently consumed fresh and doesn’t always need to be toasted. “In Japan, we just eat it as is,” he says. “If it becomes stale, we toast it with some butter and honey and [use it for] heaps of different sandwiches with tuna or egg.”

Shokupan has firmly cemented itself as the national bread of Japan and is starting to gain traction in Australia among specialty bakeries. Although the light and fluffy loaf’s appearance is simple, it takes skill to get it right.

- Kneading is essential to develop the gluten

- Shokupan is the bread of choice for katsu sandos

- Azuki Bakery makes French toast with shokupan

- Yudane is a tacky ball added to the dough