, also called Hokkaido milk bread, or simply milk bread in English sources, is a soft

white bread White bread typically refers to breads made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed from the whole wheatberry as part of the flour grinding or milling process, producing a light-colored flour. Nutrition Wh ...

commonly sold in Asian bakeries, particularly Japanese ones. Although bread is not a traditional Japanese food, it was introduced widely after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the style became a popular food item.

Background and history

Soft white bread is popular in Asia, particularly in Japan, and has

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

status there. Bread was not a traditional food in Japan, but it came into culinary use there after the American response to post-World War II Japanese rice shortages included

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

shipments of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. The style of bread became popular outside Asia in the 2020s. Other names for it are Hokkaido milk bread, ''shokupan'', and ''pai bao''. Shokupan translates to "eating bread" or "food bread" or "plain bread"; in Japan the style is considered the standard bread of the country, where it is a common breakfast meal or eaten as a snack. It is carried in many bakeries in Asian countries.

Description

''New York Times'' food writer Julia Moskin describes it as "miracle of engineering: moist but not gummy, rich but light, balanced between sweet and salty." It is soft and slightly sweet with a dense, delicate crumb and chewy texture. It is generally softer and sweeter than typical commercial sandwich breads displayed in supermarket bread aisles but not as sweet as

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

. ''The Guardian'' called it "the anti-

sourdough Sourdough is a type of bread that uses the fermentation by naturally occurring yeast and lactobacillus bacteria to raise the dough. In addition to leavening the bread, the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which gives the bread its dis ...

". According to food anthropologist Annie Sheng, the bread is unique for "the texture and the mouthfeel when you first bite into it, and the sweetness" and that in Japan, it is described as ''fuwa fuwa'', which translates to "fluffy and like a cloud".

Ingredients and technique

The dough is enriched and is created using a yudane, a type of

roux Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or Cooking oil, oil on the stove top, blended until smoo ...

. The use of the yudane helps keep the bread fresh for a longer period. Typical ingredients include flour, whole milk, butter, yeast, salt, sugar and often eggs. The yudane is prepared and cooled, then mixed with the remaining ingredients and kneaded to form a soft, sticky dough which is often divided and formed into multiple rolls and placed crosswise into loaf pans to rise before baking, resulting in a unique appearance. Commercial producers typically bake it in a Pullman-style pan. Home bakers using an open pan will create a different but still unique shape.

Use and serving

The loaves are often sliced thickly and toasted or used for sandwiches. Fruit sandwiches are a common use.

References

{{Japanese bread Japanese breads Yeast breads Wheat breads