Hokkaido is Japanese bread made with milk. The recipe and technology of making Japanese bread is original and has secrets.

This bread recipe uses tempered milk. It is not difficult to make it - you heat the right amount of milk to 85-90 degrees and pour it into a thermos. Stand for 30-40 minutes, then pour into a mug, add butter.

Now the milk should gradually cool to room temperature. Such preparation improves the taste of bread, it turns out to be almost rich, with a pronounced creamy-milk aroma and does not get stale for a long time.

Ingredients

• tempered milk - 0.5 cups (125 ml)
• warm water - 0.5 cups (125 ml)
• white sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
• table salt - 0.5 tsp.
• butter - 20 gr.
• pressed yeast - 20 gr.
• wheat flour - 400 gr.
• a little vegetable oil for greasing the mold

Cooking

Heat the milk almost to a boil (to form a film) and immediately, without letting it cool, pour into a thermos. Leave on for 30-40 minutes.



After the specified time, pour the milk into a saucepan or mug, add water, stir and put the butter. Now the milk should gradually cool to room temperature.



Crumble the pressed yeast into a bowl.



Pour sugar and salt there. Pour in the cooled milk with butter, stir until the yeast dissolves. Sprinkle in 2 cups of sifted flour. Mix flour with milk and yeast.



Add another half cup of flour until a viscous, lumpy mass is obtained.



Lay the dough out on the table. Add flour only if necessary - the dough is unlikely to take more than 400 grams. Knead it until smooth and soft. When you feel air bubbles under your hands, this means that the dough is well kneaded and you can put it to rise.



In the heat, the dough will part for about 1.5 hours and during this time it will grow at least three times.



Punch down the dough. Divide into 3 equally sized pieces. With your hands, stretch each piece into a rectangular layer (about 1 cm thick).



Fold one side towards the middle. Press the edges.



Fold the other side in the same way. Press the edges lightly.



Roll up each strip of dough. The edge does not need to be pinched.



Lay the rolls in a mold (grease liberally with oil) with the seam down. Leave a small distance between the rolls - the dough will rise well.



Tighten the form with a film and put on proofing for 35-40 minutes. The dough should rise to the level of the mold.



Put the bread in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake on the middle tier for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees. Move the bread to the top tier and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

Remove the finished bread immediately from the mold so that it does not become damp, cool under a towel on a wooden board or on a wire rack.



Bread should be allowed to stand for at least 2-3 hours, “rest”, and only then it can be cut and tasted.

I was once asked on Instagram if I had already made Hokkaido bread. But the fact is that traditionally no one likes Japanese bread in our country - it is too white, soft, wadded, fluffy, and sometimes it even happens that you fry it - and it is impossible to eat it when it has cooled, before that it ... none. Fresh as cotton wool, stale as cardboard, there is no life and pleasure in it. But in May I bought a book by a Frenchman who has been working in Kobe all his life　and started a chain of bakeries all over Japan. Among his recipes, of course, there is bread in the form that the Japanese love it. It is this one, and not a baguette or ciabatta, that is sold everywhere, in any village, in any combi, in a drag store ... in general, when they say "bread", the Japanese mean this

In Japan, it is simply called shokupan, so to speak, table bread. But I have never met "Hokkaido bread", there is simply no such name. Bread of this type can be with a pot-bellied crust or strictly 4-coal (if baked in a closed form), it can be long or almost cubic in shape, it can be sold already cut into slices. It also happens with the addition of a small amount of whole grains, whole grain or rye flour. But he is always very gentle. And if we talk about Hokkaido, then such a bun comes to mind - a cheesecake with the image of the island. It makes me acutely nostalgic, because I tried it in the first hours of my stay in Japan :))) But it has some monstrous amount of calories, so since then I have hardly eaten them)))

In Hokkaido, the traditions of growing wheat and making flour are actively developing, borrowing technologies from more advanced countries in this regard, in particular, from Canada. I haven’t baked from Hokkaido flour yet, my hands are always reaching for French flour, but someday I’ll try it. And now I want to give you a recipe for Japanese bread from Mr. Bigot, it does not contain eggs, honey and other ingredients that I see in non-Japanese recipes, and which are clearly superfluous there. Here, of the unusual ingredients, only milk and butter. Watching a child wrapping up bad, but soft store-bought bread without crusts, I tried to bake this at home, and here's a miracle - they eat it no worse than our coarser one.

The recipe for 2 loaves with a format of 32x10.5x11.5 cm is a lot, I take half and it turns out one big loaf.

Flour Lys d`Or - 500 g. This is a French baguette flour, quite white, it makes a fluffy and fragrant dough. In my Japanese sources it says that the baguettes are medium gluten flour, not the strongest and not the weakest.
Super King flour - 500 g. You can use regular high gluten flour. You can, I think, generally try to take only 1 type of white flour, with an amount of protein of about 11.7-12%, nothing fatal should happen.
Powdered milk - 50 g
Regular milk - 200 g
Water - 540 g
Fresh yeast - 7 g
Dry instant yeast - 7 g
Sugar - 40 g (too much for our taste, we need to reduce by half)
Salt - 20 g
Unsalted butter - 60 g

The oil is added in the middle of the batch in a soft form.

Fermentation - 2 hours, after the first hour the dough must be kneaded. I keep the dough at 35 degrees for a little longer than the recipe says. It is not necessary, in my opinion, to strictly maintain the temperature regime, it will just take more time at 25-27 degrees, and so - with such an amount of yeast, the dough has no chance not to rise.

Take the dough out of the container, relax on the table for 20 minutes, then cut. You can twist a tourniquet of 2 parts of the dough and lay it in a rectangular shape, then the bread will turn out with interesting stains on the surface. You can divide the dough into 4-5 round buns, they will merge in the form, there will be a beautiful top, and it is convenient to divide into parts.

Rise for 60 minutes, the dough will increase about 8 times, as it is written in the book. For the half recipe, I took a large form, although I doubted it very much, the bread fit perfectly into it. At the beginning of proofing, the dough filled, probably, a fifth of the form, no more.

Baking: 200 degrees, 45 minutes. Nothing is said about steam, but I added the first 10 minutes, if it is baked with the lid of the form closed, then, logically, steam is not needed.

In Japan and the countries of the East, bread, as we used to imagine this main food product of human life, was not popular, and simply was not needed. Since time immemorial in Japan, rice has served as an alternative to classic flour-based pastries and has perfectly replaced traditional types and varieties of bread. For the first time bread was tasted here with the advent of the first navigators from Portugal. The word "PAN" - which in Japanese means bread, comes from the Portuguese - pao. Behind the Portuguese, after some time in the land of the rising sun, the Danes, the British, the Spaniards, the French, the Dutch also tried to settle, who built bakeries and baked pastries for their own needs. However, all attempts to accustom the Japanese to bread were unsuccessful, bread did not take root on the Japanese table. And since the middle of the 17th century, after the Japanese rulers completely expelled foreigners and closed the country from the outside world, no one remembered bread for more than 200 years. Only after 1868 the country was again open to the whole world, the bread once again declared itself in full. However, this time again the main consumers were foreigners. The first Japanese bakery was opened in 1871 in Tokyo. a certain Yasube Kimura and had the same name "Kimuraya". In the first days of work in the bakery, bread was baked according to Dutch technologies and recipes. But immediately, a problem arose with the sale of products, because the taste of the pastries did not correspond to the taste preferences of local residents. Then the pre-prime baker replaced the yeast with the sediment remaining after the rice fermentation process in the production of sake, called barda. Sales of bakery products increased significantly, but still bread remained an unusual and outlandish product for the Japanese and could not gain a foothold in the staple food category for the people of Japan. The only bread product that was popular at that time was “Pan-an”. These Japanese buns have an original taste, thanks to the same sourdough from sake sediment and bean fruit filling. The Kimurai bakery started baking these buns in 1875. and dedicated this pastry to the reigning Emperor Meiji at that time. Immediately, this delicacy gained immense popularity among Tokyo residents, but not for long.

The next stage of the spread of bakery products in Japan was directly related to the social and political situation in the country at that time. Following the model of Western countries, the fleet and army were formed, much was taken as an example, but the diet of the soldiers remained the same, traditionally Japanese. And then the problem of the disease arose in the military - pellagra (beri-beri), which is due to insufficient content in the diet vitamin B1, which is found in sufficient quantities in wholemeal flour varieties. Gradually, baking from flour of this type began to be introduced into the army diet, thanks to which there was a noticeable improvement in the health of military personnel, and the opinion that eating bread is good for health only strengthened even more. In large cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, bakeries from different countries gradually began to appear, the products of which were mainly focused on foreigners. For example, in Tokyo, a German bakery was famous for black rye bread, about a dozen bakeries specialized in French pastries, and baked bread was baked in a Polish bakery. But until the early 1970s, bakery products in Japan could not take their rightful place in the diet of the population of this mysterious country.

Favorite types of bread in Japan

Even until the middle of the 19th century, the Japanese they practically didn’t eat bread, but thin cakes “Mochi”, made from a special variety of rice flour, have always been held in high esteem and are still very popular among most residents. In the modern world, Western and Eastern cultures are closely intertwined, and the main fusion is observed in the culinary arts. Not so long ago, or rather, from the beginning of the 70s of the last century, classic types of bread began to be consumed in Japan, and now the meal of an ordinary resident can contain various types of pastries, as well as toasts and sandwiches. Bread here has not only an exotic name, but also has an original composition and recipe, which is adapted and slightly modified to suit the taste preferences of the majority of the population. To put it simply, Japanese bread does not contain many calories and is lighter. Bread “Sekou Pan” the most common type of bread in Japan, traditionally made with the rectangular shape of our brick, it tastes a bit sweet, very soft and fluffy. The dough for this bread is prepared on a milk-yeast basis, thanks to which this type of bread can remain soft for a week.

Good to know: Not so long ago in Japan, watermelon fever passed on the famous square-shaped watermelons that could not be eaten. One bakery company decided to eliminate this unfair discrepancy between tasteless content and attractive appearance by starting to bake in watermelon flavor.

”Milk Japanese bread”- this is an unusually airy and soft pastry, with an almost weightless internal dough structure and a ruddy crispy crust. The dough is prepared very simply, they take part of the flour and brew it together with a certain amount of liquid. Such the method of making dough is called ”tangzhong”, and specifically bread baked using this technology is called ”Hokkaido”. This pastry is perfect for making sandwiches, sandwiches, bread pudding or toast. Almost all the names of bread in Japan contain the word Pan, which means bread in translation. Also, the name will directly depend on what filling is inside the product. If Sekupan, for example, is smeared with sweet bean paste, which is very popular in Japan, then the bread will already will be called ”An Pan”, which in translation means legumes in bread.

From pastries up to 0.500gr, they are in great demand ”Reizun Pan” (buns with raisins). Thanks to the unique milk evaporation technology, the buns come out fluffy with a unique internal structure. This flour product is eaten exclusively fresh, because after a day it acquires a sour taste, and the shape of the product falls off. For morning breakfasts, the prudent Japanese came up with ”Kope Pan” – pastry-based buns, which are divided into two parts, laying the filling of cheese, ham and deep fat between the parts. Of your favorite sweet pastries, it is worth highlighting "Melon Pan" - sweet bun, the top of which is sprinkled with powdered sugar, after being ready, it resembles a melon in its color with an attractively fragrant crust.

Everyone knows that the main food in Japan is rice. And what about the bread here? Which of the bakery products is worth trying for a tourist who has visited this amazing country? And what will a student who stays on a long-term program have to miss? So, in our article we will talk about Japanese bread!

The word for "bread" in Japanese is パン (pan), and it came into Japanese from Portuguese. Having borrowed the word, the Japanese filled it with a new, original taste. It was various types of bread that became the characters of the popular children's anime "Anpanman" (「アンパンマン」).

So, what is the most common Japanese bread? It is called 食パン (しょくぱん, shyoku pan): the first character means "eat, eat", that is, the bread that is eaten. This is how the hero Shyokupanman (しょくぱんまん) is presented in the anime.

It is a square toast bread cut into a certain number of slices.

It is curious that the “length” of a package of bread is the same everywhere, but the number of slices into which the bread is cut may differ in different cities. So, for example, in Osaka, bread is sold cut into four, five or six slices. And in Tokyo they like thinner bread - there will be eight slices.

Do you remember what counting suffix you need to use to count slices of bread? Slices are so-called "flat objects", so the suffix 枚 (まい, mai) is suitable for them.

Bread is not very cheap by Russian standards. You will be lucky if you manage to find bread for the price of 100 yen (about 50 rubles), it can cost one and a half times more.

Japan has a poorer set of cereals compared to Russia, so bread porridge is a common dish for kids who are just starting to get acquainted with solid food. In this regard, allergens that are part of it are prescribed on almost all bags of bread. Usually these are milk ingredients (乳成分 /　にゅうせいぶん, nyu:seibun) and wheat (小麦 /　こむぎ, komugi). By the way, remembering the word "allergy" is very simple. It is borrowed and sounds almost the same as in Russian: アレルギー (arerugi:).

Our next "bread anime" character is Currypanman (カレーパンマン).

Guess what the bread will be カレーパン　(kare: pan)? That's right, curry! Probably, many of our readers love a fragrant sauce with vegetables, and when all this is wrapped in dough, reminiscent of Russian belyashi! .. You just need to try it! Moreover, the price of a curry bun is quite attractive - about the same 100 yen.

Meronpanna chyan (めろんぱんなちゃん) is the favorite heroine of Japanese girls.

Do you remember the name of the anime itself? Anpanman! What is this "an"? What vegetable or fruit does this word mean?

餡　(あん, an) is a sweet bean paste, a popular delicacy found in many types of 和菓子 (わがし, wagashi) Japanese sweets. Its taste may seem a little sugary, but if you like this sweetness, then you will definitely like the buns stuffed with bean paste, あんパン (anpan).

In addition, the word “pan” can be found in the names of such types of bread as: ピザパン (piza pan) - pizza-flavored bread, 　カニパン (kani pan). Kani means "crab" (蟹) in Japanese, but kani pan isn't crab-flavored bread, it's crab-shaped buns, another favorite treat for Japanese children.

These buns are also unique in that in the process of eating them, a variety of shapes can be obtained from a crab: from stone-paper-scissors to a butterfly or a little man.

So, we talked to you about the unique Japanese pastries that you can only taste in Japan. And how are things going with the usual Russian heart bread? Is it possible to find it somewhere?

Unfortunately, black bread exists here only in dictionaries. Those of our readers who have already learned the names of colors can probably make up this phrase themselves: 黒パン (くろぱん, kuro pan) - black bread. In fact, in stores you can see grayish, brownish bread, but not our black bread. That is why at Russian fairs in Japan, Borodinsky loaves, sold at exorbitant prices, diverge with a bang. If you wait too long before the fair or drive too far, you can go to a Russian restaurant. True, and there prices are very bite. So, in a Russian restaurant in Osaka, black bread costs 400 yen (about 200 rubles).

For obvious reasons, you will not find analogues of our “Seven crusts” and “Kirieshki” on the shelves of Japanese supermarkets either. There are, however, croutons for making Caesar salad. These croutons are called クルトン (kuruton),　and the salad itself is called シーザーサラダ(si:za: sarada).

There is also the expression 白パン（しろぱん, shiropan） - “white bread”, but it is also more suitable for Russian restaurants, since, again, all Japanese bread is almost white. However, in a sense, the Russian long loaf was more fortunate - sometimes you can see it on the shelves of ordinary supermarkets. This delicacy is called ロシアパン　 (roshia pan), meaning Russian bread. True, it is Russian in form rather than in taste: the dough is a bit sweet for ordinary bread, and the crusts are not at all crispy.

By the way, do you know what the Japanese word for "pink" is? パンの耳(ぱんの耳、pan no mimi). 耳 (mimi) means "ear, ears", that is, for the Japanese, pink salmon is the ears of bread. Nice, isn't it?

This concludes our story about Japanese bread. Write in the comments which of the items described in the article you had a chance to try in Japan, tell us about your favorite bakery products!

And in conclusion, tasks for those who want to test themselves. This time we offer them in test form.

Exercise

Read the question and choose one correct answer.

• What kind of bread would you buy if you want to eat something sweet?

A.ピザパン　　B.メロンパン　　S.　カレーパン

• Which of the following is not an allergen in toast bread?

A. 乳成分　　　 B. 蟹　　　　　　 S.　小麦

• In which city can you buy bread cut into eight slices?

A. Tokyo B. Kyoto S. Osaka