Hooked on to Hokkaido: This Japanese milk bread is the new favourite of city bread makers

Freshly Baked Hokkaido Milk Bread

Sourdough is good, great even. Topped with tomato and goat cheese, it makes for a firm and reassuring bread-y indulgence. But hokkaido, we feel, with its pillow-like texture, has a comforting edge over the former. It is a slightly sweetened and ultra-soft Japanese milk bread that has been making its presence felt across city bakeries. Chef Seefah Ketchaiyo, co-founder of Seefah and Seefah Bakery in Mumbai tells us that being light and soft, this milk bread can be eaten every day and in any form.

Binal Valand

What makes it fluffy? Some bakers credit the Japanese tangzhong or yudane method of baking bread, where flour and heated water are mixed into a paste before adding it to the dough. But Modernist bread (by Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya), a book that offers in-depth insights into bread - the art, history and science behind it - notes that these methods add to the shelf-life and not to the texture of the bread.

To mark Real Bread Week (February 19 to 27) here's our curated list of hokkaido breads to choose from.

Japanese hokkaido milk bread recipe

Ingredients
Dry
. 275 gm bread flour / all purpose flour plus extra for kneading as required
. 30 gm castor sugar
. 4 gm salt
. 6 gm active dry yeast

Wet
. 1 egg (approx) 45-50 gm
. 70 gm whole milk (lukewarm)
. 30 gm whipping dairy cream (lukewarm)
. 30 gm unsalted butter
. 80 gm tangzhong

Method
For tangzhong
Take flour and milk in a 1:5 ratio - 20 gm flour and 100 gm water. In a saucepan, mix the flour and water over a medium flame. Stir continuously with a wooden spatula for approximately two minutes. Cover and cool.

Making the bread:
Whisk the egg lightly (remove 2 tsp for later). In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients, make a well and mix all wet ingredients. Then, add 8 gm of tangzhong and knead for five minutes. Add the butter in two batches and knead till the dough forms a supple yet strong structure. Conduct the windowpane test: take a small ball of dough and stretch it until it forms a thin film without breaking and light can pass through it. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap, and place it in a warm place for 40 minutes. Once doubled, bring the dough to a lightly floured surface and punch it gently. Divide the dough into three equal portions. Roll each portion into a flat oval shape, fold the oval into thirds, place the seam side down and roll again, making sure the width is similar to that of the bread pan. Flip the rolled dough and roll into a sausage shape. Using your fingers, delicately seal the seam and place the loaf in the bread pan, seam-side down. Cover with a damp towel and let it rise. Brush the top with a mixture of egg and milk. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the top of the bread turns golden brown, and on tapping it, the loaf sounds hollow.

Courtesy/Binal Valand, baker and food stylist

Log on to @binal _valand and @sourdoughbinal

Subko: Their brokkaido loaf is another combination of brioche and hokkaido bread. They explain that this marriage brings in the softness of the Hokkaido Shokupan (milk bread) and the tender-crumbed, butteriness of a brioche.
Log on to @subkocoffee
Call 9004700654 (Bandra)
Cost Rs 525 for a full loaf (contains egg)

Zama Organics: This Govandi-based platform offers soft-crumb and freshly baked hokkaido bread. They're open for orders for the next day only till 6 pm.
Log on to zamaorganics.com
Call 8104965913
Cost Rs 245 for a loaf (eggless)

Seefah Bakery: Seefah Bakery's shokupan (hokkaido milk bread) checks all the milk bread boxes. Cut your Hokkaido bread into thick slices and take chef Seefah's suggestion and have it for breakfast with cold coffee.
Log on to @seefahbakery
Call 8928888710
Cost Rs 350 for 450 gm (eggless)

Pure Brot: Pure Brot's hokkaido bread version is made with sourdough, which makes it an excellent choice for French toast.
Log on to purebrot.com
Call 8291046711
Cost Rs 245 for 400 gm (loaf); Rs 165 for 400 gm (buns)