 So this bread is called shokupon or Japanese milk bread. And basically it is just a sandwich loaf, but due to the way it's made, it has a pretty unique texture and flavor. It's tender yet chewy, fluffy and almost cloud-like and ever so slightly sweet. And like I said, it's super easy to make, so I think it's a great place to start if you're just getting into the world of bread making. And to make it, we'll start by simply mixing the ingredients. So in a bowl or measuring cup, combine 260 grams or about 250 milliliters of whole milk, which by the way, is just a little over a cup with 10 grams of honey and three grams or about a half packet of instant yeast. So I am using dry commercial yeast, just because that's how this bread is typically made. But it's very easy to convert this recipe to a sourdough version as well. But I'll leave instructions for how to make that one in the full recipe on my website. Now once everything is combined, I'm just gonna let this sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. And by the end of that time, there should be just a bit of foam forming on the surface. Now this resting step isn't 100% necessary, but it basically just allows us to prove that our yeast is alive and active. So if you don't see any sort of foam or activity on the surface, first you may just need to wait longer. But if you still don't see it after around an hour, your yeast might be dead and you should probably just go get some more. So in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 350 grams or a little under three cups of bread flour with 20 grams or five teaspoons of granulated sugar and seven grams of salt, which is about two and a half teaspoons if you're using diamond crystal kosher salt as I am. Then just stir everything to combine. I like to use my dough whisk for this. And once the dough has come together, we can start kneading. Now if you have a stand mixer, you'll definitely wanna use it here because this dough requires a lot of kneading in order to develop sufficient gluten to give the final bread its signature soft and chewy texture. So that's not to say that you can't make it by hand, you definitely can, but it's just a bit more work. But assuming you are using a stand mixer, you'll just wanna set it to about a medium speed and using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for about seven to eight minutes. And by the way, if you're wondering whether you can use all-purpose flour for this recipe rather than bread flour, the short answer is you definitely can. However, I would actually recommend using bread flour if at all possible because again, this dough needs to develop a pretty strong gluten network and higher protein flours like bread flour will allow you to do that much more effectively. Anyways, after about eight minutes of kneading, my dough has come together pretty nicely. So at this point, we can start to add our last ingredient, which is butter. And this is what's really gonna give this bread its soft and luxurious texture. So I've got two tablespoons of unsalted butter warmed up to room temperature and I'll just add it little by little as I run my stand mixer on a low to medium speed. So I added it in about four separate increments, waiting until each was incorporated before adding the next. Then after it's all combined, we can finally crank up the speed and finish kneading. And this is probably the most important step because this is where we're gonna develop that super strong gluten network to give the bread its chewy cloud-like texture. So we'll wanna knead on a high speed for about six to eight more minutes until the dough is extremely smooth and stretches significantly without tearing. And by the way, be careful when you're kneading because this high speed will probably cause your stand mixer to jump around a bit. So you should stand nearby at all times and probably even hold it down as well because the last thing you want is for your stand mixer to walk itself off the counter. Anyways, once you've got your velvety, smooth, voluptuous dough, it's time for the bulk fermentation phase, which is just a fancy way of saying that we're gonna let the dough rest for about an hour or two to let it rise. And we'll be looking for the dough to double or triple in size here. So personally, I like to transfer it to a clear rectangular container just because it's easier to monitor that way. Either way though, it's a good idea to lightly lubricate your container with a neutral oil to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the sides as it rises. So I typically let it rise at room temperature, which again should take about one to two hours. That timeline can vary depending on the temperature of your environment. Anyways, once our dough has more than doubled in size, we're ready to move on to the next step, which is to divide and shape the dough. So place the dough out onto a large work surface and start by dividing it up into three equal sized pieces. I like to use a scale just to make sure they're all exactly the same, but you can just eyeball it if you want to. So once you've got your three pieces of dough, you'll wanna form each of them into a top ball by dragging them along your surface like so. And this is basically just gonna make all of our dough pieces even more uniform so that when we roll them out in the next step, they'll all look exactly the same. But before we get there, we need to let the dough relax for a bit. So dust the dough balls with a bit of flour and then cover them with a dish towel and leave them to rest for about 30 minutes. Now in the meantime, we can get our baking pan ready. So any standard nine by five loaf pan will work for this recipe. But if you want that perfectly rectangular look, you'll wanna use a Pullman loaf pan. So this has a sliding lid that forces the dough to maintain its shape as it bakes. And this one I have here is the closest that I could find to the traditional Japanese loaf size. And they also come in a smaller size, so of course I'll leave both linked below. Now to prepare the pan for baking, I'll just coat it with a thin layer of butter to prevent the dough from sticking. Then once our resting period is over, we can start shaping the dough. And the first step is to roll each ball out using a rolling pin into flat rectangles with a thickness of about a half inch or exactly 1.27 centimeters. And as you do this, you can dust the dough with a bit more flour if you need to, but you don't wanna use too much because the slight stickiness of the dough actually prevents it from sliding around as we roll it out. So my rectangles here are probably about eight inches by 12 inches or 20 by 30 centimeters, but it really doesn't need to be exact. What's most important if you're concerned with uniformity is that the sizes are consistent between all three loaves. Now once we've got our rectangles, we can roll them up to form the signature Shokupon spirals. And to do that, we'll first fold the rectangle into thirds. I think this is lengthwise, but just look at the video and you'll see what I'm doing. Then roll it one more time using your rolling pin to close off the seams and flatten it out just a bit more. Then roll it up into a spiral starting by folding in the corners as if you're making a paper airplane and then just rolling the rest of the way. Be sure not to roll too tightly here, but you also don't wanna make it too loose. So just a nice light tension here is good. And this folding process is gonna play a big part in creating that flaky texture that these loaves are known for. Then gently place the dough into your greased loaf pan, seam side down, and then repeat that process with the other two dough balls. Now I actually made two loaves this time so that I can make one flat top and one round top. And last minute, I decided to make the round top one a cinnamon sugar swirl loaf. So right before rolling the dough into a spiral, I just brushed it with a bit of butter and then a mixture of granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. So the loaf turned out okay. You'll see in a minute, but I also know at least one thing I would change for next time, so we'll talk about that when we get there. Anyways, the last step here is to let the dough rise one more time until it fills the pan about 80 to 85% of the way. So this usually takes a bit longer than that initial rise. For me, it took about an hour and a half at room temperature. Now when it comes to baking, you want your oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit or 218.33 degrees Celsius. If you're making the flat top loaf or if you're making the round top loaf, preheat it to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190.556 degrees Celsius. And for the round top loaf, I also like to brush it with an egg wash before I throw it in the oven. Then you'll want to bake the loaf for about 25 to 30 minutes. For me, I found the sweet spot to be about 28 minutes. And if you're making a round top loaf, you may also want to check it after about 20 minutes and cover it with aluminum foil if the top is already brown to your liking to prevent any further browning. Either way, once it's done, just remove it to a wire rack to cool. And you shouldn't have any problem sliding the loaf out of the pan immediately after removing it from the oven. You might need to shake the pan a bit, but it'll come out eventually. Now this is always the hardest part, but you'll need to let it cool for at least 30 minutes and preferably about an hour to allow the interior to finish cooking and to prevent any moisture loss. So here's my cinnamon loaf. And while it does look pretty cool, I realized that I should have used a bit less cinnamon sugar to give it a more subtle flavor. So I actually did that the next day and it turned out a lot better. So I'd highly recommend giving that one a try. Now as far as my square loaf, it made for incredible chicken katsu sandwiches, which is one of the more popular uses for this type of bread in Japan. And if you want to make it, I actually walked through my chicken katsu recipe in a recent video, so I recommend you check that out right here. It's one of my favorite dishes to make and it's delicious with or without shokupan, so I hope you give it a try. Either way, thanks a lot for watching and I'll talk to you in the next one.