Vegan Japanese Hokkaido Milk Bread

Growing up in Koreatown, Los Angeles, I was spoiled by our neighborhood Korean bakery that supplied an abundance of Japanese milk breads. I treated these milk breads like any other white bread- eating them with eggs, peanut butter & jelly, or on it’s own. It wasn’t until years later where I realized the white bread at the school cafeteria was in fact white bread and not the culprit of the lunch lady having a bad baking day. How naive I was!

I seriously don’t know what’s worse: Thinking milk bread is normal white bread or thinking our elementary school baked fresh bread daily.

If you’ve never heard of milk bread, the best way to describe the texture is to compare them to dinner rolls. They are fluffy and light with a slight hint of sweetness. I wasn’t planning on making this loaf because I thought the softness was from the fats in whole milk, butter or egg yolks. But when I found Christine’s recipe, I was excited to learn the texture doesn’t come from any of those fats – but rather from an Asian baking technique called tangzhong. By heating a small portion of flour with water to create a paste, tangzhong helps keep the loaf moist and super soft.

After a series of trial and error combined with an aching right wrist from kneading, I was able to finally calculate the correct ratio to replicate my favorite childhood bread – but of course, vegan. 

Soy milk is the right choice of milk as it contains a tiny bit more fat and protein than almond or oat milk but any non-dairy milk should work.

Oil is my choice of fat because, compared to vegan butter, it keeps baked good moist for longer periods of time.

If you don’t own a stand mixer, be prepared to work out those arms. I don’t own a stand mixer and I kneaded multiple loaves by hand. It honestly wasn’t that bad. I already have plans to make this bread this weekend as the whole city is going into experience massive thunderstorm and rain! It’s going to be the perfect activity to make me feel cozy and warm!

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quick notes

• As mentioned above, tangzhong is an Asian baking technique that involves heating a small portion of flour with water to create a paste. One of the amazing properties of tangzhong is the ability to keep the loaf moist and super soft for several days, unlike other homemade loaf.
• Grape seed oil is added in the 2nd stage of assembling the dough because fats can inhibit the process of gluten development. If kneading by hand, be patient as the dough needs to be massaged for it to soak up the oil.
• If kneading by hand (like how I did), be prepared for an arm workout. During the first stage of assembling the dough, I have tried kneading the dough for only 15 minutes but the dough didn’t rise as much during the proofing. The bread was still soft and fluffy enough. But if you want that signature super soft and fluffy bread, I highly recommend kneading the additional 15-25 minutes! The additional time spent kneading will help your dough develop gluten, allowing the dough to stretch and expand as it rises.
• Aquafaba is used as a natural egg substitute for this recipe. Aquafaba, the liquid your beans and legumes have been soaking and cooking in, absorbs different starches, proteins and other plant properties from the beans, giving it “egg-like” properties, such as binding, emulsifying, and thickening. It’s ability to traps air, gives baked goods a fluffy lift while keeping a moist structure. Typically, 3 tablespoons of aquafaba is used to substitute 1 egg in vegan baking.
• Most common way to source aquafaba is from a can of chickpeas.
• Lastly, make sure active dry yeast has not expired.

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VEGAN JAPANESE MILK BREAD

Tangzhong roux

• ⅓ cup (40g) bread flour
• 1 cup water

In a pot, combine flour and water and whisk until flour is incorporated into the water.

Turn on heat to medium low and continuously stir until the mixture starts to thicken to a paste. Once line steaks began to form at the bottom of the pan from stirring, the paste is done. This should take only a few minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Scoop 115g (~½ cup) of the paste and set aside. Store the remainder in the fridge for other purposes.

Yeast mixture

• 2 tsp (~1 packet) active dry yeast
• 1 tsp coconut sugar
• ½ cup soy milk or non-dairy milk, lukewarm (preferably 110-115 F)

Combine active dry yeast and coconut sugar to a warm glass of soy milk (preferably 110-115 degrees) and set aside for 10 minutes. The mixture should start foaming and increase in size. If it doesn’t, try again with a new packet of yeast.

Dry ingredients

• 2¼-2½ cup (326g) bread flour
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp salt

In the meantime, sift bread flour and add coconut sugar and salt to a bowl. Set aside.

Assembling the dough – 1st stage

• 4 tbsp aquafaba (Reserve 1 tbsp of aquafaba to use as an egg wash before baking in oven)

Once the yeast mixture has increased and tangzhong has cooled to room temperature, combine the two together with 3 tbsp of aquafaba in a large bowl. In ½ cup increments, start adding your dry ingredients to the wet mixture until a shaggy dough forms.

If using a stand mixer, continue to knead for about 15-20 minutes adding tablespoons of flour if needed until dough becomes elastic.

If kneading by hand, transfer the dough to a floured surface and begin to knead for 20-25 minutes, adding tablespoons of flour (if needed) until dough becomes elastic.

Assembling the dough – 2nd stage

• 1 tbsp neutral tasting oil (I used grape seed oil)

If using a stand mixer, drizzle in oil and continue to knead for additional 8-10 minutes until oil is incorporated.

If kneading by hand, add ½ tbsp of oil and continue to knead until dough has soaked up oil. (The dough may seem too wet but keep kneading as the dough will eventually soak up the oil.) Repeat with other ½ tbsp of oil. Total kneading should take 13-15 minutes.

Transfer the dough into a well greased bowl and proof for 1-2 hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled, punch the middle of the dough. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces and cover them with saran wrap.

Grab 1 piece and roll the dough in an upward and downward motion to form a long oval. The width of the long oval should be roughly the same size of the width of you loaf pan.

Then fold the dough into thirds like you would a business letter: First, fold the top third of the dough and use your rolling pin to make sure the ends and sides are properly sealed. Then, starting from the top ends of the dough again, gently roll the dough lengthwise to fold the remaining third of the dough. Pinch the ends to seal the ends and place in onto the loaf pan with it’s seam side is down.

Repeat with remaining pieces.

Cover the loaf pan with a damp towel or saran wrap and let it proof for 1 hour or until the pieces have doubled in size. Ideally, the dough should expand higher than the loaf pan that it’s poking into the damp towel or saran wrap.

Preheat your oven to 355 degrees, 20 minutes into proofing your dough.

Once the dough has doubled, brush aquafaba on the top of the dough and bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Let it cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!

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p.s. If you like this recipe, click the icons below to share and leave a comment below! Make sure to tag me @girlmeetsradish & #girlmeetsradish so I can see what you are making!