Asian Bread- my go-to recipe for all Asian bakery breads

Growing up, I love going to Asian bakeries for their breads. I love taking a tray and tongs to pick out my favourite breads. It used to be less than a dollar per bread. Now with inflation, it’s almost 2-3 dollars per bread! I’ve been recipe testing at home to see if I can make these breads at home. I’ve finally re-created a recipe for these Asian bakery breads at home. This bread is the same as my Japanese milk bread with some slight modifications to ingredient amounts.

Based on my research, most of the bread recipe from Asian bakery follows a similar recipe. It’s actually very common bread recipe in Asia bakery and similar to Brioche which has sugar, milk, butter to make the bread soft. In addition, this bread recipe can be used to make dinner rolls or a bread loaf.

Asian Bread vs. Western Bread

In Asia, bread is not typically a major source of carbohydrates. Typically you won’t find a lot of different grain breads. Bread are considered more as a dessert. (most of the time). Thus, the bread you find are typically very soft, pillowy with a hint of sweetness. To make this type of bread, butter, sugar, milk are added to soften the bread. I like to use bread flour as it has higher gluten content. This helps to develop the elasticity of the bread.

However, European or North American breads focuses on the grain types in the bread. It generally has a crust and flavour comes from the grains. There isn’t too much sweetness but the grains have some natural subtle sweetness .

Different ways of making softer bread

While milk, sugar, butter helps to make the bread softer, increasing moisture content of the bread is also another important way to make softer bread. One way to increase moisture content is by making tangzhong (烫种). Tangzhong is by mixing water and flour and heating it up. When tangzhong is added to bread dough, it allows the flour to absorb more liquid and thus result in softer bread.

However, I’m lazy so I’m going to show you how to make it without the tangzhong. I promise it is just as good!

Ingredients

I recommend bread flour whenever you make bread. The reason is that it has a higher protein level (higher gluten level). It will gives the bread elasticity and structure. It helps to create the strands within the bread for chewy texture.

The milk, butter and egg helps to create a soft texture. The sugar provides food for yeast. The salt enhances the flavour. Salt is also added to increase the flavour of the bread.

Another word of caution, make sure to read the expiry date on the yeast as the ones bought in bottle should be used within 6 months of opening. I didn’t know this and I had worked with yeast that was in the refrigerator for a year or more! If you are using yeast that have been in your fridge for a long time, you might not get the same results! I now just buy small packages.

How to make it

I recommend using a standing mixer because it’s easier to knead the dough especially when this bread has a high hydration level.

Take the butter out to soften. You want the butter to be soft enough that you can apply a bit of pressure and it will indent the butter.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except for butter and salt (flour, milk, 1 egg, sugar and yeast). Start mixing on medium with a dough hook. Once the dough is formed and it is slightly stretchy, add in the butter and salt. Mix on high. You want the dough to mix until you can stretch the dough.

Put the dough covered in a warm place to proof for about 1 hour or double in size. I usually use the proof function on my oven with a bowl of hot water at the bottom of the oven.

Once the dough has doubled in size, put some flour on the work surface and deflate the air in the dough. If you want to make bread with filling, cut into the 12-14 equal pieces and roll them into a ball. I usually just estimate and take a bit of dough from ones that looks a bit bigger and add to the ones that are smaller. It’s a not a big deal if you don’t get it all the same size. If you want a more accurate size, use a scale to measure out the individual dough.

Once you divided the dough and roll it into balls, let it relax for about 10-15 minutes covered. This will relax the gluten and makes it easier to work with.

Once the dough has rested, you can use the dough to make any type of bread you want.

If you want to make a loaf, then split into 3 sections, roll them into oblong shape, roll them up, turn 90^o and roll them out again. Roll it up and place into a bread pan. This recipe will make 2 loaves.

Once it’s all done, proof a second time for another 40-45 minutes

Preheat the oven to 350^oF and brush the bread with egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Pro-tip

• Fluff up the flour before weighing to get a more accurate measurement.
• Also mix the yeast with the milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes before pouring into the flour mixture.
• If mixing by hand, mix until there are no dry flour. Let it rest10-15 minutes, this way it will be easier to knead
• After 10-15 minutes, combine the butter and salt and knead until you can stretch the dough thinly without breaking.