Shokupan Recipe (Japanese Milk Bread With Tangzhong)

Soft, pillowy slices of fluffy Japanese white bread, this shokupan recipe will teach you have to make homemade pullman style loaves! Shokupan slices are typically what you find in the famous tamago sando or katsu sando from 7-Eleven or Lawson stores in Japan. While the egg salad or katsu fillings are an important part of each sandwich, the shokupan slices offer a pillowy texture that is perfect for any kind of sandwich. These days you can find shokupan in loaf form or cut into thicker slices from your local Japanese grocery store or bakery. I’m very fortunate to have bakeries like Cream Pan or Mitsuwa Marketplace that makes bread fresh daily. Shokupan is a traditional milk bread in Japan and literally means “food bread” or “eating bread.” While the popularity of bread in Japan has had a complicated and long history, milk bread or fluffy white bread in the style of Pullman loaves weren’t really popularized or even introduced until American soldiers came to Japan in the 20th century. What makes shokupan so special is its extra fluffy and soft texture, but also its ability to stay soft for a longer period of time without processed ingredients. Its high hydration dough (and the dough starter that makes this dough manageable to knead) is to thank for this cloudlike texture. Not to be confused with its cousin, Hokkaido milk bread, this dough is just as milky, but less sweet.