Raisin Shokupan (レーズン食パン)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •20 by 10cm shokupan tin or small Pullman pan with lid, or a standard loaf tin for yamagata
• •Stand mixer with dough hook, or patient hands and a bench scraper
• •Digital scale
• •Cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the yudane

   Put 60g bread flour in a heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over it all at once. Stir with chopsticks or a small spatula until no dry flour remains and the paste looks slightly glossy. Cover and let it cool completely, at least 1 hour, or refrigerate it overnight. The boiling water gelatinizes the starch, and that is why the finished crumb stays moist instead of turning dry by the next morning.

   Use truly boiling water. Warm water only makes a paste; boiling water changes the starch.
2. 2

   Soak the raisins

   Cover the raisins with the hot water and leave them for 20 minutes, until plump and flexible. Drain well, then spread them on a towel and pat dry. Soaked raisins stay tender in the loaf; dried ones drink from the dough and leave the crumb tight around them.

   Dry the raisins after soaking. Wet fruit slides in the dough and leaves little damp pockets.
3. 3

   Mix the dough

   In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the remaining bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Tear the cooled yudane into small pieces and add it with the lukewarm milk and beaten egg. Mix on low until the dough gathers, then knead on medium-low for 6 to 8 minutes, until it looks smooth and pulls from the sides of the bowl. The dough should feel tacky, not dry; shokupan softness begins with enough water in the dough.

   Keep the salt and yeast separate in the bowl until mixing begins. Direct contact can slow the yeast before the dough has even started.
4. 4

   Work in butter

   Add the softened butter in two or three pieces and knead another 5 to 7 minutes, until the dough is elastic and smooth again. It may look slippery at first. Be patient. Butter coats the gluten, so adding it after the dough has formed gives you strength first and tenderness after.

   A small piece of dough should stretch thin before tearing. It needn't be perfect windowpane, but it should show strength.
5. 5

   First rise

   Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 60 to 80 minutes. Press a floured finger into the dough; if the dent slowly fills halfway, it is ready. If it springs back at once, give it more time. Yeast follows temperature, not your clock.

6. 6

   Roll in raisins

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press it gently into a rectangle about 25 by 30cm. Scatter the dried soaked raisins evenly over the surface, leaving a narrow border. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter, then press it out gently once more. This settles the fruit into layers without tearing the gluten in the mixer.

   If a few raisins escape, tuck them back inside. Raisins on the outside burn before the bread is baked through.
7. 7

   Shape the loaf

   Grease a 20 by 10cm shokupan tin or small Pullman pan. Roll the dough from the short end into a tight cylinder, pinching the seam closed, then place it seam-side down in the tin. For a more even crumb, divide the dough into two equal pieces, roll each into a small cylinder, and set them side by side in the tin. Tight shaping builds the loaf upward instead of letting it spread flat.

   Use the palms of your hands, not your fingertips. Fingertips make dents; palms make an even roll.
8. 8

   Proof the dough

   Cover the tin and proof until the dough rises to about 1.5cm below the rim for kaku, or just over the rim for yamagata, about 45 to 70 minutes. For kaku, slide the lid on once the dough is nearly at height. Underproofed dough bakes dense at the bottom; overproofed dough collapses against the lid or spills over the tin.

   Kaku means square and lidded. Yamagata means mountain-shaped and unlidded. The pan tells the loaf what shape to remember.
9. 9

   Bake the loaf

   Heat the oven to 190 C. Bake kaku shokupan with the lid on for 30 to 35 minutes, or yamagata uncovered for 28 to 33 minutes, until the crust is matte gold and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. The center should reach about 93 C if you use a thermometer. The color matters, but the center decides doneness.

   If the top browns too fast on a yamagata loaf, tent it loosely with foil. Protect the crust while the center finishes.
10. 10

    Cool and slice

    Remove the loaf from the tin at once and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing. Hot shokupan looks ready before it is ready; slice too soon and the crumb compresses under the knife. Let it set, then cut thick slices for toast, where the raisins soften again and the crust catches a little more gold.

Chef Tips

• •Use bread flour rather than cake flour or all-purpose flour. Shokupan needs gluten strength to rise tall, especially once the raisins are inside.
• •Choose moist, plump raisins if you can. If they look dusty and hard, soak them a few minutes longer, then dry them carefully before shaping.
• •For the straight method, skip the yudane and use the same total flour and liquid in the main dough. It will still be bread, but it will not keep the same soft crumb. The yudane loaf is the one I would put on the table.
• •A lidded Pullman pan gives kaku shokupan, the square bakery slice. Leave the lid off and you get yamagata, the rounded mountain loaf. Same dough, different finish.
• •Store the loaf unsliced if you can. A cut face dries first, and bread is honest about neglect.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the yudane the night before and refrigerate it, covered. Bring it toward room temperature before mixing so it blends evenly into the dough.
• •Soak and dry the raisins up to 1 day ahead, then refrigerate them in a covered container.
• •The baked loaf keeps 3 days wrapped at room temperature. For longer storage, slice thickly and freeze; toast straight from frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 70g)