King of Bread

パンの王様

Bakery shop in Gotanda (五反田), Tokyo

When a Korean drama ’King of bread-Kim Takku’ hit the airwaves in June of  2010. This was a very dramatic story about a boy set in the 1970’s(?). It was so popular in Korea that it gained 49.3% rating. Despite being born of out of wedlock, with positive attitude this boy conquered many obstacles and with the help of strangers and loved ones he became a master of  bread making. I couldn’t help but cheer for the boy and became fascinated by the process of making bread. Japanese also makes wonderful bread. It seems like there is a bakery in every block in Japan. My husband always want to go in and just CHECK what is available in each store. He never comes out empty handed though. We totally visit Japan for this reason only,,, I stand corrected, two reasons-cake shops.

I dare not say my husband is king of bread but he is a darn good bread maker. He tried this recipe a few times and improved it each time. The latest was he baked in the oven rather than bread maker  - it is now an inch closer to bread available in Japan. In Japan organic multi-grain bread is gaining popularity, yet Japanese still like soft white (not so nutritious) bread. I like sandwich made of this flexible moist bread or thick cut toast with butter.

Milk Loaf

• 540 g Bread flour
• 60g cake flour
• 10g dry active yeast
• 30g buttermilk powder
• 80g sugar
• 9g salt
• 1 egg
• 250g milk
• 150g heavy cream

Put the bread flour, yeast, cake flour, buttermilk powder, sugar and salt into the bread maker. Next add the egg, milk and cream. Use the dough setting to create the dough for this bread.

Remove from the bread maker and let rise until doubled in size.

He used half for making scones (that is what he calls fry bread).

The other half he formed into a loaf and put in a bread pan (9x5x3). After letting it rise, he brushed the top with cream and baked in a 340F oven for about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Writing this post makes me homesick and I’m looking forward to visit Japan as soon as my banking account allows it. I will prepare to get fat there too.