[2 - 2] this paste of cooked flour and water has
[2 - 5] a name do you know it no not Jenny no
[5 - 8] not Jose no no no not bana okay this is
[8 - 9] not going how I expected it the name of
[9 - 12] this little lump of dough is Udan it is
[12 - 14] a Japanese bread making technique and
[14 - 16] while it doesn't look like that much it
[16 - 17] is the key to the world's fluffiest
[18 - 20] pillow white bread today we're talking
[20 - 22] all about the science and art of Shak
[22 - 27] cupan Japan's angular bouncy soft white
[30 - 30] bread udon shares a lot in common with
[30 - 31] another Asian bread technique that you
[31 - 33] may be more familiar with called Tang
[33 - 35] zong they share the same goal to help
[36 - 38] enriched breads be the best versions of
[38 - 40] themselves softer lighter fluffier and
[40 - 42] with a longer shelf life that they can
[42 - 44] achieve these goals without introducing
[44 - 46] any ingredients that aren't already in a
[46 - 48] normal loaf of bread is nothing short of
[48 - 51] miraculous let's make Udan to see how it
[51 - 53] works in the bowl of my St mixer I have
[53 - 56] a half a cup 118 mL of boiling water to
[56 - 59] that I add 3/4 of a cup or 117 G of
[59 - 61] bread flour and mix to form a rough
[62 - 65] dough and then well then we're done okay
[65 - 67] so what exactly is going on here the
[67 - 69] starch in the wheat flour hydrates and
[69 - 71] gelatinizes when it comes in contact
[71 - 73] with the hot water when that happens the
[73 - 75] water is trapped almost hidden it's like
[75 - 77] the Trojan Horse looks one way on the
[77 - 79] outside but contains a secret secret
[79 - 82] water when we add udon to the rest of
[82 - 83] the dough ingredients that trapped water
[83 - 85] comes along for the ride but it doesn't
[85 - 87] do what water in aough usually does
[87 - 89] which is make it slack loose and harder
[89 - 91] to handle check out this experiment both
[91 - 93] of these shaku pan do contain the same
[93 - 94] amount of water this one was made with
[94 - 96] Udan while this one was not and just
[96 - 98] look at the difference in how the Dos
[98 - 100] feel the one with the paste is bouncy
[100 - 102] and springy and easy to press in shape
[102 - 104] with my fingers it's a cohesive dough
[104 - 106] without the paste it's I mean look at
[106 - 108] this it's incredibly slack wet and
[108 - 110] sticky it sticks to the Bowl it sticks
[110 - 113] to my fingers it sticks to everything
[113 - 115] okay so the udon makes a dough that acts
[115 - 117] less hydrated that's cool but it's not
[117 - 119] nearly as cool as what happens when we
[119 - 120] bake the dough
[120 - 122] again just like the Trojan Horse when
[122 - 125] the dough gets into the oven castle that
[125 - 128] hidden water comes to life and WS Havoc
[128 - 129] just kidding just kidding it comes to
[129 - 131] life in the form of steam power giving
[131 - 133] breads dramatic rise and a fluffy
[133 - 135] texture once your Udan is cool enough to
[135 - 137] handle all I do is break it up with my
[137 - 139] hands into chunks that I'll mix with the
[139 - 141] rest of the Shak cupan dough now many
[141 - 143] versions of Shak cupan use milk for some
[143 - 144] or all of the liquid so that's what I'm
[144 - 146] adding here then in goes more bread
[146 - 148] flour and yeast I need everything for a
[148 - 150] minute or two until the flour is evenly
[150 - 152] moistened then let it rest for 15
[152 - 155] minutes this step is called an autoit we
[155 - 157] let the dough rest to allow starch to
[157 - 159] hydrate and gluten developments begin
[159 - 161] allowing for a shorter kneading time to
[161 - 162] bring it all together we hold back on
[162 - 164] the sugar and salt at this stage to
[164 - 166] allow water to do both things as
[166 - 168] effectively as possible then I add my
[168 - 171] sugar and salt and knead it up beautiful
[171 - 172] once we form lots of gluten and have a
[173 - 174] nice looking dough I add softened butter
[174 - 176] for buttery richness and tenderness but
[176 - 178] it's only 2 tablespoons and that's not
[178 - 180] much relative to the amount of of dough
[180 - 182] here all in all this Shak coupon is a
[182 - 184] surprisingly lean dough we don't need
[184 - 186] fat to tenderize we've got the Udan for
[186 - 188] that save that butter for slathering on
[188 - 191] each slice after a rise until doubled in
[191 - 193] volume we're back to our lovely dough
[193 - 195] now Udan isn't the only defining
[195 - 197] characteristic of shokupan it also
[197 - 199] usually features a unique and important
[199 - 201] shaping method I first divide my dough
[201 - 203] into four equal pieces and I use my
[203 - 205] hands and a rolling pin to flatten each
[205 - 208] round into a square fold it into thirds
[208 - 210] and roll it up into a spiral cylinder
[210 - 212] then I Nestle each of these very cute
[212 - 214] spiral bundles into the loaf pan like
[214 - 216] this for the second Rise they won't be
[216 - 217] touching at this point but by the end of
[217 - 219] the rise they'll be puffed up cheek to
[219 - 221] cheek this technique expels large
[222 - 224] pockets of air to give a nice fine crumb
[224 - 226] and it also lines up sheets of gluten in
[226 - 228] tight spirals that will give the final
[228 - 230] bread a feathery almost cotton candy
[230 - 232] like Crome I'm using a Pullman pan here
[232 - 234] which features a lid now if you don't
[234 - 235] have one you could absolutely do it in a
[235 - 237] regular loaf pan but these are worth
[237 - 239] investing in if you bake a lot I just
[239 - 241] love the square loaves they produce
[241 - 243] after a 30-minute bake my loaf registers
[243 - 246] over 195° which means it's done I'll
[246 - 248] flip it out onto a wire rack to cool
[248 - 250] letting fresh baked bread cool is one of
[250 - 252] those hard but worthwhile good things
[252 - 254] come to those who wait life lessons
[254 - 256] according to Cooks Illustrated senior
[256 - 258] science research editor Paul Adams bread
[258 - 260] that's still warm is effectively
[260 - 262] undercooked the internal crumb structure
[262 - 264] is sticky the crust is soft and the
[264 - 266] flavor is lacking because it's diluted
[266 - 268] by the excess free moisture inside the
[268 - 269] loaf allowing the bread to cool before
[269 - 271] slicing ensures it finishes cooking and
[271 - 273] sets up which also makes it easier to
[273 - 276] slice but also sometimes I like to
[276 - 278] ignore that and tear it at the seams
[278 - 280] okay let's slice into this fully cooled
[280 - 282] Loaf and just look at how beautiful it
[282 - 284] is perfectly square with a delicate Airy
[285 - 287] Crown check out this experiment I also
[287 - 288] baked a loaf where I skipped the unique
[288 - 290] shaping method and simply rolled the
[290 - 292] entire dough up and Tuck the ends like
[292 - 294] you do with American white bread look at
[294 - 296] the texture differences the first one
[296 - 298] made with the four bundles of dough
[298 - 300] obviously has the charm swirls imprinted
[300 - 302] along its sides it's also much taller
[302 - 305] and retains its perfect super satisfying
[305 - 308] 90° angles at every corner but it's the
[308 - 310] interior that really tells the story our
[310 - 312] spiral loaf has a feathery soft
[312 - 314] cushion-like crumb whereas the other
[314 - 316] loaf features a drier looser texture
[316 - 319] there's no magic in that loaf now I can
[319 - 321] finally show you my hands down favorite
[321 - 324] use for this bread brown sugar toast
[324 - 326] it's so simple mix 1 tbsp of softened
[326 - 328] butter with one packed tablespoon of
[328 - 330] dark brown sugar I spread half on one
[330 - 332] side of a thick slice of Shak cupan and
[333 - 335] place the bread butter side down in a
[335 - 336] small non-stick skillet then the rest of
[337 - 338] the butter mixture goes on the other
[338 - 340] side then I cook it over medium heat
[340 - 343] until Brown and crisp on both sides you
[343 - 344] just want to keep an eye on the heat to
[344 - 347] prevent it from burning then let it cool
[347 - 349] now this time it's important just for a
[349 - 350] few minutes to allow the caramel to get
[350 - 356] crispy and then dig in this is so good I
[356 - 359] need another bite and another one man
[359 - 361] make a sandwich eat it straight with
[361 - 363] butter or go full brown sugar toast any
[363 - 368] way you slice it this is how to eat
[371 - 371] shokupan big thanks to Andrea giri of
[371 - 372] Cooks Illustrated for this incredible
[373 - 375] recipe for a plush floofy cloud of
[375 - 377] sandwich bread and the brown sugar toast
[377 - 379] treat and I guess thanks to Paul for
[379 - 381] that tip about letting Bread Cool even
[381 - 383] if I'm going to ignore it click like
[383 - 386] click subscribe bake bread do it all
[386 - 387] thanks for watching I'll see you next