Japanese Milk Bread

Directions

1. To make the tangzhong: Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
2. Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until you notice the mixture thickening slightly, you will notice as you mix, it should leave a line on the bottom of the pan. Immediately remove it from the heat, it will continue to thicken quickly. Add the butter to the mixture and it will melt the butter and cool the mixture at the same time. Once the butter has melted, add the milk to the mixture and stir well. If the mixture has cooled, add the egg and mix well.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the bread flour, dry milk powder, sugar, salt and yeast. With the dough hook attachment, give the dry ingredients a mix, then add tangzhong mixture, and knead for about 7 minutes on low speed. If the dough is sticky and does not clear the sides of the bowl, add 2-4 tablespoons of additional bread flour and knead using dough hook until all the flour is incorporated into the dough. The dough should be smooth and very elastic.
4. Let it rest in the bowl, covered with plastic wrap, in a 65-70 degree room for about 60-90 minutes. It will look puffy and have risen nicely.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, and divide into 6 equal pieces. Take each piece and flatten it with your hands, trying to keep a rectangle shape, with the width about 4″ wide, and the length longer, about 6-8″ in length. Roll the dough into a log, keeping the 4″ width. Place each roll into the bread pan (13″ x4″x4″) with the seam side down. Cover the pan, and let it rise until it almost reaches the top of the pan before baking.
6. When it is almost to the top of the pan, keep covered and bake in a 350F oven for 25 minutes. Remove the cover, and bake another 15 minutes, and bread will be evenly brown, or until the center is 190F.
7. Note: If you don’t have a covered bread pan, you can use a 9″x5″ loaf pan, divide the dough into 4 pieces instead of 6, flatten and roll into a log, with seam side down, line up in the pan, cover and let rise for 40-50 minutes until puffy. Brush the loaf with either an egg wash or melted butter and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes until nice and golden brown, or center of the loaf is 190 F.
8. For cloverleaf buns, use a jumbo muffin tin, and divide dough into 24 balls, using 4 balls for each muffin cup, let rise until it poofs over the top of the muffin cup. Baste with melted butter and sprinkle tops with flake salt, and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F.