Shio Pan / Japanese Buttery Salty Bread (poolish or sourdough options)
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Japanese
Prep Time: 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 12 minutesminutes
Proof the dough twice:: 2 hourshours
Total Time: 2 hourshours32 minutesminutes
Servings: 8buns
Calories: 296kcal
Author: Marvellina
Japanese shio pan is an utterly delicious bread you want to learn how to make. It has a crisp crust on the outside and incredibly soft fluffy inside with a great buttery salty taste. Simple yet it's an incredibly tasty bread!
I recommend using a starter that is at least one month old and consistently doubles or triples in 4-6 hours when you feed it at 1:1:1 ratio. Young starter will not give the best result
About 8-10 hours before you plan to make the bread, combine all ingredients for the stiff starter in a bowl. Stir a bit to roughly combine and then use your clean hand to knead it. This is a stiff starter, it's like a dough. Make sure no pockets of dry flour are visible. Transfer to a large see-through container (plastic or glass is fine, preferably wide-mouth so you can get it out easier later). Loosely cover with the lid and let it ferment until triple in size
Prepare poolish:
Mix all ingredients for poolish and let it sit for a minimum of 4 hours. You can even put this in the fridge until the next day when you are ready to use them. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Simply let it comes to room temperature for an hour or so before using
Prepare the dough:
Before you start making the dough, take out the butter for filling and slice into 8 smaller block and put them in the freezer
Put all ingredients for the dough and the poolish or sweet stiff starter for sourdough, in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment
Start the mixer on low ("stir" on KA) and knead for about 2 minutes. It should come to a rough dough. If it's too dry, you can add a bit more liquid. Once you get a rough dough that is slightly sticky, increase speed to 2 and knead for 7-8 minutes, the dough should be smoother and a bit stretchy at this point, but the dough will tear if you pull it
Add the softened butter and continue to knead on speed 2 despite a slippery mess (the butter will get absorbed eventually) You may need to scrape the dough down and reposition it several times. Increase the speed to 4 and continue to knead for another 5-6 minutes or until you pass the windowpane test
First proofing:
Oil the bowl and cover and let the dough rise at temperature about 77-86 F (25-30 C) until they are double in size. This may take 1 hour or longer depending on the temperature. If it's really warm where you are, it may not take that long
When you poke the dough with your lightly oiled finger, the indentation stays. This means the proofing is done and the dough has doubled in size
If you use a sourdough starter, this may take about 2-3 hours at 78-80 F (26-28 C), depending on the strength of your starter and temperature
Shaping:
Line one large baking sheet with a parchment paper
Lightly oil your working surface and your palms. I use non-stick cooking spray and deflate the dough, pushing out all the air. Divide the dough into 8 smaller doughs, about the same size. Round them up into balls. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes
Work with one dough at a time and keep the rest covered. Take one dough and roll it out into about 7-8 inches long triangle shape. Place one block of butter about 1 inch from the edge of the widest part of the triangle. Fold the dough over and use your finger to press and seal the dough around the butter. Roll it down to the other end and tuck the end under. Bent it to shape like a crescent. Place this on a baking sheet and give them some space to rise. Continue with the rest of the dough and butter
Spray or brush the surface of the bread with water. Sprinkle with some coarse salt or pretzel salt. I use coarse pink Himalayan salt because that's all I have
Second proofing:
Second proofing may take a bit longer to proof the dough at a cooler place. Cover with a cloth and put in a place that is not too warm, try not to exceed 82 F (27 C) because the butter inside the dough will start to melt. Let them proof again until they are puffy and double in size. If you press the dough with your finger gently, it will spring back slowly.
If you use sourdough starter, this may take about 3 1/2- 4 hours or longer, depending on temperature and the strength of your starter. Final proofing usually takes much longer for sourdough. Mature starter works faster compared to young starter for example
10 minutes before the end of proofing, preheat your oven to 425 F (218 C) for a conventional bottom heat-only oven. For convection top and bottom heat, lower the temperature by 20 degrees
Baking:
Bake in the preheated oven, middle rack, for 14-15 minutes or until nicely darker golden brown. I rotate the pan from front to back at about 7 minutes. The butter will slowly melt during baking, don't panic. It's normal. This melted butter will crisp up the bottom of the bread
Remove from the oven and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely. The crust will harden and is crisp. The bread has a rustic, matte look because they aren't brushed with any egg wash