Japanese brioche is nothing more than a combination of cooking cultures that enrich baking gastronomy. Brioche is known as a homemade bread of French origin that in ancient times combined the recipe for a cake with that of a loaf. On the other hand, the tang zhong technique is a recipe for making bread in Japan that consists of making a type of porridge by heating flour, milk and water. The contribution of the porridge that is achieved
with the tang zhong technique will give texture, flavor and moisture to our brioche.
It is said that one of the great advantages achieved by combining both techniques is linked to the preservation of the bread for longer, extending the aging date of the bread to several days.
Our bread in today's recipe is ideal to eat for breakfast and snacks accompanied with jam or butter. In Japan, this type of bread is generally used as an appetizer before each meal.
Below we leave you the recipe with all its steps so that you can make it at home with your family.
Japanese Brioche (Tang Zhong Technique)
Ingredients (1 brioche):
For the tang zhong:
- 25 g strong flour
- 60 g milk
- 60 g water
For the main dough:
- 8 g dry baker's yeast
- 175 g cold milk
- 60 g sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ground cardamom
- 1 egg
- 360 g strong flour
- 60 g butter
To paint the brioche:
Preparation (2 hours approx.):
To make the tang zhong:
1. In a saucepan, mix the flour, milk and water and put it over medium heat until it thickens and becomes a kind of porridge. It is very important to stir the mixture all the time with a whisk.
2. Let the tang zhong cool in a container covered with film.
For the main dough:
3. Dilute the dry yeast with a little milk.
4. In a bowl, mix the rest of the milk, sugar, salt, egg, cardamom and tang zhong. Add the flour and knead for about 5 minutes.
5. Cut the butter into cubes and add it to the dough. Knead for 10 minutes until you obtain a smooth and slightly sticky dough.
6. Grease a container with oil and place the dough. We recommend that you coat your hands with oil so that the dough does not stick to you.
7. Cover the container with plastic wrap and let it rise until it doubles in volume (approx. 1 hour).
8. Grease the mold where we are going to bake the brioche with oil or butter. Reserve.
9. Flour the surface where we are going to work. Place the dough and flatten it a little to remove the air. Flour the work table as necessary, it is important that the dough does not stick.
10. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Form each of them into a ball and place them side by side in the already greased mold.
11. Cover the brioche with a cloth cloth and let it rise for 30 minutes.
12. Heat the oven to 180ºC.
13. After 30 minutes, paint the brioche with milk.
14. Bake the brioche for about 35 minutes.
If the brioche takes color very quickly, it should be covered with silver paper and removed when there are a few minutes left before removing it from the oven.
15. After 35 minutes, prick the brioche with a skewer stick. If it comes out clean, the brioche is fully cooked. If it comes out covered in dough, continue baking the brioche until it is completely cooked.
16. Remove the brioche from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes in the mold.
17. When the mold no longer burns, we remove the brioche very carefully and let it cool completely on an oven rack.
Enjoy!
