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an incredibly soft and stringy white bread with a perfect amount of chew that's made with the tangzhong method but using sticky rice flour instead of regular flour
Recently I've been on the search for the perfectly soft and stringy white bread. Bread-making had been quite intimidating before, but now I've come to absolutely love bread-making. It's calming and so much easier when using a stand mixer, and nothing beats the smell of fresh bread coming from the oven.
After a long search on the internet and in the cookbooks I have, I stumbled upon this ultra soft stringy, stick rice bread from Lady and Pups.
I knew I had to try it.
If you love super soft and perfectly chewy white breads, you'll love this bread. It isn't milk bread, but at the end after the bread has baked, you brush the top with a thin coat of milk which makes for a softer crust.
What makes this recipe different from other soft white breads, such as milk bread, is that it uses sticky rice flour. Sticky rice flour provides more chew and makes for a squishy bread. Sticky rice flour, also known as glutinous rice flour, is NOT the same as Mochiko (sweet rice flour) in that it provides a more elastic texture.
When making the recipe, you'll start out with making tangzhong, a roux method that keeps the bread extra fluffy, moist, and soft (all things you want). You'll use the sticky rice flour for the roux for the elasticity. The recipe says that the dough should be extremely sticky, but when I made it, it wasn't that sticky at all. I ended up add a few more tablespoons of water to get the dough to be a little tacky and it worked out fine.
This recipe will take two days to make, so plan ahead. I made the dough in the morning, did the first proof in the fridge so in the afternoon I shaped the dough and did the second proof which lasted to the next day where I then baked it right before lunch so I could have a fresh slice of bread at lunch.
This beautifully soft and stringy sticky rice bread may seem a bit intimidating and a little annoying because you have to get sticky rice flour, but trust me, it's worth it. It's worth it to tear the bread apart to reveal how stringy and soft it is. It's worth it to sink your teeth into this fluffy, pillow-y slice of bread and marvel at how amazing you are to make this bread.
Yeah, it's worth it.
super soft sticky rice bread
adapted from Lady & Pups | original recipe here
makes two 8.5 by 4.5 loaves of bread
ingredients:
for the tangzhong/roux:
1 1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon (150 grams) sticky rice flour
1 1/3 cup (315 grams) water
for the dough:
3 1/2 cups (485 grams) bread flour (around 14% protein)
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup (57 grams) granulated sugar
2 1/8 teaspoons (7 grams) instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
whole milk, to brush
instructions:
for the tangzhong: in a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sticky rice flour and water. Whisk constantly for 2 to 3 minutes; it will slowly thicken and eventually become a thick blob that's almost paste-like. Pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool to room temperature.
for the dough: in a stand mixer on low power, mix the cooled tangzhong/roux, bread flour, egg whites, sugar, yeast, and salt until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer knead the dough for 5 minutes, until well-combined and smooth. Cut the butter into 4 pieces and add all of it at once. Turn the mixer to medium-high and knead for 15 to 20 minutes, until very smooth and elastic. During this kneading time, stop the mixer every 5 minutes and scrape the bowl. If the dough is very sticky, resist adding more flour (it should be sticky) but if it is formless, then add more flour. If the dough isn't very sticky at all, add about a tablespoon of water at a time until at least tacky.
cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm place for about 1 to 2 hours or in the fridge for 6 hours until doubled.
butter two 8.5 by 4.5 loaf pans.
lightly flour a work surface and divide the dough in half. Working with one half, divide the half into three pieces. Stretch and roll each piece into long (about 12 inch) logs/strips. Braid them together (a simple braid) and then tuck the ends under the dough. Place in one of the prepared pans. Repeat with the other half.
cover the loaf pans with plastic wrap and a towel. Let proof in the fridge for 12 to 18 hours. The two loaves won't double but should look like they rose.
preheat the oven to 355 degrees F. Take the loaves out of the fridge and leave them on the counter at room temperature as you preheat the oven.
loosely cover the loaves with aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes (so in total 45 minutes) until well-browned. The breads should rise during baking.
once the breads are out of the oven fully-baked, brush the tops lightly with whole milk. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and let cool completely on a wire rack.
this bread is best on the day it is baked. After that, it won't be as good as on the first day but will still be great slathered with butter and then generously sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar and then broiled until the sugar is caramelized for cinnamon-sugar toast (a special, favorite breakfast of mine).
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