Japanese Style Sweet Buns

I have been making sweet buns ever since I was in high school. I have used a lot of recipes including this Amish recipe I have shared here before. Amongst Zimbabweans, Fiso’s recipe for Zimbabwean sweet buns is quite popular, you can watch how she makes the buns on Youtube. If you have not made bread before and you want the terms explained, Fiso does a good job on her video. A few weeks ago, someone shared on Facebook a bun recipe that uses a Japanese method called Tangzhong, they looked really yummy but I did not make them. Without a dough mixer or bread maker, making bread is quite tiresome. On Friday I decided I wanted some buns for Sabbath so I decided to try the Japanese style buns. OMG! They are delicious! They were gone by Saturday morning. I am never going to make buns any other way again and I am motivated to save for a dough mixer.

What sets apart this recipe is that the Japanese use a flour and water roux as part of the mixture that makes the dough. It is one part flour to five parts water. The bread is light and fluffy.

When you pull the bun apart it just breaks down like this.

I found the recipe on Corner Cafe and have adapted it. The original recipe requires you to measure the ingredients on a scale but I don’t have one so I have rewritten the recipe as I did it.

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Japanese Style Sweet Buns

Prep Time 3 hours

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes

Servings 16

Author Princess Tafadzwa

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 sachet dry yeast
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 tablespoon butter cubed
  For Roux
  
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions

1. To make the roux: Mix flour and water in a small pot and cook over low heat until paste reaches 65C. It will look like a thick paste, it will take about a minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool to luke warm temperature before using.
2. Mix the luke warm water and sugar and add the yeast. Allow the yeast to foam
3. Sift bread flour, all purpose flour and salt. Make a well and add one beaten egg and the lukewarm roux. Mix lightly and gradually add the yeasty water to form a soft sticky dough. Knead the dough until its elastic.
4. Knead in butter until incorporated. Form the dough into a round and leave to prove in a greased bowl until its twice the size.
5. Punch down the dough, knead and form into small rounds and place into a greased tin and let them rise to double the size.
6. Beat an egg and brush the buns with the egg wash.
7. Bake in a preheated oven of 375F for 15 to 20 mins.