Shiopan is Japanese salt bread: a tender roll wrapped around butter, with a lightly salted top and a crisp, buttery base. This animated KNEVA Recipes guide shows one complete roll and how to manage shaping and proofing in tropical weather.
Makes: 7 rolls · Oven: 205°C conventional · Bake: 18–20 minutes
Allergens: wheat and milk.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 218g bread flour
- 80g cake flour
- 227g cold whole milk
- 12g sugar
- 3g instant yeast
- 6g fine salt
- 14g softened unsalted butter
Filling and topping
- 168g unsalted butter, divided into seven 24g batons and frozen until shaping
- Water for a light mist
- A light sprinkling of flaky salt
The dough totals 560g: seven 80g portions. Filling butter is separate from the 14g of butter in the dough.
Method
- Mix and rest. Combine the dough ingredients and mix on low for about 5 minutes until cohesive. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
- Knead. Knead on low for about 10 minutes more until smooth and elastic. A small rested piece should stretch into a thin membrane before tearing. If it tears immediately, knead a little longer and recheck. Follow your mixer’s dough-speed guidance.
- First rise. Cover until puffy and nearly doubled. A warm kitchen can make the dough rise faster: watch the dough, not a fixed time.
- Divide. Gently press out larger bubbles. Divide into seven 80g pieces, form rough triangles, cover and rest for 15 minutes.
- Roll and fill. Working one piece at a time, roll a thin triangle about 40cm long and 5cm wide at the base. Keep waiting dough covered. Place one frozen 24g butter baton at the wide end and roll towards the point, gently lengthening the dough. Finish with the tip underneath. This version does not require tightly pinching the side ends shut.
- Hold cold. Place each shaped roll on a parchment-lined, rimmed tray. Keep the rolls covered in the fridge while finishing the batch, with at least 5cm between rolls.
- Final proof. Take the completed tray out of the fridge and proof, covered, on the counter until noticeably puffy and airy. Check often in tropical weather. Keep away from sunlight and the preheating oven. If butter starts leaking before baking, chill until firm, then finish proofing away from the heat.
- Preheat and finish. About 20 minutes before the rolls are ready, preheat a conventional oven to 205°C with a rack in the centre. Just before baking, remove the cover, lightly mist the rolls and sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Bake. Bake for about 18–20 minutes until deeply golden and crisp underneath. Some butter pooling is expected; the rimmed tray contains it. Ovens vary, so use colour and texture as well as the clock.
- Rest and serve. Rest on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack. Cool slightly before opening one. Enjoy the tender crumb, buttery pocket and crisp underside. The hollow pocket’s size can vary.
Working in tropical weather
Cold milk, frozen filling butter and covered fridge holds help control how quickly the dough and filling warm up. Final proof is governed by puffiness and an airy feel, rather than a mandatory cool room or a promised number of minutes. Different recipes, yeast levels and starting temperatures produce different schedules.
Can the butter-filled rolls stay in the fridge overnight?
A covered shaped-roll cold retard is possible, but overnight hours alone do not guarantee a complete final proof. Use a lidded proofing box or another cover that prevents drying without pressing the rolls. In the morning, bake cold only if sufficiently risen; if still compact, finish proofing on the counter and watch closely. This recipe does not prescribe a fixed overnight schedule.
Recipe notes and sources
Adapted from Kat Lieu’s salt bread recipe at King Arthur Baking. Filling is portioned at 24g per roll and 400°F is rounded to 205°C. Tropical-weather handling is an adaptation, not a fixed proofing timetable.
Warm-kitchen references: Bake With Paws, Lesaffre Singapore and Okonomi Kitchen. For shaped cold-proof considerations, see Erin’s Cozy Kitchen.