Yudane and Tangzhong: The Secret to Soft Asian Bread

Press a slice of Asian milk bread and it gently springs back. Part of that soft, moist crumb can come from yudane or tangzhong: two related ways to prepare some of the flour with hot liquid before making the dough.

Why use a cooked flour paste?

Heating flour with water gelatinises some of its starch. The starch absorbs and holds extra moisture, helping the baked crumb stay softer and more tender. This is useful in milk bread, sandwich loaves and soft rolls.

Yudane and tangzhong share that principle, but their preparation and water content differ. They are not a direct one-for-one swap in a recipe. Neither paste is a yeast culture or a substitute for the recipe’s leavening.

Tangzhong: stir a loose mixture into a paste

1. Weigh the flour and liquid specified for the tangzhong. A common ratio is 1 part flour to 5 parts water or milk by weight.
2. Whisk them together in a small saucepan. Stir over gentle heat until the mixture thickens into a smooth paste and the whisk leaves trails. Around 65°C is a common guide for this method; follow the recipe’s visual cues as well.
3. Cover the surface to prevent a skin, and let the paste cool before adding it to the remaining dough ingredients.

Example of the paste only: 25 g flour + 125 g water or milk. This is not a complete bread recipe.

Yudane: pour boiling water onto flour

1. Weigh the recipe’s yudane flour into a heatproof bowl. A common starting ratio is 1 part flour to 1 part boiling water by weight.
2. Carefully pour the boiling water onto the flour and mix promptly with a sturdy spoon or spatula until combined.
3. Cover it. Let it cool, then refrigerate for the rest specified in your recipe, often overnight. Use the cooled paste in the dough as directed.

Example of the paste only: 100 g flour + 100 g boiling water.

Count the paste within the recipe totals

The most common mistake is adding the paste’s flour and liquid on top of a recipe that already contains its full amounts. That changes the dough’s balance.

• In a tested recipe with 500 g total flour, a tangzhong using 25 g flour leaves 475 g flour for the main dough. Its 125 g liquid must also be counted within the recipe’s liquid total.
• A yudane using 100 g of that 500 g flour leaves 400 g flour for the main dough. Count its 100 g water within the total water as well.

These examples explain the accounting, not a universal conversion. Start with a tested milk-bread recipe designed for the method you choose. Flour, overall hydration, kneading and proofing still matter.

Cool first, then mix

Do not add a hot paste straight to yeast dough. Cool it as your recipe directs, and account for the paste’s temperature when mixing. A cooked paste helps retain moisture; it does not guarantee a fixed shelf life or prevent mould.

For more about flour and water percentages, try our KNEVA Hydration Calculator. Explore the rest of KNEVA’s bread guides for practical baking lessons.

Further reading

See King Arthur Baking’s comparison of tangzhong and yudane, its explanation of moisture retention, and Chopstick Chronicles’ shokupan and yudane method.