Japanese Salt Bread-Style Bagels
A classic Japanese salt bread (shio pan) involves rolling dough into crescents around a stick of butter. During baking, the butter leaks out, giving a deeply browned, crispy bottom to the salty rolls. This bagel-ified version adds the additional step of boiling rings of butter-stuffed dough before baking. The results are beautiful bagels with an earth-shatteringly crunchy exterior and a fluffy yet sturdy interior that holds up well to smearing with jam or tearing and dipping in cream cheese. The recipe is a bit of a project (including a prefermentation step that gives it an almost-sourdough flavor), but the end result is worth it.
Tasty Team
Total Time
13 hr 20 min
13 hr 20 min
Prep Time
10 minutes
10 min
Cook Time
1 hr
1 hr
Total Time
13 hr 20 min
13 hr 20 min
Prep Time
10 minutes
10 min
Cook Time
1 hr
1 hr
Ingredients
for 6 bagels
- 2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons bread flour, divided, plus more for hands and work surface
- 1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon room-temperature water, divided
- 1 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast, divided
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- ¾ cup cake flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons powdered milk (optional for better browning)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
Preparation
- Whisk together ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of the bread flour, 5 tablespoons of the room-temperature water, and ¼ teaspoon of the instant yeast in a medium bowl until a cohesive paste forms. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 10–12 hours, until the surface is covered in fermentation bubbles.
- During the final 30 minutes of fermenting time for the bread flour mixture, set aside 1 tablespoon of the butter to soften at room temperature. Cut the remaining 9 tablespoons butter into roughly equal pieces, approximately 4 cubes per tablespoon. Place the butter cubes on a plate, and place in the freezer until ready to use.
- Place the fermented bread flour mixture, cake flour, and remaining 1½ cups bread flour, ¾ cup water, and 1 teaspoon instant yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment. Beat on low speed for about 3 minutes, or until a semi-smooth dough has formed. Cover the mixer bowl, and let the dough stand for 15 minutes.
- Uncover the bowl. Add the powdered milk, sugar, and kosher salt to the dough. Beat on low speed for about 3 minutes, or until the dry ingredients are well incorporated. Add the reserved softened 1 tablespoon butter, and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes, or until it has been fully absorbed by the dough. Increase the mixer speed to medium, and beat until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 6–7 minutes.
- Using well-floured hands or a spatula, transfer the dough to a large bowl. Shape it into a ball, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let proof at room temperature until the dough has grown roughly 2½ times its original size, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Turn the dough out on a well-floured work surface, and divide it evenly into 6 portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Cover the dough balls with a towel, and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Flour your work surface and rolling pin well. Roll 1 dough ball out on the work surface into an 8 x 4-inch rectangle with a short edge facing you. Starting at the bottom edge of the dough rectangle and about ½ inch in from the left edge, lay 1½ tablespoons of the frozen butter cubes (about 6 small cubes) in a straight line running toward the top edge of the dough (the butter line should end 1½–2 inches away from the top edge of the dough).
- Pull the left edge of the dough up, and fold it over the line of butter cubes; gently press along the seam to encase the butter, leaving the butterless top portion of the dough open and unpressed. Continue to roll the dough toward the right edge into a log, leaving the top open. Pinch or press the seam closed, still keeping the top part open.
- Using the edge of your rolling pin, gently roll the open part of the dough into a flat fan or half-circle shape. Bring the closed end of the log around to rest in the center of the fan, forming a circle. Bring the sides of the fan around the closed end, and pinch to seal, creating a round bagel shape with 1 ridge. Place the shaped bagel on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and cover with plastic wrap.
- Repeat Steps 7–9 with the remaining dough balls and frozen butter, spacing the shaped bagels 3 inches apart.
- Let the shaped bagels rise at room temperature until slightly puffed, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with the oven rack in the middle position. Fill your widest pot about two-third full of water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Line a separate large baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Carefully remove the parchment paper with the bagels up from the baking sheet (the bagels will be fragile). Using scissors, cut the parchment between each bagel so that you are left with 6 bagels sitting on their own square of parchment.
- Working in about 2 batches, add the bagels, parchment-side up, to the boiling water (do not crowd the pot). Cook for 30 seconds. Using a large slotted spoon or a spider, flip the bagels (the parchment should release in the water). Cook for 30 seconds. (It’s OK if the bagels begin to leak some butter while cooking.) Remove the bagels from the water, and transfer to the second prepared baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle each boiled bagel thoroughly with ½ teaspoon flaky salt. (Butter may begin to pool in the baking sheet; this is also OK.) Remove and discard any parchment from the boiling water. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining bagels.
- Transfer the baking sheet of boiled bagels to the hot oven. Bake until the bagels are deep golden brown and their crust has fully set and hardened, 18–20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and immediately brush the bagels with any butter that has pooled on the baking sheet. Let cool for about 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle. Serve.
- Enjoy!
- All your favorite recipes, stored in one place. Download the Tasty app and never lose a recipe again.
