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Japanese Green Tea Bread with Red Bean Fillings (Tangzhong Method)

by · 54 comments
Japanese Green Tea Bread with Red Bean Fillings02

A chain bread shop, Breadtop opened a branch in Brisbane a while ago. Every time I went there or passed by, I noticed there’s always a long queue of customers waiting for paying. It seemed that their soft buns and many breads with new tastes are really welcome not only by Asians, but also Aussies. Amongst all their tasty breads, I like their green tea buns with red bean fillings the most. The buns are wonderfully soft and fluffy. I just wonder if I can bake the same good buns as theirs. So I took an experiment and turned to the reliable tangzhong recipe the other day. The end result turned out pretty good, with soft and fluffy texture as I expected. Although the taste of my buns were a bit different from the Breadtop’s, as I used 宇治抹茶 and homemade sweet red bean paste, their look were quite similar to Breadtop’s. I’m glad that my family was very satisfied with the fluffy texture of these green tea buns. Although mine could not be compared to those professional products, I felt good that I could bake some buns looked and tasted like Japanese ones.

Japanese Green Tea Bread with Red Bean Fillings (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:
  • 350 gm bread flour (2 1/2 C)
  • 55 gm caster sugar (3Tbsp + 2tsp)
  • 5 gm salt (1tsp)
  • 56 gm egg  (1 large egg)
  • 7 gm milk powder (1Tbsp + 1tsp to increase fragrance, optional)
  • 125 ml milk (1/2C)
  • 120 gm tangzhong (refer to this recipe for making tangzhong)
  • 5 to 6 gm instant yeast (2tsp)
  • 30 gm butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)
  • 2 tsp green tea powder
  • 240 gm sweetened red bean paste (homemade or canned)
Japanese Green Tea Bread Procedures

Method:
  1. Please refer to this Hong Kong Style Sausage Rolls recipe (step 1 to 3, adding the green tea powder into the bread maker along with the dry ingredients) for making dough with tangzhong. After completing the 1st round of proofing, double in size, transfer dough to a clean floured surface.
  2. Deflate and divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.
  3. Divide the red bean paste into 12 equal parts. Knead each part into small balls.
  4. Roll out each small dough ball with a rolling pin and flatten into a disc. Place a small red bean ball in the middle. Enclose and knead into a ball shape with the seal facing down. Repeat this step of rolling and wrapping fillings with the rest of your dough. Place onto a baking tray, lined with baking paper, covered with cling wrap and a wet towel. Leave for the 2nd round of proofing, about 45 to 60 minutes, until double in size.
  5. Bake in a pre-heated 160C (320F) oven for 35 minutes, or until brown. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Japanese Green Tea Bread with Red Bean Fillings03
(Some red beans retained as whole in the paste in order to add more textures)

Other recipes of Green Tea Bread:

Other tangzhong bread recipes:

54 comments :

  1. This look great. I love fluffy breads!

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  2. looks better than breadtop ones ;)

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  3. These tea soft rolls look wonderful. Perfectly baked.

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  4. Oh my, we've been getting pineapple redbean rolls at our local Chinese bakery. These little beauties look like great competition. Love the green tea.

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  5. I'm sure yours tastes better than Breadtop! They look adorable too! ;)

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  6. Looks so fluffy! and you stuffed it with so much red bea filling, unlike those stingy store-bought ones.

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  7. Christine you live in Brisbane! That's so cool. I found your blog via O/S blogs, so this is a lovely surprise. I'm an ex-brisbanite who lives on the Gold Cosat and who loves all aisan cusine. Congratulatiosn on your blog. It's great!
    Alana

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  8. To Alana,
    Glad to know that you live in Gold Coast where you can enjoy lots of beautiful sea views.
    Thanks for your love of my blog.
    BTW, you mentioned "O/S blogs". What is it?

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  9. YAY! Now I know how to make this. I love breadtop stuff.... heh

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  10. The bread looks so nice! Haven't thought they are from an experiment : ).

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  11. Every bun looks just so perfect :)

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  12. Wow...perfect buns! Love the colour and red bean paste fillings. These would be great for breakfast with a cup of tea....mmm

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  13. Your breads look beautiful! Just as pretty as bakery ones!

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  14. I saw your photo on TasteSpotting and had to come and take a look. I love your website and your bread looks delicious!

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  15. these look amazing!!! it looks even better than normal an pan!!!

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  16. Can Tangzhong be used for steamed buns. Will it do the same job as the baked ones?

    Betty

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  17. To Betty,
    Ever experimented steaming buns with this Tangzhong recipe. Can't tell.

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  18. Hi Christine,

    I love your blog and your recipes. I tried yr recipe for the green tea bread yesterday and it was my first time making bread using the tangzhong method. The dough was way too wet and it didn´t come together at all after kneading it for more than 10 mins with my Kenwood mixer. I had to add quite a lot of extra bread flour to it in order for the dough to form a smooth ball. The end result of my bread....hmmm....not as soft and fluffy as I would like it to be. I cooked my tangzhong to the thick paste consistency until lines formed as you mentioned. Do you have any idea where I went wrong?
    Many thanks for sharing your recipes and tips.

    kind regards,
    purplegirl

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  19. Hi purplegirl,
    What kind of mixer did you use? Stand or hand mixer?
    I've tested the tangzhong recipe with my stand mixer. It didn't work either. As the tangzhong batter is too sticky, the batter just sticks to the hook and curls up to top, and not properly being kneaded at all.
    I’ve already added a remark in my latest recipe of apple custard buns made with tangzhong, it's better to use a bread maker, as it seems to be too difficult to knead by hands at all.

    If you add too much flour in the process of kneading, the balance of all ingredients would be destroyed and your bread won’t be soft and fluffy any more.

    Hope the info helps.

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  20. Hi Christine,

    I just my Kenwood stand mixer and yes you´re right. My batter just sticks to the hook and curls up on top and since it was so sticky, I couldn´t knead it with my hands either. That was when I thought by adding more flour would probably get the dough going but I was aware by adding more flour it will means the texture of the bread will be affected. I guess you´re right...that this tangzhong method is best suited for the breadmaker. I will have to try this recipe again using my old breadmaker. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it.

    purplegirl

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  21. Hi Christine,

    Teresa here again. I made this today and it was very good. I do agree that the breadmaker is the best way to knead Tangzhong dough. I've tried stand mixer and also hand. Very very difficult. So left all the 'messy' work to my breadmaker. Let it knead a few cycles remove shape and proof. This is a very good basic Tangzhong dough recipe. Any other good fillings to reccomend?

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  22. @Teresa:
    Great, you made it. The blade in breadmaker works better with tangzhong dough.
    As for making other tangzhong breads with various fillings, you might try "Other tangzhong bread recipes" listed below this post.

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  23. I kneaded by hand. It was terribly sticky but I managed to get it to pass the windowpane test. I halved the recipe, used 75g of wholewheat pastry flour and 100g of bread flour. The buns turned out dense and had an unbaked taste even after the 35 minutes so I further baked them at 190 degrees celcius for 10 minutes. What do you think went wrong?
    By the way your buns look so delicious!!! Love all your recipes! :D

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  24. @Qi Ting @ Misadventures of Fat free Baking:
    Initially, I would've wondered if your dough wasn't kneaded enough, but you said it passed the windowpane test. Hmmm...got me thinking of what went wrong. Could it be the cause of yeast? If your yeast was not expired, sometimes and somehow some yeasts are not working very well, and generate some unexpected smells.

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  25. Thanks for your reply! Yup, I think it may have been the yeast! I kept the opened packet in the fridge for about 2 months before using it for these buns and didn't let them return to room temperature but used them immediately! A lesson learnt! :D

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  26. Hi Christine, I tried your bread recipe today. It turned out really nice. although i think my bread tin wasn't as high, cause the bottom of the bread with not as airy as the top. hence probably why it took longer to cook. I did it in my convection oven cause my electric oven wall is horrible. Which I'm really happy about. I'm gonna try these little one next time i'm sure the crust will not be as hard, as it'll cook faster.

    Just a question, do you buy the green tea powder at the Asian stores?
    And do you know how to make green tea filling.
    I remember breadtop use to have green tea filling in these buns and it was really nice, then they change to red bean i think it was cheaper.

    thanks for your recipes, cant wait to try some others!

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  27. Just found your blog by accident. Love the recipes & can't wait to try some.

    Thanks for this one. I love Breadtop pastries, green tea & adzuki bean buns are my favourite. I am thinking they are more of a croissant type dough. Any ideas on a recipe for them?

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  28. @Anonymous:
    Their recipes are of business secret. :)
    One of my friends made a joke and said that you could pay for their franchised licenses and open a breadtop shop, then you'd know all their recipes.

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  29. Hi Christine,
    I'm thinking to make this green tea red bean buns this weekend. btw that white stuff on top of the cooked buns is icing sugar? thanks

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  30. @Anonymous
    Just a bit of cooked flour for decor. You might use icing sugar if you like.

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  31. Hi Christine, I was introduced by a friend to your blog on tangzhong recipe yesterday and enjoyed your recipes. This morning, as I was reading through some recipes, I found out that you live in brissy... That's where I live too! How wonderful to find an Asian blogger who loves to baje & cook in brissy.... Which part of brissy do you live? I'm at the southside.

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    1. Am at southside too, where it's handy to get all the Asian stuff. :)

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  32. Hi Christine, i love you recipe.. I'm about to try make this bread and this would be my first time makin bread.

    Just a quick question, i went through the recipe and i couldnt find in which step you put in the buttet.

    Does the butter goes together with all dry ingredients?

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. The butter is kneaded in after all the ingredients come together. Please take a close look at method, step 1, referring to this previous recipe.

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  33. Can I use all purpose flour for this instead of bread flour?

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  34. I baked for 35 min according to the instructions and I got burnt & hard buns :(

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    Replies
    1. Hmmm... sounds like your oven temperature was too high.
      Every oven performs differently. You might adjust the temperature and baking time to suit your case.

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  35. Hi Christine! Thanks for sharing the recipe and the detail instruction. Last night was my first attempt using Tanzhong method. My buns turned out very well, soft and fluffy. Even my husband said it tastes like in bakery shop. Can't thank you enough :)

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    1. Congrats on your success! Glad that you and your husband liked this recipe.
      Same here. We love these buns very much too.

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  36. Hi Christine

    Love this site! Do you have the recipe for the taro buns?

    Thanks

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  37. Hi Christine,

    One more thing, I tried this recipe yesterday and the dough was really wet, it just stuck to my fingers. I'm not sure what i did wrong. I had to dust it with flour.... i must have added an extra cup of flour - it was that sticky! Perhaps, I added one cup of milk rather than 1/2 cup and just forgot. :(

    My buns also didn't brown like yours. My fan doesn't have a fan, do you think this is the reason?

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi there,
      The tangzhong dough is quite wet. It's better to use a bread machine to knead it. On top of that, the water absorption rate of every brand of flour is very different. Add a bit of flour if necessary, yet not too many as it'll hurt the texture. If the dough is kneaded enough, gluten inside will be generated enough, the dough won't be too sticky.

      The browning of bread surface is related to oven temperature. Every oven design is quite different. Try increasing the oven temperature next time. See how it goes.

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    2. Thanks. Christine, what kind of bread flour do you use? Which brand? There are several at coles and woolies and I never know which to get.

      And when you bake, do you use the fan in the oven?

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    3. I used Defiance white bakers flour (5kg) from Coles. It's bread flour.
      I didn't turn on the fan-forced function of my oven. Otherwise, I would mention.

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  38. Christine, I love your recipes. I tried making this and it turned out great. However the top of the bread was hard, not soft like the bread top ones. Is yours the same or have I done something wrong?

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    Replies
    1. The oven temperature was too higher, especially from above. Try lowering the oven temperature a bit next time. Let your buns bake in shorter time.

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  39. Hi Christine, I tried this recipe last night, mine is a bit dry inside and too dry outside. Any tips why ? I also tried your pumpkin loaf, it looks better than this green tea bun. Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Blissful,
      It could be the oven temperature. Try lowering the oven temperature a bit next time. See if it helps.

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  40. Hi Christine.

    I've tried this recipe several time and love it. But i can't seem to get the bread soft on the outside. It always turns out crusty. I pretty much follow your recipe but instead of butter i use vegetable oil. I even tried lowering my over temperature. The inside is soft but the outside is crusty. Could it really be the variation of the oil that makes it not soft?

    I use bread flour (wallaby brand) i buy at woolies.

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi
      Suppose that you followed the correct amount of all ingredients, using vegetable oil instead won't make any big differences.

      Both kneading and proofing processes are quite important. If your dough is kneaded properly, generated enough gluten inside and proofed long enough, your bread would be soft.

      I haven't used wallaby brand, so can't say anything about it. If your dough has too much moisture inside, the crust will be hard. So sprinkle a bit of extra flour to adjust if you find your dough too moist while kneading.


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  41. Hello! I made these buns a few years ago using this recipe and they came out PERFECT! It was my first time using tangzhong. Recently I wanted to try making them again so searched on the internet for a recipe. I am so happy that your website is still active and the recipe is still posted online! Thanks sooo much! :)

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