if you're gonna bake, BAKE

Milk Bread Rolls from Salt, Sugar, MSG

Mar 18, 2025

As I write this on Monday morning—another grey, flat sky in New York; there is a wide gash in my fitted sheet—I am eating a slice of cake for breakfast in bed. I had the girlies over for dinner last night, and Fran brought Hailee Catalano’s Coconut Cake with Whipped Ricotta Frosting. The crumb is tender from a high percentage of almond flour, the salt level is aggressive (complimentary); the cake itself is only subtly coconutty, and then you get the gentle near-crunch of toasted coconut at the end of the bite. This recipe is Mess Hall APPROVED. I can’t wait for Hailee’s cookbook. I’m not a big baker, so it’s convenient to have friends who are.

Atop my kitchen cupboards sits a KitchenAid stand mixer (received as a freebie from some long-ago food job…..thank u KitchenAid) that I use probably 1-3 times a year. I have a small kitchen with negligible work space; I am not a baker at heart; the mixer is heavy; it rarely comes down. If I am going to risk injury by pulling out my weird precarious 19th-century stool to grab the KitchenAid, then, there better be a good reason for it.

This past Thanksgiving, a good reason appeared: I’d just gotten the galley for Calvin Eng’s Salt Sugar MSG, which has a recipe for milk bread rolls that I knew, immediately, I would make. (Eng is the head chef at Bonnie’s, a Cantonese American Brooklyn restaurant where I have never successfully gotten a reservation.) I have never once made dinner rolls, but a whim is a whim. These would be my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner.

The thing about milk bread—called shokupan in Japan—is that it requires a significant amount of labor but doesn’t demand excessive levels of finesse. When I was going through a quarter-life crisis at 24, I spent a long weekend at a sourdough workshop at King Arthur, thinking I’d become the sort of person who would maintain a starter and hone her boule-shaping skills over decades. The starter quickly died, and with it my dream. When the 2020 pandemic rolled around, I knew I wouldn’t become a sourdough hobbyist. When it comes to good bread, I’m happy to delegate. Milk bread, however, is forgiving. Once you make the tangzhong—a cooked and cooled paste of milk and flour—a stand mixer more or less does the rest. The process is not short or simple, but it is not exhausting, and never once made me feel stupid. If I’m going to bake, this is the sort of recipe I crave: laborious, but not tedious. It is a project with a high success rate.

I wanted the rolls to cook squished up next to each other, and Sarah told me I could just bake them nestled in a pan, so I did. I think I lightly overproofed them; it didn’t matter, they still came out squishy and tender. I was only sad I didn’t save my lone leftover roll in the freezer for the day I would finally make Eng’s Hong Kong Egg Scramble, which is mega fluffy and extra-savory from evaporated milk, cornstarch, and the titular sprinkle of MSG.

Salt Sugar MSG—out today!—is beautiful, by the way: the sort of “restaurant cookbook” that is legitimately written with home cooks in mind. Here is a list of other stuff I want to make from it:

Fish Mix: An umami-heavy chex-mix-style snack with goldfish crackers, dried anchovies, and dried shrimp

Lemon Cola Chicken Wings: When I studied abroad in Spain my host mom used to make sticky, tender coca cola wings and for some dumb lazy reason I have never actually attempted to recreate them. Maybe this is my moment??

Cabbage Salad with Fried Garlic Sesame Dressing: I almost made this this weekend but then got too lazy (had to lay in bed and read Reinaldo Arenas and Tana French instead of going grocery shopping)—fascinated by the soft (not silken) tofu in the dressing

Yuah Ja Gwai Panzanella: A tomato-peach salad with CRULLERS

Roast Duck (Without a Duck): Yeah!!!! It’s with a chicken!!!!!!

Clams with Black Bean Garlic Sauce: A classic I’ve never tried my hand at; I’m always telling myself to cook more clams (perfect….cute….better than mussels)

Milk Bread Buns with Butter

Milk Bread Buns With Butter

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makes 6 buns

For the Tangzhong:

¼ cup (56g) whole milk
2 tablespoons (20g) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (35g) water

For the milk bread:

½ cup (113g) whole milk
1 packet (2¼ teaspoons/7g) active dry yeast
2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (50g) sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon (3g) kosher salt
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
Neutral oil, preferably grapeseed, to grease

For the egg wash and toppings:

1 large egg
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon Maldon flaky salt

To serve:

Unsalted butter, at room temperature
Maldon flaky salt

1. PREPARE THE TANGZHONG: In a small pot over medium heat, using a rubber spatula, mix together the milk, flour, and water until the mixture thickens to the consistency of mashed potatoes. This should only take a minute or so, but make sure to stir continuously to prevent the mixture from scorching. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool until the mixture is just warm to the touch.

2. PREPARE THE MILK BREAD: Measure the milk in a microwave-safe cup measure and heat in a microwave until just warm to the touch, 20 to 30 seconds. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the warm milk and yeast. Scrape the partially cooled tangzhong into the bowl and add the flour, sugar, egg, and kosher salt. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix on medium speed until the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and forms a shaggy dough, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and toss in the butter cubes, one at a time, mixing until each cube is fully incorporated before adding the next one. This can take up to 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula or bench scraper, then increase the mixer speed to medium and knead until the dough is soft and bouncy, about 5 minutes.

4. Grease a medium bowl with oil. Using a rubber spatula or a plastic bench scraper, transfer the dough from the mixer bowl to the greased bowl. Gently shape the dough into a rough ball. Cover the bowl with a large, lightly damp kitchen towel or with plastic wrap and let the dough proof on the counter at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. The dough should double in size. If your kitchen is chilly, you can pop the dough into the oven and turn the light on. Just make sure not to turn the oven on.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Punch down the dough, then turn it out onto a clean work surface. Divide the dough into six even pieces. If you have a kitchen scale, each piece should weigh about 110 grams. Keep all the dough portions under the large kitchen towel or piece of plastic wrap so they don’t dry out. Working with one piece at a time, cup your hand over the dough and drag it across the work surface, moving your hand in a circular motion as you do to form a tight ball. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pieces, spacing the balls evenly apart on the pan. [MB note: If you want your buns to touch, bake them together in a parchment-lined cake pan. After you’ve shaped them, place one in the center and the other five in an evenly spaced ring; they’ll take up more of the pan as they proof and bake.]

6. Cover the balls loosely with the kitchen towel or piece of plastic wrap and let proof on the counter at room temperature for 40 to 45ªminutes. The buns are ready to bake when they are puffed up but hold a small imprint when poked. While the buns proof, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7. PREPARE THE EGG WASH: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk until there are no streaks of egg.

8. Brush the egg wash over the tops of the buns and then sprinkle evenly with the sesame seeds and flaky salt. Bake the buns until golden brown, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

9. TO SERVE: Slice the buns open while they are still a little warm. Slather with butter and sprinkle with flaky salt.