Japanese Sakura Purple Rice Bun
Recently, I've fallen in love with Japanese bread. I adore its beautiful appearance and love the sticky, chewy texture of purple rice. The sakura is only decorative and is optional to add. Tip: Sakura is a decorative flower; do not eat it! This recipe makes approximately 18 buns, with the filling recipe sufficient for about 12 buns.
Ingredients
Steps
Place all ingredients except butter into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Knead until a thick film forms, then add softened butter.
Knead until a smooth and elastic thin film without jagged edges forms. Remove the dough and perform the first fermentation, maintaining a temperature of 26–28°C (approximately 50 minutes). Once done, divide into 50g balls, roll each ball smooth, and let rest for 20 minutes.
Wrap each dough ball with pre-prepared purple rice filling (40g per filling). Method: Soak 200g of purple rice in water overnight. The next day, steam the purple rice with 250g of soaking water. While the rice is still hot, mix in the other filling ingredients, refrigerate until firm, and shape into balls for later use.
Place the wrapped buns into a proofing box at 35°C with 80% humidity for about 30 minutes. Decorate with sakura on the surface.
Cover the buns with an oiled cloth and press down using a baking tray before baking. Baking temperature reference: upper heat 150°C, lower heat 180°C, approximately 15 minutes. Note: This temperature is specific to my oven. Please adjust according to your own oven.