Salt Bread, Shio Pan or sogeum ppang is the buttery, crispy bread that has taken the world by storm. Imagine a cross between a croissant, milk bread and a dinner roll that is soft and fluffy inside with a golden, salty, buttery crust. A home made version is so delicious straight from the oven. Learn tips to get that perfect crispy bottom and incredible flavour.
About Salt Bread Shio Pan
Salt bread is one of the most delicious breads you will EVER eat and uses simple ingredients you probably have at home. Salt bread or sogeum-ppang (소금빵) in Korean or shio pan in Japanese is a cross between a croissant, a dinner roll and milk bread. It was invented in Japan late 2014 by Pain Maison but became a viral sensation in Korea where they fill it all sorts of sweet and savoury fillings.
Salt bread is unique because the dough has a pronounced saltiness within the dough and sprinkled on top. Also the dough rolls up like a croissant but the key difference is that a small block of butter is rolled up with the dough.
This creates a hole in the centre where the butter was but also butter oozes out of the baking dough onto the baking sheet and this creates a roll with a crispy, buttery bottom. Even typing crispy bottom makes me drool!
The first time I tried it was in Sydney and honestly I didn't really see what the fuss was all about. But then I baked a home made version and it was incredible. I finally saw what the hype was all about! I love Japanese baked goods and Korean baked goods are creative like how they caramelise croissants or Gochujang cookies.
Video How To Make Salt Bread Shio Pan
Video: Korean Salt Bread From Scratch
Ingredients For Salt Bread Shio Pan
Flour - look for a high protein bread flour, around 12g for 100g. This lets the breads rise and puff up.
Milk - full cream milk.
Salt - fine or kosher salt plus flaked salt to garnish.
Sugar - white sugar or caster/superfine sugar.
Yeast - Use instant dried yeast (make sure your yeast is in date). See sub for fresh yeast below.
Butter - Salted butter of course! ;)
Tips For Making Salt Bread Shio Pan
1 - We are using my tangzhong dough method for milk bread. One little step creates soft, fluffy buns that last a bit longer than normal. Tangzhong takes less than 5 minutes but pays dividends in the end result.
2 - The dough itself is based on my standard soft bakery bun recipe that I use to make hot cross buns.
3 - Make sure to weigh the dough to keep baking times consistent. You want the dough to be 75g/2.6ozs.
4 - Make sure that the dough has a pronounced saltiness by using fine salt in the dough and flaked sea salt on top and salted butter in the dough and filling.
5 - The key is to roll your triangle as long and narrow as possible - we want the triangle to be at least 40cms/16inches long and 10cms/4inches wide at the top part of the triangle
6 - The key to rolling out the dough easily is to rest the dough twice. First when you shape it into a ball and second when you roll it into a long carrot shape. This makes it so, so much easier to roll into a triangle.
7 - We need to create steam when baking so spray each roll 20 times with a water spray. Yes these rolls look almost drowned just before you bake them! Steam is ideal when baking bread as it encourages a better formation and structure and also creates a thin, crisp and shiny crust.
8 - If you don't have a water spray, set a large tray with at least 1 inch of water on the bottom of your oven to create steam before you preheat the oven.
9 - These rolls are best 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. Seriously, get ready for a total moment with these rolls (every time I make these, I gobble down two fresh, hot rolls)! They also reheat well, the bottoms just won't be as crispy as when freshly baked.
10 - I don't recommend making this by hand (as opposed to a mixer) as the kneading time is a long time, 15 minutes using a mixer on medium speed which is very difficult for a person to keep up.
Flavour Upgrade Ideas for Shio Pan: use a garlic butter block inside the dough instead of regular salted butter (I don't recommend adding it in the main dough as it may produce flecks in the surface). Or split down the centre and fill with egg salad or smoked salmon.
Salt Bread Shio Pan Recipe
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Preparation time: 30 minutes plus 3 hours rising time
Cooking time: 18 minutes per tray
Makes: 8 salt bread rolls
Ingredients Needed
14g/0.5ozs flour
60ml/2flozs water
155ml/5.2flozs milk
8g/0.3oz fine salt
310g/11oz bread flour
40g/1.4oz sugar
2 teaspoons/7g instant dried yeast
30g/1oz butter, softened, cubed
200g/7ozs cold butter (cut into 8x25g pieces)
Flaked salt to sprinkle
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 ROUX- Make the tangzhong roux. Whisk the 14g/0.5oz flour and water in a small saucepan and heat gently on low until it reaches 65C/149F. Gradually whisk in the milk in a steady stream and then whisk in the salt.
Step 2 LOW SPEED - Place the bread flour, sugar and yeast in a large mixer bowl and whisk together. Pour in the roux and mix with a spatula until it become shaggy textured. Knead this dough on low speed for 1 minute until the dough starts to come together.
Step 3 MEDIUM SPEED - Drop the butter in, one piece at a time while the mixer is going. Increase speed to medium (4 out of 10) to work that gluten and knead for 14-17 minutes. Make sure to reposition the dough so that all of the dough is evenly kneaded.
Window pane effect
Step 4 BULK RISE - The dough will be ready when you can easily stretch it apart with your fingers and it doesn't break (the window pane effect). Shape into a ball and place back in a large greased bowl (I use the mixer bowl). Allow to rise in a warm place (I like to place it in another bowl of hot water, changing the water twice).
Pre bulk rise
Post bulk rise
Step 5 BUTTER - Take the block of cold butter and cut into 8 even pieces. Place in the fridge until needed.
Rising balls
Shaping into carrot shape
Step 6 SHAPE - Divide the dough into 8 pieces of 75g/2.6ozs each (the total dough will weigh around 600g/1.3lbs). Shape into balls, cover with cling film and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Then shape them into a carrot shape by rolling it into a log but concentrate on rolling one end thinner. Cover with cling film and allow to rise for 20 minutes.
Step 7 ROLLING - Take a small rolling pin and roll out the fatter end away from you. Then holding the narrow end, pull it towards you while rolling it out. You want it to be around 10cms/4inch wide at the widest point and around 40cm/15inches long. Optional: take a pizza cutter and cut straight edges, just trimming off as little as possible.
Rolling (left to right)
Step 8 RISE - Line a large tray with parchment. Take a piece of butter and place on the wider end and roll up the dough towards you. Place on the parchment and repeat with the other dough pieces and butter. Allow to rise again for 1 hour in a warm spot. Tip: you can place this in the cold oven but place a pan of hot water in the oven which will make the oven warmer. The buns are ready when they are puffy.
Step 9 BAKE - Preheat oven to 190C/374F fan forced or 210C/410F and place a tray with 1 inch of water in it on the base of the oven. Spray each bun 20 times with water spray and sprinkle with flaked salt. Bake for 19 minutes turning around in the oven after 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then devour!
Substitution notes and ingredients:
Sugar can be subbed with other sweeteners like honey or maple syrup.
Instant dried yeast can be replaced with fresh yeast, use a third of the weight (ie. 2 grams of fresh yeast).
I haven't tried this with a vegan butter substitute but I don't see why it wouldn't work!
Personal Note
When I said everyone that tries these rolls loves them I mean everyone and I also mean love. I gave some to Laura and she loved them and I also few to our neighbours Vic and Nicki. I wasn't sure if they had ever tried salt bread but the feedback came back strong. Vic explained that he and Nicki had been annoyed with each other that day trading a few verbal pot shots at each other.
"But imagine us doing that, while gobbling down the salt bread and trying to contain our 'Oh my god this is delicious!' faces LOL," explained Vic via text to Mr NQN. "Lorraine's mastering the art of Dinner-Roll-Diplomacy or Dinner-Roll-Detente. It was amazing! The perfect dinner rolls just how I like it!" he said before adding, "I loved it so much I want to learn how to make it myself. It's so perfectly buttery oily and gooey. Just the right amount of salt. I can't imagine how they could be any better 10/10."
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Korean salt bread before? Would you bake this at home or hunt it down at a bakery first?
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