Japanese Rice Bread | Gluten-Free, Made From Raw Rice in a Blender

Japan's rice bread relies on rice flour made for baking. This gluten-free loaf gets close with raw rice and a blender.

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About This Recipe

Rice bread is gaining ground in Japan, especially among people who eat gluten-free or are mindful of what they eat.

Japan has rice flour developed specifically for baking bread, milled from varieties bred for the purpose. Bread made with it comes out light, fine-crumbed and good enough to eat on its own.

That flour is hard to find outside Japan. So this recipe takes a different route to get as close to Japanese rice bread as possible: instead of rice flour, it starts from raw rice, soaked in water and ground into a batter in a blender.

The result has the character of a Japanese rice shokupan. The crust is fragrant, the inside is moist and light, and the fine crumb melts in the mouth with the delicate sweetness of Japanese rice and a gentle, chewy spring. It is nothing like the dry, heavy texture that gluten-free bread often has.

It is also easier than wheat bread. There is only one rise, and because the batter barely sticks, cleanup is quick.

What makes Japan's rice flour for bread different, why it suits bread so well, and how we try to get close to it with raw rice — we cover all of that in a separate article.

Why Raw Rice Works for Japanese Rice Bread

 

Ingredients (Makes 1 loaf)

Match the water to the weight of rice: 125 ml for 200 g, 130 ml for 210 g, 135 ml for 220 g. These are a guide — rice absorbs water differently depending on the variety and how long it has been stored, so adjust to the rice you have.

 

Instructions

1		Rinse the rice, then soak it in plenty of water until it has absorbed enough — about 3 to 4 hours in warm weather, or 6 hours in cooler weather. Tips Soaking time matters in both directions. Too short and the rice will not grind smoothly. Too long and it can affect the flavor of the rice — and in hot weather, it also raises the risk of bacteria. Judge by the grains rather than the clock, since temperature and variety both change how fast the rice absorbs water. They are ready once they turn slightly white and break easily when pressed with a fingernail. Soaking to this point is what allows the blender to produce an even paste, which in turn gives the loaf its smooth, fine crumb. Water quality plays a part as well. Most tap water in Japan is soft, which suits rice bread. Hard water will still work, but soft water is the better choice if you are after the smoothest texture.
2		Drain the rice in a colander and let it sit for a few minutes so the water runs off naturally. Tip Drain thoroughly. If water is still clinging to the grains, you will not be able to hit the water measurement in the recipe. There is no need to dry out the water the grains themselves have absorbed.
3		Add the drained rice to a blender along with the water, potato starch, sugar, salt and oil, then blend until the mixture becomes a smooth, creamy paste with no trace of individual grains. Tips Potato starch gives the loaf a soft, fluffy texture closer to wheat bread, though too much makes it heavy. Sugar adds sweetness and helps the crumb hold moisture. Salt balances the flavor and also slows fermentation, which gives a finer crumb. Oil softens the crumb and keeps it moist. Blend in short bursts of a few seconds rather than running the blender continuously. Each time you stop, scrape the batter off the sides and bottom with a spatula and push it back to the center, so everything grinds evenly. Check the batter on the spatula with a fingertip. Once it feels smooth rather than gritty, stop. Blending beyond that point risks damaging the starch. An ordinary home blender is enough. It will not reach the fineness of Japan's rice flour, but it still produces a loaf with good texture.
4		Add the instant dry yeast and mix it in gently until it is distributed through the batter. Tip Adding the yeast at the end rather than the beginning keeps it away from the heat generated during blending, which leaves fermentation conditions where you want them.
5		Pour the batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper, scraping the blender clean with a spatula. Cover loosely with plastic wrap so it does not touch the batter, and let it rise at 95–100°F (35–38°C) until it is about one and a half times its size. Tips This batter is looser than a wheat bread dough, so do not worry if it looks different from what you are used to. Secure the wrap to the pan with a rubber band so it cannot lift or slip off during the rise. Judge by how much the batter has risen rather than by time. Over-fermenting can make it overflow the pan while baking, collapse afterwards, or leave a coarser crumb. Start preheating the oven a little before the rise finishes, so you can bake as soon as the batter reaches one and a half times its size.
6		Lay a sheet of parchment paper over the surface of the batter, cover the pan with its lid, and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 to 45 minutes. Tips Covering the pan holds the moisture in and keeps the surface from drying out too quickly, which is what gives the loaf its fine, moist crumb. If you do not have a lidded loaf pan, a pound cake pan works. Cover the batter with parchment paper, then foil, and weigh it down with a heavy tray to act as a lid. If the tray is light and does not hold the rise down, add pie weights on top. See the video below for details. If the crust comes out pale and you would like more color, remove the lid, raise the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.
7		Take the loaf out of the pan right away and let it cool on a wire rack. Once the steam has settled and it is only just warm to the touch, wrap it to keep it from drying out. Tips Wrapping it while it is still hot traps steam and leaves the surface sticky. Leaving it unwrapped for too long dries it out and costs you the moist texture. Wait until the loaf has cooled completely before slicing. Fresh out of the oven, the crumb has not settled and the slices will compress rather than cut cleanly.

If you make this bread, share it on Instagram with #PaqupelRiceBread. We would love to see how it turns out, and the tag is a good way to compare notes with other people cooking Japanese food around the world.

 

Recipe Video: Watch How It’s Made

 

A Variation with Psyllium Husk

Potato starch is what holds this batter together in the absence of gluten, and adding a small amount of psyllium husk alongside it gives the loaf a lighter, more wheat-like rise. If you can find psyllium, this is the ratio we settled on.

Follow the method above, and add the psyllium at the same point as the yeast.

 

How to Enjoy It

Try it plain first. After that, there are a few directions worth taking.

Toasted. Each bite layers crisp, fluffy, chewy and moist all at once — a texture more complex than an average slice of wheat bread.

 

In sandwiches. It works beautifully in sandwiches, and especially well in an egg sandwich.

 

As French toast. The loaf holds up even after soaking up plenty of egg mixture, without falling apart.

 

Japanese style. One of our favorites: toast a slice lightly, spread it with butter, top it with torn nori and finish with a few drops of soy sauce.

 

Storage

If you will be eating the loaf within a day or two, room temperature is fine. Once it is barely warm to the touch, wrap it tightly or put it in a storage bag so it does not dry out. Rice bread holds a lot of moisture, and its texture changes quickly once that moisture is gone.

 

For anything longer, freeze it. Let the loaf cool completely, slice it to the thickness you like, wrap each slice individually and put them in a freezer bag. Freezing holds the moisture in and keeps the soft, chewy texture close to fresh-baked.

Toast frozen slices straight from the freezer, with no need to thaw. For a result closer to fresh, microwave a slice briefly to soften the inside first, then toast it to crisp the surface.