Japanese Milk Bread Pizza

Take everything you know about pizza and forget about it in this uniquely delicious masterpiece mashup of Japanese milk dough and pizza. Each addictive bite is a loaded with sweet, sour, and umami bites of heavenly milk bread crust, Japanese sake, crispy soppressatta, and tender shitakes. “Yum.” (And even that is an understatement.) 

Ingredients

Procedure

Tangzhong

1. In saucepan over medium heat, whisk all ingredients, cooking until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Cool slightly and cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic directly against surface. Cool 10 minutes.

Milk Bread Crust

1. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine cooled Tangzhong and all ingredients for Milk Bread Crust. Mix on medium-low speed 15 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer dough to lightly greased bowl. Cover. Let rest 60 to 90 minutes until risen and almost doubled in size.

Assembly

1. Heat oven to 425°F (220°C). Drizzle oil and syrup onto clean half sheet pan, brushing to coat bottom of pan evenly. Set aside.
2. Heat large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add soppressatta and cook until crispy. Remove from pan with slotted spoon, reserving any oil in the skillet. Stir in scallions, shiitakes, garlic powder and black pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes until softened. Add sake. Bring to boil; cook 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Return soppressatta to skillet, tossing to mix well.
3. Once dough has risen, punch down to remove large air bubbles. Stretch into large rectangle and place on prepared sheet pan, stretching to cover bottom of pan and pressing into edge of pan. Brush dough evenly with sake pan sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and spoon soppressatta over top. Scrape any remaining pan sauce from skillet and drizzle over pizza.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melty. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into squares to serve.