Twenty different recipes. Six months of testing. Too many hours on YouTube. That’s how Andy Kadin taught himself to make Japanese milk bread for chefs Akira Akuto and Nick Montgomery who were preparing to open their restaurant, Konbi, in Los Angeles. A year and a half before the tiny counter serving Japanese convenience store–inspired sandwiches and pristine pastries became one of the hottest restaurants in the country, Akuto and Montgomery commissioned the Bub and Grandma’s bakery owner to create one of the most important components for their signature sandwiches. They figured it would take that long to get it right.
The result is the quintessence of the style: A perfectly rectangular loaf with barely a hint of crust cut into thick, even squares. It has a milky-sweet flavor and a feathery soft texture that tears into wispy strands and melts in your mouth. It has none of the naturally leavened holes or sourdough tang that’s prized these days among bread nerds. It’s the only enriched dough (one that includes eggs, butter, and sugar) Kadin makes at Bub and Grandma’s, and Konbi is the sole recipient of the loaves baked off each morning.
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