The News from Tokyo: Japanese Bread

July 26 2007 at 08:57 pm

I have been in Japan for the past week! Of course I was interested to find out what the baking scene is like here, and I was a bit surprised to find that bakeries are perhaps more numerous than I found even in Paris. The Japanese do bake and eat a lot of bread and pastries! Much of it is Western artisan style, and although I did not sample any of those breads, I must say that, if appearance is any indication, these bakers really give the Europeans and Americans a run for their money. In fact, the Japanese team won the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, a triennial international artisan baking competition, in 2002 (they came in third, behind the USA and France, in 2005).

But I wanted to know if there was a bread that is distinctly Japanese, and a Japanese friend directed me to Kimuraya in the Ginza district. Established in 1869, this is one of the oldest and most well-known bakeries in Tokyo, and its founder is responsible for introducing their signature anpan, a uniquely Japanese bread. These small buns bear a resemblance to miniature hamburger buns or bagels but are soft, a little sweet, and filled with sweet red, white, or green bean paste. The filling may also include a little pickle, sesame paste, or other ingredients. The dough is made with the same yeast used to ferment sake.

The photo above shows my take from Kimuraya: five anpan, a Danish-like pastry with green tea icing and whole beans inside and on top, and melon pan, another type of Japanese bread seen in almost every bakery. Melon pan, so named for its appearance rather than its flavor, is another sweet, soft bun crusted with cookie dough, and may include some type of filling. This one was filled with a mango custard, and quite tasty.

In the basement of each and every department store are (usually two floors of) amazing food halls containing every imaginable type of edible delight: not only baked goods but produce, meats, ready-to-eat foods, packaged gift foods, and more, all beautifully displayed according to the exquisite Japanese aesthetic. Two types of melon pan are seen in this photo, taken in one such food hall. I sampled the green one, which was filled with sweet bean paste and covered with tea-flavored cookie dough. Very delicious, if a little crumbly and messy to eat.

In a few hours I leave Japan… for now. I will return, to soak up more of this unique culture and perhaps learn how to bake some of these wonderful breads.

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Kim July 27 2007 at 10:42 am 1

Hello Susan,

I think a lot Asian countries was greatly influenced by Japan culture especially in term of food. Form what I partly grew up as well as traveling; a lot of their breads contain egg, sugar, milk and so on, quite different from here; they also use some cake flour in their bread. Here is the great link (In Japanese): http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/e-pan/recipe/reccipe.htm

I do have some recipe book in Chinese as well as Japanese, if you need anything, do let me know. Have a great trip.

PS: Do you visit their baking store, they do have a huge selection.
Susan July 28 2007 at 06:34 pm 2

Kim,
I wish I could read Japanese (maybe someday)! I did visit Kimuraya’s store; they do have quite a selection of anpan. The store is rather small in area, and was quite crowded when I went. Since I do not speak any Japanese, I had to order by pointing. As in every Japanese establishment, the people there were exceedingly polite and patient with me.
ejm July 29 2007 at 03:28 pm 3

This is fascinating. I had no idea that wheat was used for anything but noodles. I didn’t even think that wheat grew in Japan! But take a look at these excerpts from asiakan.org:

Exactly when the Japanese began growing and eating wheat is not known, but what is clear is that, like many other foods and products, it probably made its way through China along the trade route known as the Silk Road. (asiakan.org/japan/wheat_japan_intro.shtml)

Ever since the Dutch and Portuguese established communities in Japan centuries ago, bread has been produced in Japan. (asiakan.org/consumption/wheat_consumption_japan.shtml)

I wonder if there is a Dutch or Portuguese bread like anpan…

-Elizabeth
George August 5 2007 at 06:04 am 4

I am very keen to lay my hands on the recipe for the japanese bread. Can anyone help.
I have tried many but with not much success.
Thanks
Susan August 5 2007 at 11:25 am 5

Elizabeth, I too had no idea that the Japanese were bread eaters. I found this interesting information on wheat in Japan: http://www.asiakan.org/japan/wheat_japan_intro.shtml

George, I just posted my version of melon pan here: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/08/05/melon-pan/
Chiharu October 14 2007 at 02:55 pm 6

Hi Susan,
I’m Japanese and live in Japan.
Yes, we have a lot of unique original bread here. And I want people in other country to know the Japanese bread. I’ve been thinking this since I started baking bread.
Now bread baking is quite popular in Japan. There are a lot of bread baking studios. It’s widely spreading in Japan.
And many people have own blog about bread.

I wish I could own bakery shop in America…
Susan October 15 2007 at 06:50 pm 7

Chiharu, thanks for your note. Do you know of any Japanese bread blogs or other sites that have information in English? I would like to learn more about your breads but I don’t read Japansese (or speak it either).
Chiharu October 24 2007 at 08:27 pm 8

Susan,
There is a blog which has some recipe in English. The address is below.
http://hidehide.net/bread-english.shtml
When I find others, I’ll let you know.

I’ve just come back from my vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii. It has great nature and a lot of shops, but not many bakery or nice cafe, especially @ Waikiki… (I still love Hawaii, though.)
I used to live in San Francisco. I miss there!!
Susan October 31 2007 at 01:14 am 9

Thanks for the link, Chiharu. I love Hawaii too (but never been to Honolulu!)
la belle May 26 2008 at 07:54 pm 10

I would like to know about “sponge dough”
because most of japanese bread baking book they say about this but I don’t understand japanese.
Bingata June 17 2008 at 11:02 pm 11

Hello,

I live in Okinawa, Japan working with the bases here and have not mastered the Japanese language yet. I LOVE the Japanese breads sold in the bakeries (the sliced milk or hotel breads that have an almost stringy texture when pulled apart). I am almost an intermediate baker but have yet to find a recipe or instructions on the technique to make it. I love the link that kim posted http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/e-pan/recipe/reccipe.htm but can not read it. Does anyone know if this book or the recipes have been translated to english or where I can buy really great Japanese bread cookbooks? I might pay to have someone translate a few of the recipes. That is how much I love to bake and how much I love Japanese breads. Yes, I can just go down the street to buy it, but there is so much satisfaction to be able to make a really GREAT loaf by hand. Also, when I rotate from Okinawa, I would love to be able to have great Japanese style bread wherever or whenever I want.

I use only commercial quality ingredients and King Arthur flour. Please help! If you know of any baking schools that I could go to in Okinawa while stationed here, I would love to do that also.

Thank you
Susan June 18 2008 at 09:42 am 12

Bingata, I wish I could help but I don’t know anything about Japanese cookbooks or baking schools. Consider posting your question at The Fresh Loaf.
Bingata June 19 2008 at 11:35 am 13

Thank you Susan That is a great suggestion. I am hoping Kim, who posted the link, reads Japanese and might be able to translate a few of the recipes or knows of another site that has true Japanese style Pain de Mie, hotel and their regular milk sandwich loaf recipes already translated into English. I translated one of the recipes via Google but the translation was off and the recipe made no sense at all.

I suspected that beautiful stringy texture, not crumby like most US breads, was all in the kneading and folding techniques and from the pictures posted with the recipes in Kanji, I guessed right. If I do go and have it translated I will be sure to post the english versions of the recipes. After I test it ofcourse

I will keep you posted.