10 Things to Buy at Japanese Bakeries
When most people think of Japanese food, items like rice and noodles typically come to mind. However, you may be surprised to hear that bread also plays a significant role in the Japanese diet. Bread has been a staple in Japan since the post-war era, when rice was more scarce than it is today. With the modernization of Japan, the convenience of bread-centered meals has made it more and more popular--especially for breakfast due to the time and energy required to prepare a traditional Japanese meal. In fact, since 2011, Japanese families have actually spent more on bread than than they do on rice.
Bakery aisles are common in supermarkets, convenience stores, and the food halls found on the basement floor of department stores. There are also a number of Japanese bakery chains as well as foreign bakeries around, usually conveniently located by train stations. Artisanal bakeries, specializing in organic grains and yeasts, have inspired a huge following, but everyday Japanese “shokupan” (plain white sliced bread”) remains popular.
Japanese bakery items contain an array of unconventional fillings and seasonal flavors, including sweetened red beans, corn, black sesame seeds, edamame (soy beans), chestnuts, sweet potato, and kabocha pumpkin.
Japanese Bread and Baked Goods to Try in Japan
1. Yakisoba Pan
If you’re having a hard time choosing between noodles and bread, why not have both? Yakisoba pan is a soft Japanese bun that’s similar to a hotdog bun, stuffed with yakisoba noodles. The yakisoba consists of thick chewy noodles, seasoned and fried together with meat and cabbage. It’s a bakery item that you’re guaranteed to find only in Japan.
2. Karepan
Karepan (“curry bread”) combines the Japanese love for deep-fried foods with curry, which has been a favorite dish in Japan since the Meiji era. It’s a roll that’s coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried, filled with a centre of smooth Japanese curry. Japanese curry tends to be sweeter and milder than other types of curry and has a consistency that’s closer to beef stew than non-Japanese curry.
3. Melonpan
Melonpan is a sweet roll with a light flavor and texture and a crumbly cookie surface. Originally, this treat was named for its resemblance to melons like the cantaloupe, but recently some melonpan makers have experimented with adding actual melon flavoring to their bread. Other variations include melonpan made with chocolate chips, filled with whipped cream, or filled with ice cream in summer (“melon-aisu”).
4. Tonkatsu Sando
Tonkatsu sando is a sandwich made with shokupan and tonkatsu, a crispy fried pork cutlet breaded in flaky Japanese panko breadcrumbs. The sandwich may also contain thinly sliced cabbage and a drizzling of tonkatsu sauce. Japanese sandwiches typically have the crust removed, as the crusts are used to make panko breadcrumbs.
5. Anpan
Anpan is a sweetened bread roll typically made with anko, a sweetened red bean paste. It was the first bread in Japan made to appeal specifically to Japanese tastes, as the dough is prepared in the same way as manju, a traditional Japanese dessert. Anpan may also be made with other types of bean paste, such as shiro-an (white bean paste) or goma-an (bean paste flavored with sesame).
6. Mentaiko Furansu Pan
A unique Japanese twist on the French baguette, mentaiko furansu pan takes a baguette and smothers it in mentaiko, a spicy marinated cod roe, before toasting. The orange-colored mentaiko takes on a light pink color when cooked.
7. Cornet (Corune)
Cornet is a sweet roll with a distinct cone shape that’s filled with most commonly with cream. Chocolate cornet is chocolate in color and flavor, and filled with chocolate cream and sometimes custard, and may also come in a white chocolate variety. Plain versions of cornet are filled with whipped cream, or whipped cream and custard.
8. Sausage Pan (Soseiji pan)
Sausage pan is a Japanese-style sausage weiner that’s wrapped in a bread roll. It’s not unusual to find sausage pan covered in ketchup, cheese or mustard before baking. Instead of regular bread dough, croissant pastry is sometimes used.
9. Shokupan
Shokupan is a simple loaf of fluffy white bread that’s pillowy-soft. It’s sold everywhere in Japan, from supermarkets to corner bakeries, and is viewed as a food staple much like plain white rice. Loaves of shokupan can be sliced thickly, with only four to five bread slices per loaf, or thinly with up to ten slices. Thinly sliced shokupan is commonly used for convenience store sandwiches.
10. Shu Kurimu (Choux Cream)
Shu kurimu, or Japanese cream puffs, are a favorite dessert imported from France. They are based on the classic choux pastry, where a mixture of flour, butter, water and egg is piped onto a tray in little mounds and then baked in a hot oven. The result is a pastry that is crisp on the outside, and light and airy on the inside. This makes it perfect for filling with pastry cream in a variety of flavors.
Japanese Bakeries Are a Wonderland of Unique Sweet and Savory Baked Goods
Japanese bakeries offer a wide variety of unique breads and rolls that exist only in Japan. The next time you’re in Japan, why not visit a corner bakery or stop by the bakery section of a supermarket? Simply grab a tray and a pair of bread tongs, pick out the items you’d like, and pay for them at the register.
