Head towards any main station in Japan and you’re bound to come across the ubiquitous panya-san piping out staple favorites such as an pan, cream pan, meron pan, and tasty savories such as curry pan and yakisoba pan. Most bread in Japan has a distinctly Japanese edge and the humble pan has a long history of struggle up the culinary ranks.
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History of Bread in Japan
Although it was the Portuguese who introduced bread or pão to these shores, the Japanese in their selectivity preferred the more Spanish term pan. Regardless, you can still appreciate the Portuguese origins through the popularity and availability of sweet breads.
The first truly popular bread in Japan was the red bean filled anpan. It was the creation of Yasubei Kimura, a samurai nonetheless, who in 1875 needed to find a new purpose in life. His enterprise still stands today in Ginza as the Kimuraya Sohonten.
Bread, however, was first commonly used as a convenient food for sailors and soldiers, and later school lunches during the period of post war food shortages. Since then, the popularity of bread has steadily risen. Due to its pricing, some Japanese people spend almost as much on bread as they do on rice.
In Search of The Modern Loaf
If you need some bread in Japan, any convenience store within a few hundred meters of wherever you are will have a fluffy white shokupan. However, for those who have savored an original loaf on far distant shores, the heart felt shokupan doesn’t quite fill the gap. If your taste is for something more wholesome and substantial, you have to look elsewhere.
If you live in a major metropolitan center you can always find a more authentic European bakery, especially in the bigger department stores. These more artisan bread shops put out some pretty impressive stuff, but for the average common folk it’s more of a monthly treat than a weekly stop by. A healthy seed loaf or a solid rye bread can put you back some ¥400 or more— and that’s just for half a loaf!
Alternatives to Store Bread in Japan
If you’re not the greatest fan of white shokupan and the myriad of ingredients that go into it, you’re probably not the only one.
The basic loaf of bread requires just flour, water, yeast, sugar, and salt. The average store bought loaf has additional ingredients such as calcium sulphate, mono and di-glycerides, gluten, sodium stearoyl lactylate, DATEM, and something called azodicarbonamide, to name the most common.
If what you want is a regular supply of more wholesome, healthier bread, and at an affordable price, what are the options? The best option is to make your own bread. That’s easier said than done, especially if you don’t have space, you don’t have time, and you don’t have an oven— just a few of those things about living in Japan.
Making Affordable Bread in Japan
The road to bread sovereignty and independence for the defloured samurai presents five alternatives:
1. Japanese Bread Machine
The modern home bakery or bread machine is another Japanese first. It was Matsushita Denki, now known as Panasonic, that released the first home bread machine in 1986. Their bread makers are still popular, and this option also has its pros and cons.
A bread machine is cheaper than a large countertop oven. There are some good Japanese home bakeries, however, that are competitively priced to popular models of convection oven toasters. You can pick up a Japanese home bakery for less than ¥10 000, but usually they cost a little more.
A bread machine is very convenient, simple to use, and easy to store away. The drawbacks are the kinds of bread you can make as well as the size and shape of the loaves— typically large square loaves. They can also be a little noisy depending on the model you buy, so if you live in an apartment, you have to choose carefully.
The advantage is you know exactly what goes into your bread. Most bread machines have a 13 hour delay bake function, so you can load the ingredients and have a loaf ready at any convenient time. The kneading function can be used to make any kind of dough, and there are often other features such as mochi making, atsukan, jam, or fruit compote.
The Panasonic 1 Pound home bakery is one of the most popular and it has a separate dispenser for both yeast and fruits or nuts. It’s a little pricey, but excellent all round and very durable.
2. Countertop Oven
The countertop oven has become increasingly popular in Japan over the years. More and more Japanese are getting into hobby baking and making cakes that don’t come out of a microwave or a rice cooker. Most countertop ovens have a convection fan so baking is faster and more efficient. Some come with easy preset options for reheating, defrosting, or toasting.
A large countertop oven is more expensive than a bread machine, and can take up more counter space. On the other hand, it’s more versatile because you can bake, roast, or broil anything you want. You can bake standard sized loaves of bread, or do double rack baking for cookies, buns and rolls. They can cost around ¥50 000.
The Delonghi Pan Gourmet, especially designed for the Japanese market, is the only countertop oven that doubles up as fully automated bread making machine.
3. Convection Oven Toaster
A convection oven toaster is smaller and much cheaper than a larger countertop oven, although very similar. They are spacious enough, however, to make artisan breads and a small sized sandwich loaf.
For the most part, a convection oven toaster only does one rack baking. Convection fan baking works well for most types of bread. Non-convection is good for small sponge cakes, chiffon cakes, or things like butter rolls.
Like some countertop ovens, a convection oven toaster can have presets for toasting, pizzas, and frozen bake in addition to the standard oven functions of bake, roast, and broil. Not all convection toaster ovens, however, allow you to do non-convection baking.
A convection oven toaster in Japan is generally the cheapest option at less than ¥10 000, and are well worth the money spent. For a larger household or people who eat a lot bread, a bread machine or a larger countertop oven is probably the better choice.
Twin Bird has one of the most robust and attractive designs, but the Iris Oyama can do low temperature cooking and keep warm.
4. Infrared Halogen Oven
Bread is baked in an oven, so why not try a halogen oven? By placing a baking tray on the bottom rack of the halogen oven, you can do some limited scale baking. It’s not the best option for bread lovers.
However, if you appreciate a halogen oven for its roasting and air frying, you can get a little more out of it with baking soft breads, burger buns, banana bread, and cup cakes rather than standard sized sandwich loaves.
Halogen ovens are generally all imported, and there are no Japanese manufacturers of these ovens. As such, their availability and pricing fluctuate a lot. One of the consistently easiest to get in Japan in the Nutrichef Halogen Cooker.
5. Dutch Oven Pot
A Dutch oven pot isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when baking bread. They’re not going to give you the same quality as a bread machine if you bake stove top bread. However, there are a few basic breads you can try.
One problem with in a Dutch oven is that a lot of moisture gets trapped inside, whereas an oven has ventilation. This results in a crust that is more chewing than crunchy. A way around this is to wrap the lid in a tea towel—you can tie the ends together—before placing the lid on the pot. The towel will help to reduce the moisture.
Bread baked on a stove top in a Dutch oven will not have a crispy brown top even when cooked through. If you want to, you can gently lift the bread up, flip it over, and cook the top side for a few minutes for a better crust.
If you have a large countertop oven, you can bake bread in a Dutch oven pot rather than a baking tray. This technique includes removing the lid and produces a loaf with a crispy crust, and a fluffy interior. Many seasoned home cooks attest to the superior quality of Dutch oven breads.
There are many Dutch ovens to choose from, including a wide size range. One of the most attractive designs for a non-enameled Dutch oven is the Yanagi Sori Nanbu. It’s one of the few Dutch ovens designed and made in Japan.