Sidenote: Japanese Breads

 あけましておめでとうございます!

It's almost New Years! New Years is a rather important holiday in Japan and this time of year Mitsuwa (my largest and favorite haunt for Japanese treats in Edgewater, NJ)  is full of advertisements for special bento boxes and prepared foods.

I decided to talk about some of the other things I purchase at Mistuwa aside from sugary and salty snacks. Usually I will pick up a bunch of Japanese breads and small specialties for dinner that evening when I make a pilgrimage. Since Mitsuwa is not too close to where I live I have to make the most of it! I divided the post up into two parts- Japanese breads and miscellaneous Japanese foods.

I love Japanese breads. I've made a couple of posts regarding the infamous melon pan and the less infamous but much stranger spaghetti sandwich. Japanese breads are very unique. There are countless varieties that can range from a meal in a roll to a desert oriented sweet bean paste bun. I purchase these breads from a bakery within Mitsuwa called St. Honore. I'm not certain if they exist in Japan but there a couple in the US within other Mistuwa branches. "Pan" is Japanese for bread and clearly comes from European roots.

 

"Dutch Roll"

 

"Cream Pan"

"Corn and Ham Breads"

I want to preface by saying that though I have my favorite Japanese breads, I always try to pick a few I have not had before and the ones below were all new to me aside from the corn bread. The first bread was called a "Dutch roll". I was not really sure what to expect from that name but the bread was...completely not Japanese tasting! It was a normal, not sweet, slightly yeasty roll. It was a good roll but not what I've come to expect. The next was a "cream pan". The outside was flaky and the inside contained a generous amount of  a delicious Boston creme-like filling. This was was a winner. The following two breads were similar. The outer bread was slightly sweet and buttery while the filling was creamy and contained ham and corn respectively. These are a little more savory but very very good.

This last bread was in a freezer case and caught my eye because I've never seen it before. It's called "mushi pan" and is a steamed (not baked) sweet bread. This was the highlight of this trip! The bread was very chocolatey without being too sweet. The texture is a bit dense but also filled with little air pockets. I can't wait to try more of these.

Part Two will follow tomorrow!