Sunday March 1, 2009
ABC Cooking
Tokyo
Rainy and Cold
I was very excited to take my Master Bread Making Class today as I thought I was going to learn how to make bagels. Unfortunately, I was looking at April's calendar and found out that I was making Melon Pan and An Pan instead. It was only a mild disappointment as I was curious to learn how to make these popular Japanese breads.
What is Melon Pan? Pan means bread in Japanese and the word was introduced by the Portuguese. The bread was concocted in Japan. My teacher could not explain the origin of the bread but its everywhere in Japan. Its called Melon Pan because it looks like half of a melon. Its basically a sweet roll with a biscuit crust. Its pretty easy to make. Its sweet enough that it can be eaten alone but its not as sweet as a Danish. I highly recommend you try one when visiting in Japan. But please try one at the bakery – – not at the convenient store! I have to say mine turned out very good. The biscuit crust was flaky and the bread was soft and fluffy. I think I'll make these for my nephews in the States one of these days.
An Pan: Now the origins of An Pan is very interesting. An Pan is a Japanese bread filled with Azuki Bean Paste. However, in addition to the traditional An Pan, we made one with white bean paste flavored with fresh Matcha tea. Matcha tea is one of the highest grade teas in Japan and is used for the tea ceremony. Now back to the history. During the Meiji Era, many samurai lost their jobs. It was also during this time where Western cultures were being introduced in Japan. One samurai who lost his job discovered bread but realized it was not popular because it was not suited for Japanese tastes. So.. he invented An Pan. He opened a store in Ginza which still exists and is called Kimuraya which still is the No. 1 shop for An Pan in Japan.
I found it very easy to make. The fun part though was making the matcha filling. I decorated the matcha an pan with a salted cherry blossom. I did not realize one can eat them. Although the "text" told us to use it for the An Pan, I thought it would go better with the Matcha An Pan as it was more special (Matcha is expensive!). I only tried the Matcha An Pan and loved it! Now, I hope I can find the ingredients for the filling in the States!
The doughnut shaped ones have Matcha An filling.
The Matcha An Pan with a salted Cherry Blossom