Saturday, August 1, 2009

House Special of the Week: Melonpan


Melonpan~ I've seen this tasty treat in Shakugan no Shana and Yakitate!! Japan. Let's get to know more about this yummy bread in this week's House Special!


Melonpan (メロンパン), also known as Melon pan, Melon buns or Melon bread, are inexpensive, sweet bakery products popular in Japan, Taiwan, and China made from an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crispy cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon, such as a rock melon (cantaloupe). They are not traditionally melon flavored but in recent times it has become popular for manufacturers to add melon to melon bread.

With the looks on Shana's face everytime she eats melonpan, I think it's very delicious

A little trivia about melon pan that was actually explained in anime!:
In Yakitate!! Japan, episode 13, newcomers to the bread chain Pantasia participate in a melonpan competition. It is explained that melonpan has a flaw: the cookie dough and the bread bake at different rates, and because of this the cookie dough covering is almost always underbaked so that the bread inside will not burn.

Melonpan with chocolate chips

Variations exist, including some with a few chocolate chips between the cookie layer and the enriched dough layer, and non-melon versions flavored with caramel, maple syrup, chocolate, or other flavors, sometimes with syrup, whipped or flavored cream, or custard as a filling. In the case of such variations, the name may drop the word "melon" ("maple pan") or may keep it despite the lack of melon flavor ("chocolate melon pan").

I've tried a lot of different Japanese food, since most of them are popular all over the world... but melonpan is certainly one of the most elusive food that I definitely want to try! Have you tried melonpan yourself? If you have, share what is it like!

4 comments:

  1. i have - its AMAZING

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  2. Melon bread or bo luo bao in china is the most marvarlous foods in the world. the bread is soft and fagrent and the topping is crispy. Although i don't know this i think that melon bread is different in japan than it is in china.
    i just assuming because the recipes that i used from a japanese site didn't turn our right. any ideas

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  3. i eat it! it's really delicious =))

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  4. i want to taste melon bread,cause i'm really interested of tasting it :-)

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