Eating Bread Everyday

I do eat rice too, of course, but, I’ve been hunting on bakeries here.  I love bread ( well, I love any food :p ) especially Japanese bread ♪

A photo from a cafe.  Going to a cafe with dad for breakfast on weekend is my routine

Normally Japanese bread loaves are sold thickly cut.  I love thick cut toast.  And, Japanese bread sold at supermarkets are somehow much tastier than those here… (to me)  There are many kinds, such as “chewy”, “double aged dough” etc  I love the chewy one (もっちり)

Here is my another favorite bread “melon-pan”.  You can buy it at most bakeries, supermarkets, convenience stores and other shops that sell bread in Japan.  You can guess how popular this bread is.  

Melon-pan contains two different dough - the base is normal bread dough (sweetened) and the top is cookie dough.  It’s sweet bread and it tastes different depending on the bakery/brand.  Personally I like the cookie-part to be very crusty.  Some of them are pretty soft.

The reason why it’s called “melon-pan” is that the bread has patterns and it looks similar to a melon.  There is a character in Japanese cartoon called “melon-pan-na chan” too .

Boulangerie Pommes de Terre

The other day I went to my favorite bakery called Pommes de Terre.  (not that famous one in Tokyo, this bakery is in Shiga :p )  My favorite at this shop is Mentaiko France (photo)!!! (>v<)/

This Mentaiko France has hard crust, and chewy body.  The mentaiko paste is seasoned with high quality butter and it is very yummy!  You can’t eat this if you like soft bread as this France-pan (baguette) is very very hard: sometimes it scratches your mouth.  I love hard bread!

… and, a happy surprise!  Their bagels just got out from the oven!  I asked the staff if I could buy them (as the bagels were still hot and couldn’t be placed in the display shelf yet), they said “ok” .

I bought a matcha bagel and a cheese bagel.  Nice and hot

As you can see, the bagel is pretty small.  Japanese bagels are about this size.  I had a bite on each bagel…

My feedback :  I thought their bagels were more like normal bread, not heavy and not really chewy.  I could taste butter in the dough. As a snack bread, it was really yummy ( good taste, sweetness and the texture) but I didn’t feel it was a bagel.

My time is running here (>0<)  I want to taste Japanese hard bagel while I’m here if I can!

Snack on Bagels

This morning was really strange…  very foggy.  Everywhere I looked it was all white.  It reminded me of winter in Japan.  Snow on the ground and snow from the sky, everywhere is all white

Anyway, it was pretty cold this morning too and I had a nicely toasted bagel for breakfast.

One of the difference between bagels and ordinary bread is the density.  Bagels are pretty heavy, and they’ll keep you feel full longer.  Just one bagel is enough for the entire morning even for a person who has a big stomach like me

I like snacking on flavored bagels like Milky Maccha Green Tea and Cafe Au Lait, but also love eating just plain toasted bagel with cream cheese as breakfast.  I don’t feel hungry until lunch time at all.

This morning I had….

toasted bagel with cream cheese and berries, drizzled with honey.  I love eating fruits in the morning.  It was simply yummy!

Cheesy Toast with Condensed Milk

The combination of condensed milk and cheese was actually little shocking to me at first.  To me, toasted bread with cheese is supposed to be savory, not sweet.  I was told this recipe from my hubby.  He said this dish is very common in Indonesia…  I tried it anyway, and it tasted actually good!  Nice snack when you feel like some sweet stuff.

To make this is very easy…

<peanut butter version>

1. Toast 2 slices of bread
2. Spread peanut butter on one slice, and sandwich.
3. Top with grated tasty cheese, and drizzle condensed milk over.  Melt the cheese in oven toaster or microwave.

Azuki with Home Made Bread

Azuki is red colored tiny beans which oftenly used for Japanese sweets.  In Japan we use azuki bean paste (paste is called “An“) as a filling for manjyu (Japanese cake), steamed buns, bread (An Pan), etc,  or as a topping for pan cakes, sticky rice cake, ice cream…  there is azuki ice cream too.  I’m sure you’ve seen azuki ice cream in Japanese restaurants. 

An has actually different types: very smooth to chunky.  I like chunky An as I can enjoy the texture of beans.  

Here is the recipe for “An” …

• 250g azuki beans (raw)
• 250g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

My friend gave me this beautiful loaf the other day, and I enjoyed thick toast with chunky An.  I love this bread!  It’s dense, and chewy.  Scent of honey really whet my appetite.  I can’t get enough of this.  So nice ♪