Japanese Bagels

The first bagel was baked by a Jewish baker in Vienna, Austria in 1683, and since then bagels have become a popular bread product in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom – especially in cities with large Jewish populations.  As each country has different ways of making bagels, Japan also.

A “Bagel” is dense, hard bread which is boiled then baked in hot oven.  Japan follows this method too, but they add something extra.  Although most normal bakeries sell only standard bagels such as plain, cinnamon raisin etc, but bagel speciality shops sell varieties of bagels in different flavours.  Some shops twist the dough to add more tough texture (so it’s not a ring-shape), some shops cover the bagel with mochi (mochi bagel), and some shops don’t shape the dough (it looks like a bun).

Of course there are normal-looking bagels too.

Please try Japanese bagels if you have a chance to go to Japan!  

By the way, I heard that Malaysian bagels are deep-fried..   Is it true?  I think it’s a donut, not a bagel :p

(photos from http://sysouer.exblog.jp/ and google search)