Dubai: When you think of Japanese baking, usually one type of cake that comes to mind is the fluffy, jiggly, melt-in-your-mouth Japanese soufflé cakes and castella cakes – all thanks to social media. But, Japanese baking is much more than just Japan’s famous cloud-like sponge cakes. Japanese baking is an art in itself, with many sweet and savoury bread variations.
When my editor recently shared some baking tips with me (someone who could never get her cake to rise evenly for a long time), she said that two things are important when baking. First, the correct whisking or whipping technique, and second, patience. The Japanese apparently take these two factors to a whole new level.
Take the Castella cakes for instance. The ingredients are basic — flour, sugar, and eggs, folded and baked ever so slowly until the batter reaches heights that other sponge cakes can only hope to. Its world-famous pillowy texture is due to its slow bake and the physical leavening from the whipped egg whites instead of chemicals like baking powder or baking soda. Patience and whipping, you see.
So, to find out everything about Japanese baking, the Food by Gulf News team met with Chef Ai Takenaga, who has been working in the UAE for the past six years, at the Japanese restaurant, Yamanote Atelier on Dubai’s Al Wasl Street.
Bread took time to rise in Japan…
Japanese cuisine is traditionally known for rice and seafood-based dishes. But, the country’s appetite for bread, particularly sweet and savoury snack varieties, has grown unabated over the last decade. Now, there are bakeries everywhere you look, in Japan.
The introduction of bread in Japan initially started with trade between Portuguese traders and missions in the mid-16th century. While bread didn’t become popular then, the Japanese word ‘pan’ became the local adaptation of the word pão (bread) in Portuguese.
Culinary historical records from Japan say that the first bread known to be made by a Japanese person for Japanese people was by Egawa Hidetatsu in 1842. In charge of the Tokugawa Shogunate's coastal defenses around Tokyo Bay, he baked hard bread as provisions for soldiers.
According to many Japanese culinary history websites, during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), a former samurai Yasubei Kimura found himself out of work following the dissolution of the samurai class and the rise of an all-conscript military. In 1869, Kimura founded a bakery named Bun'eido, now in the Shinbashi area of Tokyo. The only types of bread available in Japan at the time were salty and sour, which did not suit the Japanese palate. Kimura tried to create bread that was better suited to local tastes. For inspiration, he looked to traditional sweets made with red bean paste (an or Anko) surrounded by mochi (glutinous rice cake). He substituted bread for mochi, raising the dough with liquid yeast. The result, first created in 1874, was very close to the Anpan we see today.
Chef Takenaga told Gulf News: “Bread, in reality, became a part of the Japanese diet during World War II (1939-1945), it was brought in by the US."
After Japan joined THE World War II on September 27, 1940, bread was reintroduced to Japan in large quantities. Like other nations involved in the war, Japan was facing massive food shortages. US soldiers would distribute cheaply made factory bread and powdered milk to Japanese civilians, specifically school children, in their school lunch (kyushoku) system. The bread was also produced to make sandwiches for US soldiers.
“We started eating bread because it was difficult to source rice,” Chef Takenaga added.
Eventually, the ingredients in bread were adapted to suit Japanese tastes, giving birth to Shokupan, the Japanese milk bread. The delicious, soft, and fluffy white bread loaf is seen commonly in Asian bakeries. The chef added that chocolate also became popular around this time.
“The Japanese not only started baking on their own, but they also changed the simple bread loaf and started adding fillings including chocolate, inside the bread,” she explained.
Shokupan slowly gained appeal as a breakfast staple. In rural areas, farmers increasingly bought snack-type bread called kashipan to eat as treats during breaks in agricultural work.
A French baker brought the art to Japan…
“In 1965, Philippe Bigot, a French baker credited with introducing the baguette to many Japanese households, came to Japan to demonstrate baguette-making at a trade show in Tokyo. Bigot, who was taught to bake by his father, passed on the art. He opened a bakery in Japan, which soon became popular among locals, earning him the position of the master of baking in Japan,” Chef Takenaga added.
Bigot was awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest order of merit for his achievements in 2003, and recognised by the Japanese government as a Gendai no Meiko (Contemporary Master Craftsman).
Japan soon began embracing and making different types of bread, creating a unique Japanese bread culture.
“By this time, many Japanese people also started visiting France, bringing back with them the knowledge of how to bake bread. By the late 1970s, Japanese bakeries had started making different types of bread preparations, from curry donuts (Kare Pan) to melon bread – a childhood favourite.”
A delicate balance of flavours and unique techniques
Japanese desserts follow a delicate balance of unique flavours, this was brought into baking as well. “It’s all in the balance of the right amount of sugar and salt,” the chef explained.
"The secret is also in the flour we use. It is different from your regular cake flours. The Japanese flour mix is the reason Japanese baked items have moist and fluffy textures. So the Japanese started mixing different flours to see which mix would yield the right result."
“A difference in technique is the use of what we call the bakers’ per cent, to calculate the amount of sugar, honey and milk in the batter. The water content in Japanese baking is higher. This makes the mixing technique harder if the water content is more, but it is the only way to achieve the texture that the Japanese like for their bread and bakery – soft and moist.”
According to chef Takenaga, the Japanese prefer sweet foods: "Custard buns are very popular among the Japanese. Japanese croissants and melon buns are also hugely popular. And, you often see people heading to street-side bakeries to snack on curry donuts."
Chef Takenaga showed us how to make Kare Pan or curry donuts at home.
A step-by-step guide to making Kare Pan or Curry donuts
Servings: 10 buns
Preparation time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
For the dough
- 230 gms Japanese flour
- 40 gms sugar
- 3.5 gms salt
- 7 ml skimmed milk
- 12 gm yeast
- 47 ml beaten egg
- 100 ml water
- 47 gms butter
For coating:
- 100 gms corn flakes (lightly crushed)
- 1 large egg (beaten)
- 10 tbsp Japanese curry roux (scroll down for recipe)
Oil for frying
Method:
1. Mix the ingredients for the dough and knead well (this process is easier and faster using an electric dough kneading machine).
2. Cover the dough and allow it to rest at room temperature for one hour.
3. You will notice that the dough rises.
4. Knead slightly and divide into balls weighing 50 grams.
5. Dust some loose flour and roll into a ball shape.
6. Place them on a tray and allow them to rest for 15 minutes in a refrigerator.
7. After resting, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough balls to 1 cm thickness.
8. Place a spoonful of curry in the center of each flattened piece.
9. Seal the sides to make a ball shape with the curry in the middle. Ensure the sides are secure to make sure the bread does not open up while being baked or fried.
10. Dip the balls first in egg and then in the crushed cornflakes, place on a baking tray.
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 100 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
12. After baking, fry the curry donuts in oil for 2 minutes on either side.
13. Drain the excess oil, and your curry donuts are ready.
Recipe: Japanese curry roux
Serving size: 500 gms
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 1.25 gms strip loin beef
- 1.5 gms canned tomato
- 1.5 liter water
- 750 gms white onion sliced
- 250 gms carrot sliced
- 250 gms apple diced
- 10 gms garlic powder
- 5 gms nutmeg powder
- 25 gms curry powder
- 400 gms Japanese curry paste (found in Asian grocery stores or the Asian foods section in supermarkets)
- 350 gms Burment curry
- 50 gms honey
- 50 gms olive oil
Method:
1. In a container mix beef, vegetables, garlic powder, nutmeg, and curry powder.
2. In a deep cooking pot, add the oil and then the prepared mixture.
3. Saute for 10 minutes.
4. Add water, canned tomatoes, and apples.
5. Let it simmer (slow fire) for two hours.
6. Now add the Japanese curry paste.
7. Cook for 15 minutes more, and add honey.
8. Cool the preparation down, once cold, store it in the refrigerator (chiller).
Guide to making Hello Kitty buns or anpans
Servings: 10 buns
Preparation time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 230 gms Japanese flour
- 40 gms sugar
- 3.5 gms salt
- 7 ml skimmed milk
- 12 gm yeast
- 47 ml beaten egg
- 100 ml water
- 47 gms butter
- 300 gms Nutella
Method
1. Mix the ingredients for the dough and knead well (this process is easier and faster using an electric dough kneading machine).
2. Cover the dough and allow it to rest at room temperature for one hour.
3. You will notice that the dough rises.
4. Knead slightly and divide into balls weighing 50 grams.
5. Dust some loose flour and roll into a ball shape.
6. Place them on a tray and allow them to rest for 15 minutes in a refrigerator.
7. After resting, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough balls to 1 cm thickness.
8. Place a spoonful of Nutella or chocolate spread in the center of each flattened piece.
9. Seal the sides to make a ball shape with the chocolate in the middle. Ensure that they are sealed well so that the bread does not open during the baking process.
10. Place them on a baking tray. Using some more dough cut triangular shapes and place them on the top to make ears.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for 100 degrees Celsius for one hour.
12. Fill melted chocolate in a piping bag with a small tip. Draw a Hello Kitty face on the bread.
13. Now, bake at 209 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes. (This calculation is for the restaurant kitchen, for home bakers, the chef advises to bake the bread for 10 minutes or until the bread reaches a slightly dark toasted colour).
