, also called melon bun or melon bread, is a Japanese sweetbun covered in a layer of crispy cookie dough. The texture resembles that of a melon, such as a

cantaloupe The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...

. It is not traditionally melon-flavored. Melonpan and

pineapple bun A pineapple bun () is a kind of sweet bun predominantly popular in Hong Kong and also common in Chinatowns worldwide. Despite the name, it does not traditionally contain pineapple; rather, the name refers to the look of the characteristic to ...

from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

are very similar. By comparison, the Japanese style is lighter in weight and taste, slightly drier, and has a firmer outer layer (including top cookie crust) that resists flaking, unlike its Hong Kong counterpart, whose top cookie crust tends to flake easily. The Hong Kong version is also moister and is generally soft on the outside and inside, with a stronger butter flavor.

Etymology

''Melonpan'' consists of two loanwords: the word ''melon'' and the Portuguese word ''pão'', meaning "bread".Se
Infoseek Japanese-English dictionary for pan/パン
/ref> It is called that because the grid or net-like pattern of the crispy surface looks like the skin of some melons.

History

There are several competing theories about melonpan's origin. * One theory is that after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Okura Kihachiro Okura or Ōkura may refer to: * Okura Hotels, an international chain headquartered in Japan * Ōkura River in New Zealand * Ōkura, New Zealand, a village * Ōkura school of traditional Japanese comic theater * Okura, Yamagata, a village in Ja ...

brought an Armenian baker, Hovhannes Ghevenian, also known as Ivan Sagoyan, to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Sagoyan worked at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and invented the bread following Russian, French, and Viennese baking techniques. However, if Sagoyan was indeed the inventor, he did not refer to the bread as "melonpan". * Alternatively, the bread (specifically its shape and method of production) invented by the bakery owner Kikujiro Mitsugawa in 1930 could have been melonpan. Records from the time describe covering the bread dough with cake dough and adding flavors like coffee or banana, albeit with no mention of the bread's name. * Another theory states that the round bread with biscuit dough on top called "Sunrise" sold by Kinseido's Obama branch in Kobe in the 1930s was the first melonpan in Japan. * Other theories point to origins in the Mexican pastry '' conchas'' and the German pastry ''

Streuselkuchen Streuselkuchen (; "crumb cake"), also known in English-speaking countries as crumb cake, is a cake made of yeast dough covered with a sweet crumb topping referred to as streusel. The main ingredients for the crumbs are sugar, butter, and flour ...

'', which were introduced to Japan from the United States following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Variations

Many variations of melonpan exist. Though not originally melon-flavored, it has become popular for manufacturers to actually add melon flavoring to melonpan. They can be baked with caramel or chocolate, and filled or covered with cream or custard. Some contain chocolate chips between the cookie and bread layer. In the case of such variations, the name may drop the word "melon", instead replacing it with the name of the contents (such as "maple pan" for a

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

flavored bread) or may keep it despite the lack of melon flavor (such as "chocolate melon pan"). In parts of the

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

, Chūgoku, and

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

regions, a variation with a radiating line pattern is called "sunrise", and many residents of these regions call even the cross-hatched melon pan "sunrise". Melon pan & iced coffee.jpg, Regular Melonpan.jpg, Regular Chocochips melonpan.jpg, With chocolate chips メロンパンアイス大阪 2016 (31278900614).jpg, With cream Melon bread and green tea melon bread.jpg, Regular and

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

flavor Melonpan Kure.JPG 親亀子亀 (8489689014).jpg 美容と健康にメロンパン (2823488097).jpg

References

External links

Melon Pan Recipe
{{Bread Buns Japanese breads Japanese desserts and sweets Sweet breads Yeast breads

Etymology

History

Variations

See also

References

External links