When we are talking about Japanese food, there is usually at least one side dish involved, as the Japanese kitchen offers rice, potatoes and a lot of different noodles to accompany the main dish. Nevertheless, the only thing that seems to be missing really is bread. Japanese bread is normally rather a sweet or snack than a side dish, as it normally contains white flour and sugar. The most popular bread Japan has to offer will be the topic of today’s article: melon pan (メロンパン).

The name has a bilingual etymology, since melon is a loan word from English, while pan is from the Portuguese word for bread.

A melon pan is a type of sweet bun from Japan, that is also popular in Taiwan, China and Latin America. They are made from an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crisp cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon, such as a rock melon. They are not traditionally melon flavored, but in recent times it has become popular for manufacturers to add melon to melon bread. 

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” or may keep it despite the lack of melon flavor like “chocolate melon pan”.

Melon pan certainly isn’t healthy but a tasty snack to enjoy on the run or while having a Picknick in the park!