Here are 3 ways to enjoy the new Shokupan Gold Butter Loaf for a taste of Japan

No one can deny the effort that Japanese put into their food, and their sense of pride when it comes to presenting their meals.

Just think of all the sushi, ramen or traditionally-made mochi.

There’s just something about the quality of Japanese foods that always makes me feel slightly fancier than usual.

As a foodie, I honestly love it when brands release Japanese-inspired food products.

So, try imagining my anticipation when I found out that Sunshine Bakeries was launching Shokupan Gold, their first premium bread range designed to bring the taste of Japan into your home.

The first product, Shokupan Gold Butter Shokupan loaf, is pillowy soft, fluffy with a rich, salted buttery taste.

According to Sunshine Bakeries, the range aims to offer an authentic Japanese experience with every bite.

After picking up several loaves of Butter Shokupan loaf, I decided to prepare them in three different ways for my colleagues to try in attempts to share my love for Japanese bread.

Review 1: The OG

Upon opening the loaf, my colleagues and I noticed the fragrant buttery aroma from the bread that could be smelt tables away.

Right off the bat, I noticed that the new Butter Shokupan loaf had a deeper buttery colour and thicker than regular bread.

I got the help of my colleague, Cherlisa, to help try the bread in its purest form.

She was pleasantly surprised by the fluffiness and the slightly salted and buttery taste.

She said: “It’s a lot fluffier than the bread I eat normally and I can really enjoy the savoury buttery taste.”

Recipe 2: Croutons

The second recipe we made was to turn the Butter Shokupan loaf into toasted croutons.

One of the best ways to enjoy your croutons is to have them with a bowl of hearty soup.

I was hoping to make a corn potage (or simply, corn soup), but settled on a mushroom soup since we didn’t have any ingredients for corn potage in the office.

This recipe only takes 15 minutes to prepare and requires just two other ingredients:

1. 1 teaspoon of truffle oil
2. 1 can of mushroom or corn soup

I began by cutting the Butter Shokupan loaf into bite size pieces and tossed them in some truffle oil.

After preheating the oven at 100°C, I placed my croutons in the oven to bake for 10 minutes.

The toasting of the croutons helped enhance the buttery fragrance of the Butter Shokupan and also gave the pieces of bread a golden, crispy exterior while maintaining a soft and fluffy interior.

After toasting the croutons, I served it to my colleagues, Chloe and Priscilla, along with a bowl of soup.

Both of them agreed that the croutons were still fragrant from the butter and even maintained its fluffy texture after toasting.

Chloe also shared that the savoury croutons went well with the creamy soup, balancing out the taste profiles evenly.

Recipe 3: Melon Pan

For the last recipe, I tried to go full-on Japanese with this Melon Pan toast which only took 15 minutes to prepare.

For the uninitiated, Melon Pan is a Japanese sweet bun that has a layer of crispy cookie dough.

This recipe calls for:

1. 2 slices of Butter Shokupan loaf
2. 2 tablespoons of salted butter
3. 2 tablespoons of sugar
4. 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour

Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made melon pan spread available in most supermarkets which will save you five minutes prepping the spread.

After mixing the ingredients together, I spread it generously across the bread slices and scored the spread to give it the “melon-pan” appearance.

I preheated the oven at 175°C and toasted the bread for 15 minutes.

After toasting it, I let it rest for five minutes before serving it to my colleagues Michelle and Alena.

Michelle’s first reaction to the toast was one of… apprehension.

However after taking a bite of the melon pan, she shared, “It definitely tastes better than it looks.”

She added, “It’d taste more crispy and fragrant if you left it in the oven for a while longer.”

Alena, on the other hand, liked the melon pan.

She said: “The bread is already fragrant and with the crispy melon-pan spread, it’s more sweet and buttery.”

Of all three ways, this was my personal favourite as it really did remind me of the melon pan that I tried back in Japan.

The Shokupan Gold Butter Shokupan loaf is available at S$3.80, in major retail stores across Singapore.

This sponsored article by Sunshine got this writer craving Shokupan Gold Butter Shokupan loaf.

Top images from Hayley Foong and Canva.