“You have to taste a culture to understand it.” – Deborah Cater

I made bread from the Amish, and it was delicious, and this lead to inspiration from the Japanese. After watching a video on Shibuya French toast, I am ready to again make bread, but this time with a Japanese recipe (Which is kind of similar to most bread recipes). In case you haven’t figured it out, I love Japan and its culture. You will never find a kinder group of people. There is a very human feel to living over here. Life seems slower paced and well lived. There is joy in the simple things; food, friends and meeting strangers. When I think of Japan, there is one story that sums it up for me.

I was on the train to Hiroshima on August 6, which is the anniversary of when the United States dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. I was with a friend and we ended up with two French women sitting next to us. We were on a local train, instead of an express train, because I like the journey, and in Japan the journey is worth the extra time. As the four of us sat there, my friend and I spoke in English and the two women spoke French. At one of the stops a Japanese gentlemen got on the train and stood in front of us. He was dressed for work, as most Japanese people frequently are. He grabbed the hand rail and turned and faced us (I later learned that facing the windows on a train makes it easier to stand!). He then said hello to the four of us and asked where we were from. He spoke English to all of us, and French to the two other women. As we sat there and he spoke in both English, Japanese and French, he told us that he studied languages and was fluent in about 8 languages, but had never left Japan.

He spoke 8 languages, just to be able to speak languages. As an American, I have studied French, been fluent and lost it because no one I knew spoke French. I learned sign language, was fluent and lost fluency because, again, I didn’t have anyone to use it with. I have traveled to over a dozen foreign countries and I do not speak their native language, but still I was able to communicate because a lot of countries take the time to learn English. Listening to this man, who has been in Japan his whole life, highlighted the humanity in the Japanese culture. This man learned 8 languages, which he would only have a chance to use when he meets strangers on trains, and still he continues to learn. He is currently working on German. Also on the train he took the time to sing a French song in Japanese to us.

Japan is a beautiful country with amazing people. They will help you when you are lost, talk to you when you don’t speak their language, and be kind just because every human being deserves kindness. Today’s recipe is Japanese bread. Bread is the basis for a lot of meals. It is simple and basic, but necessary for many other things; pizza, sandwiches, toast, burgers etc. The bread is like the Japanese, where humanity is the basis of their culture, but is the important for every other aspect of life, because it is simple and amazing at the same time.

Japanese Bread

Ingredients (in their original form, you can convert if you want)

1000 G bread flour

70 G sugar

16 G Dry active yeast

15 G salt (only if using unsalted butter)

300 G butter-soft

400 G milk

4 eggs

1/8 cup warm water

Directions:

Put flour in large mixing bowl.

Make 3 holes on top:

Add one ingredient to each hole (sugar, yeast, salt)

Add warm water to yeast.

Cover all holes with flour.

Crack 4 eggs on top.

Pour milk over eggs.

Mix dough using dough hook (pictured above).

Gently add in butter.

Mix until smooth and soft.

Flour bottom large bowl.

Knead bread into soft circle, put in bowl.

Cover with damp cloth, let rise 1 hour.

Pour onto counter (do not punch down).

Knead into soft ball, return to floured bowl.

Let rise one hour.

Punch dough down.

Separate into 5 sections.

Place in loaf pans.

Bake at 220 degrees celsius for one hour.

*Baker's note:

This bread tasted amazing, but it was very tacky because of the extra amount of wet ingredients. I should also warn you that the Japanese have special bread pans that they bake. These pans have a cover on them so the bread bakes differently. I baked two sets. The first set I had done at 220 celsius because this is what the recipe had said, and I tried to bake for an hour. After 35 minutes the bottom started to burn, but the inside hadn't fully baked. The second set I decided to bake at the lower temperature and gave it 45 minutes, and it turned out perfect. I am baking in a convection microwave with delusions of grandeur so that could also play into the issues I was facing baking this bread. I don't want to discourage anyone from making this bread, because it was very good, but it does take a little playing to make it work in your own kitchen.

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