It’s no secret to those closest to me during the past couple years that I have developed a real affinity for bread-making. Not that lazy nonsense done with a machine, but really doing it all by hand, from scratch.
There’s just something beautifully simple and magical about exerting a small dose of effort, a bit of patience and getting something much bigger and wonderful in return. I could try comparing it to making and carrying a baby to term, or even a more direct hobby analogue like gardening, but I’ll just say that for me, making bread is not just therapeutic because of the tactility of mixing and kneading, but it defies the common logic that you get out of something what you put into it.
For years I enjoyed bread, assumimg that buying it from the store or during one of the rare visits to my grandmother’s house was pretty much the only way to get it. To learn how basic the recipes generally are, how cheaply they can be made, and often how much more delicious and healthy it is versus the chemical- and preservative-laden loaves from the market tend to be, I was not only surprised, but embarrassed–if not borderline ashamed–to have neglected these truths for so long.
All that said, the year or two of experience I gathered from learning and making various bread recipes while living in San Francisco have proven at least a little helpful while attempting to rekindle the hobby here in Japan. Aside from just plain enjoying it as a pasttime, the impetus is that I’ve found bread in Japan not quite to my liking. While many bakeries exist that offer specialty breads, pastries, etc., many of them don’t maintain as convenient hours as grocery stores, nor are they what I would describe as “affordable,” often ranging from 5-10 dollars for things you might pay 2-5 bucks for in America. That says nothing of the sizes, which tend to be half to two-thirds the size I am used to. On top of that, basic sandwich bread here is almost always that super-white, blocky stuff that many western people outgrow when they reach adulthood. For pre-made sandwiches, they even tend to trim the crusts off like some western children prefer. Whole wheat or other grain sandwich breads are nearly impossible to find.
I will say in their defense that generally speaking, bread here is much more fresh and more care given to quality control than America. Perhaps some of this is due to the lack of preservatives used in most food here; the ingredients lists are usually very simple/straightforward. That also feeds into the idea that people really like fresh food here; if it wasn’t made within the past few hours for some things or 1-2 days for others, it loses its appeal, which might explain why many supermarkets heavily discount deli and bakery foods toward the end of business everyday…things that don’t sell today usually aren’t found for sale tomorrow. Not sure where it goes; hopefully to feed farm animals or something. But I digress…
My first few attempts at breads here in Japan were not total failures, but fell far short of the kind of successes I enjoyed stateside. After getting past the initial confusion with even just shopping for ingredients, I have concluded that the ingredients themselves–primarily the flour and yeast–differ from those I used in America. It took awhile for me to understand the differences between normal flour and any of the popular pre-made mixes that just require water. Perhaps I can try those mixes someday, but I prefer a bit more control over the input–and output–than those allow.
Wheat flour here is separated into “weak” and “strong” flour; referring to its viscosity. Weak flours seem to be better for things that don’t get very big such as cookies or flatter goods; strong for breads, etc. That alone was difficult enough to comprehend and start practicing. I don’t know how those equate to all-purpose and bread flours in America, but I need to use the strong variety here to get decent results. Darker flours are nowhere to be found.
As for yeast, in America, the most readily available was the quick-rising variety. Since I never found any other types, I naively assumed that’s all there was to the topic. But here in Japan, I can only find “dry yeast”, which it turns out is not the same thing. In fact, I can’t find any kind of quick-rising equivalent anywhere here. I was disappointed during my first couple attempts that the dough just wasn’t rising enough, and it turns out that the different yeast is the age-old standard stuff; the difference between snail mail and a text message I suppose. Turns out I just wasn’t waiting long enough. Instead of the 3 hours or so of rising in America, I have to wait 8-10 hours here for the same effect here. Makes the process less convenient in some ways, but if I were working a full-time job, this would be perfect to set up in the morning and finish for a fresh dinner.
I suppose next on my list will be attempting to make some traditional Japanese breads, but for now a bit more experimentation and practicing of my base loaf: a typical French-style; everything is very straightforward…simple enough to tweak and iterate easily. Attached is a short gallery of my process in milestones. This was my first excellent result; added some savory spices to pair with a habañero-lime marinated salmon steak dinner, and also mixed up some garlic-habañero butter to spread. Incredible.