Do you know "Yokanpan", a specialty of Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture? It is a sweet bread sold by Fuji Seipan, a local bread maker that also makes school lunch bread in the same prefecture. I found it at a kiosk in Shizuoka Station and couldn't resist buying it.

Yokanpan

Yokanpan is a baked bread filled with sweet bean paste, topped with yokan (sweetened citrus fruit jelly) and vanilla cream. It is priced at 194 yen (tax included) and has been sold since 1956 (!). I was surprised to learn that the bread has been sold since 1956, which is about the same age as my parents.


As the package says, "You can enjoy three flavors," you can enjoy the melt-in-your-mouth vanilla cream, the sweet Ogura-an (sweet red bean paste), and the nostalgic Yokan (sweet bean jelly).

The yokan covering the top has a moist texture. When you bite into it, it is crispy and not too sweet. I thought it would be too sweet because of the "azuki" inside and outside, but I was disappointed in a good way!


Incidentally, the package also tells the story of the birth of Yokanpan.

The second generation of our company's founder says, "In those days when supplies were scarce, chocolate was expensive, so instead of chocolate, we poured yokan, which is similar in color.... Nowadays, Yokan may be more expensive...".

He said, "Nowadays, Yokan may be more expensive...". I can feel the history. I like the fact that it is not an eccentricity, but a combination of ingredients that were familiar at that time.

White Yokanpan

White Yokanpan" is sold seasonally from October to February. The croissant dough is filled with white bean paste, walnuts, and butter cream, and topped with a white yokan (sweet bean jelly). The product was first released in 2014 after five years of planning and three years of prototyping. The price is 226 yen (tax included).


When you bite into the fluffy croissant, you will find that the sweet white bean paste and melt-in-your-mouth butter cream mix together to create an exquisite mouthfeel. The crunchy and savory walnuts also play an active role in the filling. The yokan (sweetened citrus fruit) that lingers in the mouth at the end gives the bread a moderate but lingering sweetness. Compared to yokan bread, the dough itself has a buttery rich taste, so you can enjoy a rich and delicious taste that is perfect for winter.

Incidentally, this bread won third place in the popularity vote at the 6th All-Japan Local Bread Festival held in October 2015.


If you have never heard of yokanpan, or if you have heard of it but have been unable to get your hands on it, please give it a try and you will see why it has been a local favorite for 60 years!