The birthplace of curry pan

There are some pretty weird pastries in Japan.  I try to stay away from the term "weird," but there really isn't a better descriptor.  Some of the flavor combinations seem to be more of a dare versus a true attempt at innovation. 

No matter how strange, some weird pastries stick around, becoming standard flavors.  One popular pastry that is now standard is karepan or curry pan.  It is a Japanese curry wrapped in dough, coated in breadcrumbs that is either fried or baked.  Pan (pawn) means bread in Japanese and refers to any bread product, including pastries.  Curry pan can be found with sweet curry, spicy curry, curry with meat, vegetable curry, curry with cheese, and more.  The varieties are endless.  Many curry pans come with half of a soft or hard boiled egg in the middle.

Since 1934, Denmark Bakery has been baking bread for patrons.  They are known for their vegetable based starter (similar to sourdough starter, a fermented yeast, but using vegetables like daikon) that they use for loaves, as well as curry pan.  Some people even say they invented curry pan, but I couldn't find anything to back this up.  Whether the were first or not, they make really good curry pan.

Every store has a different style, but I really like their mild curry with half an egg.  It is well balanced and not too sweet of a curry.

They also offer other pastries, like the chocolate filled cat that my son picked or fruit topped danish. 

But if you happen across this shop, or practically any other bakery in Japan, I highly recommend trying the curry pan.  It truly is a Japanese specialty - even if it is a little weird.