When the tray comes out of the oven, the tops are pale gold. Sugar catches the light along a diamond grid, and fine cracks have opened between the lines. Give the buns five minutes on the rack, then break one open. A thin, crisp, sugary shell gives way to soft white bread. That pairing is melon pan: a sweet, cookie-like crust baked over an enriched bun. Across Japan, people know the round, grid-scored bun by that name. In Kobe the same bun is called sunrise, and "melon pan" means a different bread altogether.
A Bun with Two Names: Melon, Sunrise and the Kobe Twist
Where the name comes from
Where the name melon pan began is not settled. The most common explanation is the look of the bun: a domed, scored crust that resembles the skin of a melon. Another idea is that melon essence once flavored the crust. A third traces "melon" to meringue, as if the bun started life as meringue bread and the word wore down over time. The last explanation runs through an older bun filled with white bean paste and shaped like a makuwa, the small Asian melon. The name may have passed from that bun to the round one. All four stories are still in circulation, and none of them has won.
Sunrise, from a naval port to Kobe
In Kobe, the round, grid-topped bun is sunrise. The name is linked to Kinseido, a bakery founded in 1924 in the Higashiyama market in Hyogo ward. The bakery's story is that before the war, an uncle who ran its branch in Kure, the naval port in Hiroshima, created the bun and modeled its scored top on the rising-sun flag flown by warships. The story has never been confirmed, but the name spread outward from Kobe across Kansai. A Kobe sunrise and a round melon pan from anywhere else in the country have the same shape, taste and texture. Only the name differs.
Kinseido, the bakery credited with the name, spells it Sunrice (サンライス) on its own labels, with an "s" sound where the rest of Kobe says sunrise. In Mihara and Kure in Hiroshima, the round bun is reportedly called koppepan, a name used there for the round bun.
The other melon pan
In Kobe and parts of Kansai and Hiroshima, ask for melon pan and you may be handed an almond-shaped bun filled with white bean paste, its top marked with radiating lines instead of a grid. Kobe's version is said to have been created in 1952 by a baker at what is now Co-op Kobe. Its oval outline may echo the makuwa melon, which ties it back to one of the naming stories. The recipe below is the round, grid-scored bun, the one the whole country recognizes, whatever it is called at the local bakery.
Ingredients (makes 10 buns)
This dough uses eggs, butter and sugar in more than one place. One egg goes into the bread and one into the crust. The butter is split into a small amount for the bread and a larger amount for the crust. Sugar goes into the bread, the crust and the coating on top. Weigh everything into separate groups first so nothing ends up in the wrong bowl.
This recipe contains wheat, egg and milk. The biscuit dough contains raw egg, so do not taste it before baking.
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale that reads in 1 g steps (for dividing both doughs into 10)
- Mixing bowls and a sieve
- Rolling pin and plastic wrap
- Bench scraper
- Melon pan grid stamp (optional)
- Baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- Wire cooling rack
- Oven
Choosing and Substituting
Every ingredient is sold in an ordinary supermarket, so nothing has to come from a specialty shop. What matters is getting each item close to what the dough expects. The crust is what makes the bun taste right. Keep it made from cake flour, butter, granulated sugar and egg, and let it go no darker than pale gold. The bread underneath is more forgiving.
| Item | What to use | What changes if you swap |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | Diamond Crystal kosher salt | Table salt is denser, so use half the amount |
| Yeast | Instant yeast, mixed straight into the flour | Active dry yeast works if you first dissolve it in the milk warmed to about 110°F (43°C) |
| Eggs | Weigh to 50 g each, beaten | Medium eggs are fine if you top them up to 50 g |
| Butter | Unsalted | Salted butter makes both the crust and the bread saltier |
| Sugar | Granulated | Japanese soft white sugar (jōhakutō) browns faster, so the crust darkens sooner |
| Baking powder | Any baking powder | Aluminum-free baking powder is fine too |
For the crust, the butter is ready when a fingertip leaves a dent easily. If it is too hard, it will not cream with the sugar. If it is melting, the egg will split it and the crust will spread instead of holding its grid.
Method
The bread dough comes first, because its rise is the longest stretch of hands-off time. Make the biscuit crust while the dough rises, then divide, wrap, score and proof the buns, and bake them in a single batch. Read the dough at each stage by doubling for the first rise and about 1½ times for the second, not by the clock alone.
When It Goes Wrong
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The crust sticks to everything and will not roll | The biscuit dough is too warm | Do not skip the 10-minute chill. Roll it between plastic wrap and return it to the fridge briefly if it softens again |
| The crust cracks around the edge as you roll | It was chilled too long and is too firm | Leave it at room temperature for a few minutes until it bends without breaking |
| The grid fills in or the top splits open wide | The cuts were too shallow or too deep, or the crust dried out during proofing | Score to about ⅛ inch (3 mm) and keep the buns covered during the final proof |
| The crust is dark and hard | Baked past pale gold, or one side of the oven runs hot | Start checking at 13 minutes and turn the tray if one side colors first |
| The buns are small and dense, or puffed and collapsing | The dough was under- or over-proofed | Judge the first rise by doubling and the finger test, not by the clock |
Serving and Storing
At the table
Melon pan is eaten out of hand, torn rather than sliced, so the shell breaks along its grid and you get crisp crust and soft bread in the same bite. Serve it once it has cooled on the rack, while the crust is at its crispest.
Variations
These are our own suggestions and have not been tested; no amounts are given.
- Chocolate chip crust: fold chocolate chips into the biscuit dough after the flour. They add bitter-sweet pockets to the shell, and the crust rolls out a little bumpier.
- Matcha crust: replace part of the crust's cake flour with matcha. It turns the shell green and gives it a light bitterness against the sugar. Watch the color closely, because browning is harder to read on a green crust.
- Lemon crust: grate lemon zest into the creamed butter and sugar. It brightens the crust without changing how it handles.
- White bean paste center: wrap a spoonful of white bean paste inside each piece of bread dough. This brings in the filling of the almond-shaped Kansai bun while keeping the round grid shape.
- Smaller buns: divide each dough into 16 instead of 10. Smaller buns color sooner, so check them before the usual bake time is up.
Storage
Let the buns cool completely, then wrap each one in plastic wrap and put them in an airtight container or bag. Keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze them for up to 1 month. Thaw frozen buns overnight in the refrigerator or in the microwave, then warm them in a 350°F (180°C) oven until the crust is crisp again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any melon in melon pan?
No. The basic bun is flavored only by butter, sugar and egg. Some versions add melon liqueur to the dough, and one explanation of the name holds that melon essence once flavored the crust. The round, grid-scored bun is usually plain.
Are the small cracks across the top a mistake?
No. Fine cracks between the grid lines are part of how the crust should look. They open as the bread swells underneath the crust. Only wide splits that run across the grid point to a problem with scoring depth or a dried-out crust.
Do I need a melon pan grid stamp?
No. A bench scraper scores the grid perfectly well. A stamp presses every line at the same depth and spacing in a single motion, which helps if you bake melon pan often. With a scraper, press each line straight down and keep the gaps even.
