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When you’re looking to stock your pantry with exciting products from abroad, or equally exciting products from Japan, popular chainstore Kaldi is the place to go. Previously, they’ve given us delights such as Sea Urchin butter and matcha curry and now, they’re treating us to a super easy way to enjoy the sweet taste of melon pan (“melon bread”) at home.
The new product is called “Nutte Yaitara Melon Pan” (“Spread It, Bake It, and It Turns Into Melon Bread"), and though it looks like a regular spread, it doesn’t taste like any other spread on the market, as it tastes like musk melon.
▼ Not a bad deal for 306 yen
This new flavor is a follow-up to the chain’s “Nutte yaitara Curry Pan” (“Spread It, Bake It, and It Turns Into Curry Bread“), which debuted in 2020 and quickly sold out due to popularity.
As the names suggest, all you have to do with a spread like this is spread it on a slice of bread, pop the slice under the grill, and once it’s done, your toast will be transformed into a culinary delight with a very Japanese flavor.
We couldn’t wait to try the new spreadable melon bread as soon as it became available on April 26, so we immediately headed out to our nearest Kaldi, where we found the store had placed a two-per-customer purchase limit on the product to stop it from selling out immediately.
Happy to get our hands on one of the tubs, we took it home to try it out, and when we spread the paste on a slice of bread, we found it glided on effortlessly, smooth and soft as cream.
▼ Yes, we use the back of a teaspoon to spread our spreads – easier to lick off the reminder afterwards.
According to the instructions, the trick is to not use too much of it, so that it doesn’t burn or catch fire under the grill, and it’s suggested that you use a chopstick to draw a checkered pattern on it before grilling it, to give it the same look as a real melon pan, like the one seen on the packaging.
We weren’t so fussed with achieving a spectacular look, though, so we decided to just spread it on and forego any further decoration to see what it would look like on an ordinary morning when we’re rushing to get breakfast ready.
▼ After grilling it in the toaster oven for a few minutes, this was the tasty looking result.
Not only did it look fantastic, it smelled glorious too. With our kitchen now filled with the scent of sweet melon bread, we tore our slice apart, and found that the texture on the outside was now crispy and sticky, while the inside remained soft and light.
Taking a bite, we crunched through the different textures, and yep — this was undoubtedly the flavor of melon pan. The distinct taste of musk melon stood out in the flavor profile, and it was sugary sweet, just like the melon breads you can buy at specialty stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.
It was a truly decadent toast experience, and after eating the entire slice, we started craving something salty to counter all the sweetness we’d just consumed. That’s when we came up with the brilliant idea of satiating our desire for sweetness with…a dash of spreadable Curry Bread.
Now this was a game changer. Spreading one half of our bread with the melon-flavored spread and the other half with the curry-flavored spread gave us the best of both worlds — sweet and salty together on one delicious slice of toast.
This two-in-one style might look extra indulgent, but it actually contains less calories, as the curry pan spread is less calorie-rich than the melon variety. You’ll just have to make sure you exercise some self-restraint, though, because you might just be tempted to keep spreading and eating slice after slice after slice.
There’s never been an easier way to enjoy the taste of melon bread at home, so if you’d like to transform your toast into a decadent treat, be sure to pop by Kaldi and pick up a tub before they sell out.
Related: Kaldi/Nutte Yaitara Melon Pan
Photos © SoraNews24
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-- Melon bread…with meat? A crazy new twist on one of Japan’s favorite baked goods【Taste test】
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-- Less is more as bakery starts selling bags of delicious melon bread crusts minus the bread
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2022/05/01/new-spreadable-melon-pan-changes-the-way-we-eat-toast-in-japan/
15 Comments
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garypen
Kaldi expensive? I take it you've never been to Ikari or Seijo Ishii. Those stores are actually expensive. Kaldi, not so much.
If you're ever in the US, I recommend you avoid Whole Foods. You'll have a heart attack.
snowymountainhell
There are allowable percentages @bearandrodent of other biomaterial in most processed foods like spreads and peanut butter:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/04/health/insect-rodent-filth-in-food-wellness/index.html. -Believe the Japanese word for it is perhaps ‘shoganai’.
Addfwyn
For toast toppings, pretty much only going with butter. Maybe some marmite if somebody gives me a jar. Fried egg if I am making a sandwich out of it.
Not sure I need a heaping of artifical flavours and shortening on my toast.
bass4funk
Naw, I'll just stick with good old-fashioned natural peanut butter, nothing can top that.
bearandrodent
I wouldn’t want to know what the ingredients are (I probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce most of them either).
Yrral
Slop
Luddite
Dear lord.
Sven Asai
Yes, Kaldi is a great store with many delicious things to choose from. The only problem is that one cannot often or much buy there, because they are rather expensive. But in my next life as a super rich I’ll put my tent right into the store’s center for a splendid daily living. lol
Mickelicious
How long before the Japanese lower jaw disappears altogether?
This cr@p makes it utterly redundant.
garypen
My city doesn't require separating recyclables. So, I just put all the plastics together, as long as they're recyclable - pet bottles, butter/cream cheese tubs, jam/peanut butter/sauce jars and bottles, etc, including lids.
In fact, my city no longer require separating metals and glass from the plastics, either. It can all go in one bag. But, out of habit, I still separate them into three - glass, metal, and plastics. It comes in handy because my community association also has a private recycle vendor pick up directly from our house gates, but they do not accept glass.
So, I guess it all depends where you live.
3RENSHO
"why can’t Japan recycle these spreadable containers, margarine tubs, plastic peanut butter ‘jars’ and lids, etc.?"
Japan does not recycle plastic consumer packaging; all of the plastic items which you have mentioned are ultimately burned. Separating plastic waste from fresh 'nama gomi' waste allows the combustion process to proceed with less fuel accelerant required (therefore more cheaply), saving money for local municipalities whom operate the 'Clean Recycle Sentaa' nearest you...
kurisupisu
Life must be exceptionally dreary in Tokyo to be so easily excited….
snowymountainhell
Kaldi has been a savior on many occasions for homesick expats but
why can’t Japan recycle these spreadable containers, margarine tubs, plastic peanut butter ‘jars’ and lids, etc.?
They seem no different from pet bottle & soda caps, Shouldn’t the ‘rings’ left on pet bottles go in the little baggy with the caps at the supermarket recycling bins? Can we include the Vegemite/Marmite caps & rings of does it create an extra burden at the recycling center ?
Maybe grape/SoraNews/Mr.Sato will explore this as a follow up to their frequent taste tests?
Pukey2
Kaldi's OK but these products sound disgusting. Probably 50% shortening.
garypen
Kaldi has lots of great products, imported and domestic, name brand and private brand. (Although, this one doesn't sound too appealing to me.) And, a huge selection of whole bean coffee.
I'm lucky enough to have three Kaldi stores near me, with one of them being quite big with a huge selection of stuff, compared to the other two.
If you've been to a Kaldi, but wasn't that impressed, it may be because you were at a smaller one. I suggest seeking out a larger one. I think you'll enjoy being able to purchase many of the flavors you've missed while living in Japan. Not just from North America and Europe, but from the Middle East, and elsewhere in Asia, as well.
(As an aside: Another decent source for imported foodstuffs at reasonable prices is Yamaya Liquor. I was surprised that a liquor store carried so many imported items. However, it's mostly Western stuff. So, not great for those seeking other Asian foods. But, it works for me.)