Best shio pan in Petaling Jaya
Bread isn’t usually the go-to carb for Malaysians. We love our mixed rice and bowls of noodles and will have them at any time of day. But with viral creations like the shio pan making an appearance at bakeries abroad and now locally too, you might want to swap your regular visit to a hawker stall with a drop-in to a bakery.
To help you find the best in Malaysia, we headed to 6 bakeries in Petaling Jaya (PJ) to try their shio pan and bring you this review of them.
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What is shio pan?
You might be wondering – what’s the difference between a shio pan and a croissant anyway?
For the uninitiated, shio pan (塩パン), or salt bread, is originally Japanese. It’s now a popular menu item at bakeries internationally, particularly in Korea where it takes on the name sogeum-ppang.
This bread features simple flavours that are usually centred around just a few key ingredients – butter, salt, and a touch of milk – with the texture of its dough the highlight of sinking your teeth into one. The top and bottom of the shio pan take on a crisp crackle thanks to the butter, while the inside remains soft and airy.
Some bakeries have turned the shio pan into a carrier for sweet and savoury fillings, but it is enjoyable on its own.
6. Kefi Kohi
Kefi Kohi is located discreetly on the third floor of a shoplot in Section 19. This coffee house offers coffee and non-coffee beverages, alongside light bites, including the shio pan for just RM8.
The shio pan here is smaller in size in comparison to the ones served at other bakeries – it’s just slightly larger than a palm. There’s no seeming presence of butter embedded inside, with butter served separately on the side instead.
However, in terms of texture, Kefi Kohi’s shio pan didn’t have the usual crisp, crunchy exterior layer common to shio pan. The dough was soft and boasted a chewy texture, with a slight resistance when torn apart.
Overall, the bread itself had the salt element as it was evenly seasoned, but did not have that signature ‘butter hole’ in most shio pans.
5. Kona Bakehouse
Next up on the list is Kona Bakehouse, tucked away in PJ’s well-known SS2 neighbourhood. Unlike Kefi Kohi, Kona Bakehouse’s shio pan (RM6.50) had an even golden colour distribution across the bread, a sign that it’s been baked in a highly controlled temperature.
Appearances aside, the bread itself was soft, but it did not carry that prominent buttery and salty flavour that’s common in a shio pan. Simply put, it tastes like regular bread with a really dense dough.
4. Eleven Moon Cafe
Subang Jaya’s Eleven Moon Cafe comes in at fourth place on the list with their shio pan for RM7.50.
Their shio pan is the stock standard of all shio pans and doesn’t disappoint by nailing all the key elements of the roll: buttery, soft, and salty. Perhaps the only shortcoming is that their bread isn’t as light and buttery as most shio pans, and has a drier texture.
3. Buttersome Bakery
Entering the top three of this shio pan ranking is Buttersome Bakery’s shio pan (RM6). Located a stone’s throw from Kefi Kohi, this neighbourhood bakery also had the largest-sized shio pan out of all the places that we tried on this list.
Size aside, the bread itself had a highlight crispness to it with a crackling bottom that was generously coated in sesame seeds for some extra crunch. While a tad saltier than we would have liked, the shio pan hit all the right spots, with a strong, satisfying presence of butter, a pillowy texture that was divine, and a nuttiness from the addition of the sesame seeds.
2. Universal Bakehouse
Coming in as the runner-up in this list is Universal Bakehouse’s shio pan (RM8). Their bread was also fairly large in size, coming in second to Buttersome’s.
What stood out to us was how light and airy the dough was. It felt as if we were biting into a pillow. The bread also had the right amount of butter, without being too overwhelming.
1. DouDou Bake
The number one spot goes to SS4’s DouDou Bake. Their shio pan (RM6) ticked off every box in our checklist, even with its visuals alone. It had a tempting glossy, buttery sheen as part of its golden exterior, and a generous sprinkling of flaky salt on the top.
The shio pan was a textural sensation upon first bite. The bread’s crisp exterior was reminiscent of a flaky croissant, and its contents were soft and pillowy, which was complemented by an even distribution of butter and salt.
Given that it has one of the lowest prices, as well as taking taste and texture into consideration, this shio pan tops our list.
Best shio pan from bakeries in PJ
Not all shio pans are created equal. Despite their simplicity, it just shows the different methods these bakeries use to achieve the same bread. The next time you’re craving this trendy Japanese bread, you’ll know which spots to pick.
Also read: We Tried 5 Of The Best Hokkien Mee In George Town, Here Are Honest Reviews From A Penang Lang
Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia
Photography by Brooklyn.