Mt Fuji Curry Bread: Worthy of the award and the long waiting list?

Curry breads so popular it took us two months to get our hands on them.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know how much we love our curry breads, or “curry pan” as they’re known in Japan. We’ve taste-tested a whole heap of them in the past, but none has been quite as pretty as our latest curry bread find, the Fujisan Curry Pan.

▼ This bread comes in the shape of Fujisan, or Mt Fuji as it’s known overseas.

While this curry bread scores a ten-out-of-ten in terms of appearances, it’s also said to have a fantastic flavour, which led to it being awarded the top prize in the East Japan Fried Curry Pan category at the 2020 Curry Pan Grand Prix.

This accolade from the Japan Curry Pan Association led to the breads becoming so popular we had to wait two whole months to try them. So when they finally arrived, in a frozen state for freshness, we checked the heating instructions and immediately popped them in the microwave to thaw them out before finishing them off in the toaster oven to give them a lightly grilled surface.

While we waited for them to be done in the toaster oven, we were pleased to read that this “Fujisan Product” was developed and commercialised in collaboration with people with disabilities, through the social welfare corporation “Yours And Use”.

Helping others while helping yourself to a curry pan is a win-win for everyone involved, and when they look as good as these do, it’s definitely an award-worthy combination.

▼ Mt Fuji is often rendered as blue in paintings, but appears red in prints depicting the mountain during the scorching summer months.

Both the red and blue Mt Fuji breads looked fantastic, despite the fact that we’d slightly charred the ‘snow’ on the red one. The colourful exteriors made us think we were about to bite into a sweet dessert, so we had to remind ourselves that these were actually curry-flavoured breads.

Before tasting them, we decided to take a knife to them to get a good look at the cross section inside.

Wow. This was not what we were expecting at all! The centre of the blue curry bread appeared to be empty, although the curry-coloured section at the bottom suggested the filling might’ve melted into the dough upon cooking.

▼ What we couldn’t tear our eyes away from, though, was the vibrant blueness of the bread.

The red Mt Fuji, on the other hand, had its red filling still intact. Sizing them up against each other, we figured they were both beautiful in their own unique ways, but most importantly, how would they taste?

Biting into the blue bread, we could taste a mild curry flavour, similar to a lot of other curry breads on the market. However, the bread was plump and chewy, providing us with a deeply satisfying mouthfeel, while the coconut ‘snow’ on the outside gave it an added depth of texture and flavour.

The red bread, however, appears to have chilli powder kneaded into the dough, as both the filling and the bread were much spicier than the blue version, giving us a hit of heat that reminded us of the magma deep beneath Mt Fuji.

These were top curry breads, well deserving of the accolades, and the wait to get them, due to their excellent appearance, taste and texture. Priced at 1,000 yen (US$9.19) for the pair, the breads can be purchased online, but you’ll need to act quick when they’re available as they often sell out due to popularity.

For something that’s more readily available, though, you can always check out this blue-and-white Mt Fuji bread, which promises to put a unique spin on your regular toast and sandwiches.

Related: Fujisan Curry Bread Blue, Fujisan Curry Bread Red, Yahoo!Shopping online store
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