Why Salt Bread Is Showing Up in Bakeries Across the US

The 21st century has ushered in a wave of bakery innovations: Content creators and professional bakers alike have crafted endless takes on the croissant, from the crookie to the Suprême; mochi doughnuts have taken social media by storm; and recipes for pretzel focaccia abound. Indeed, there’s never been a better time to blend the best qualities of beloved baked goods into something entirely new.

Although it’s only just beginning to trend in the United States, one bread has been steadily gaining popularity in East Asia over the past decade by merging the traits of two beloved classics. Salt bread, known in Japanese as “shio pan,” brings together the buttery flavor of a croissant and the soft, tender texture of milk bread.

Salt bread has been cropping up across Western social media feeds in recent months, with creators showing audiences how to make it at home. Clips of the golden-brown, salt-topped rolls have immediate visual appeal, drawing viewers in as a piece of salt bread is torn open to reveal a pocket of air at its center. While you might only be seeing it on TikTok now, you’ll likely see it on local cafe counters soon.

Where does salt bread come from?

Most accounts trace salt bread back to Ehime Prefecture in Japan around 2014. While there is some debate over which bakery first made it, Pain Maison is most frequently credited with popularizing the roll. 

After gaining popularity in Japan, shio pan — a name that literally translates to “salt bread” — made its way to South Korea, where the buttery roll took off. Salt bread quickly spread throughout Korea’s thriving cafe culture in the 2020s, and today you’ll even find chains dedicated entirely to the treat, such as Jayeondo Salt Bread.

Now, salt bread has begun cropping up stateside, and you can now find it in recently opened eateries, from Childish Bakery in Dallas, Texas, to Justin’s Salt Bread in New York City. Although it’s not yet widespread, its growth reflects the pattern of other East Asian bakery trends that have progressively shifted from being niche to mainstream.

If you don’t have a bakery near you churning out fresh batches of crisp, buttery, and soft salt bread, don’t despair: Dozens of creators are sharing recipes and tips for making it at home.

How is salt bread made?

Unlike many other trending dishes online, shio pan isn’t something you can improvise without guidance. You’ll need a recipe. Many content creators have posted their own versions, but it’s worth seeking one that demonstrates an understanding of the science behind the bread. Baking requires precision. For example, trained pastry chef Sue (@littlebbanghouse) has shared an in-depth tutorial that includes measurements in grams — which are more accurate — along with visual cues for what the dough should look like at different stages of the baking process.

The base dough for salt bread is similar to Japanese milk bread. Many, though not all, recipes rely on a tangzhong starter — a cooked slurry of flour and water or milk — to help the bread stay exceptionally soft. The yeasted dough is enriched with milk and butter, seasoned with salt, and baked into a roll with a tender crumb. But beyond the ingredients, it’s the structure that makes each piece distinctive.

To shape salt bread, pieces of the milk-bread-style dough are rolled into long, flat triangles, just as you’d prepare a classic croissant. A generous nub of butter is placed on the thicker end of each triangle, then the dough is rolled up — again, like a croissant — so the piece of butter is wrapped and sealed in the very center of the bread.

As the bread bakes, the chunk of butter melts. The water within will evaporate into steam, creating the signature air pocket inside the shio pan, while the melted fat flavors the dough and gives the bread’s bottom an extra-crispy crust. True to its name, every piece of this bread will have a generous sprinkle of coarse-grained salt on top.