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Four years after starting her sourdough doughnut brand, Sourbombe, MasterChef Singapore’s season one runner-up, Genevieve Lee, 27, has embarked on yet another foodie venture. This time, she’s selling her rendition of shio pan – Japanese-style crescent-shaped salted rolls with a crispy crust and buttery core.
Her new brand, Shio & Sato (which translates to salt and sugar in Japanese), a pop-up stall at Takashimaya, is set to run till Oct 31.
It’s safe to say that Lee has perfected the craft behind her sourdough bombolinis. Her version of the Italian doughnuts are deliciously soft and chewy, and stuffed with rich handmade cream fillings like lavender lime mascarpone and Basque burnt cheesecake.
With three outlets islandwide after first starting out as a home-based business, the MasterChef runner-up feels like it’s time for a new challenge: “Actually, after four years with Sourbombe, I feel that I’ve already stabilised and created loads of variations [of the pastry]. I wanted to break away from it a bit to delve into other parts of the baking scene. I want to be known as a baker who can juggle multiple concepts, instead of focusing on just one hero brand and product,” she explains.
Lee tells us that she decided on selling shio pan, as it’s one of her favourite types of bread.
“There wasn’t a particular reason [for selling shio pan], other than it being my own personal preference. Shio pan perfectly represents the kind of bread I love – crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and with that irresistible flavour of butter melting as it bakes. Plus, the recent trend in savoury breads influenced me to lean into this style that resonates with my taste,” she says.
A week into Shio & Sato’s launch, and it’s already gotten an overwhelmingly good response. “Business has been really crazy, and the demand was completely unexpected! But as always, we’re very grateful for the immense support and our team is working harder each day to pump out more buns to feed everyone. We had quite a few return customers,” Lee says.
She adds that she sold about 1,000 shio pan daily on weekdays last week, and 1,500 per day during the weekend.
On Shio & Sato’s Instagram account, she writes: “It’s our first ever pop-up and we’re trying to bake fresh shio pans every few hours. As such, there will be periods where we sell out”. In order to minimise disappointment, the brand has also announced that they’ll be limiting customers to purchase six buns per person.
On the menu: Shio pan with a variety of sweet and savoury handmade fillings. Her selection of Japanese-inspired savoury shio pan fillings include Green Chilli Onion (S$4.80), Miso Butter Corn (S$4.80), and Crab Salad Kombu (S$9), while sweeter offerings include Hokkaido Cream (S$5.50), Chocolate Caramel (S$6), and Matcha Strawberry (S$6).
In her Instagram videos detailing her R&D process, the baker reveals that she initially tried making her shio pan with sourdough, but decided that it didn’t produce the texture she wanted.
A good shio pan, she describes, “is super crispy outside, almost like banh mi baguette”, but with a “moist, chewy, very buttery inside”. To achieve this soft texture, Lee says she uses a high quality Japanese flour.
If you’re looking to get your hands on Lee’s shio pan after the pop-up ends this month, fret not – customers will still be able to buy a limited selection of the bread at her Sourbombe outlets.
Given the response so far, Lee says she’s looking to open a permanent shop soon: “We are definitely looking to open soon, we just want to concretise how the shop is going to be and what other products we can present to customers.”
Shio & Sato’s pop-up will run until Oct 31, 2024 at B2 Civic Plaza, 391A Orchard Road, Singapore 238873. Open daily 10am to 9.30pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
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