Milk Bread Is a Kind of Bread

choi

Kate Krader, Got Milk Bread? Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Sept 23, 2019 (in the Pursuits section, for indulgence).
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... ming-for-your-lunch

Note:
(a)
(i) Summary underneath the title in print: Supremely soft loaves from Japan redeem a childhood staple
(ii) The title is a wordplay on the "got milk?" advertisement campaign to promote consumption of cow milk.
(iii) Print and the online version are identical.

(b) "Known as shokupan, Japan's standard alabaster loaf resembles its US counterpart in generally being long and cut into square slices. After that, the similarity ends.  Shokupan is extraor­dinarily fluffy and sweet, with a center that could double as a cloud. The best versions have a bronzed, resilient crust that adds a delicate textural contrast. The origin of milk bread is obscure, but it’s believed to be based on a Chinese technique for making delicately sweet buns with a water-paste starter—which yields a similarly soft texture—that the Japanese adapted in the 20th century."
(i)
(A) The shokupan 食パン is, linguistically,  made up of Chinese pronunciation for 食 and 外来語 pan (katakana: パン), from Portuguese [noun masculine] pão bread, from Latin [noun masculine] pānis bread. Compare French pain, Italian pane, Romanian pâine, Spanish pan": Wiktionary for パン.
(B) 食パン
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/食パン
(section 2 名称: 「明治初期に外国人が主食として用いていること（『主食用パン』であること)
(ii) alabaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabaster
(gypsum CaSO4·2H2O + calcite CaCO3)

gypsum
https://www.etymonline.com/word/gypsum
has its accent in the first syllable and is derived from Ancient Greek (alabastros) through Latin (same spelling).

(b) "Cha-An Teahouse [茶菴: the outfit does not translate 'teahouse'] in Manhattan's East Village, which bakes about 60 loaves a day, serves 3-inch-thick pieces for toasts with simple toppings such as smoked salmon and two kinds of butter—red bean and miso—to gild the richness. Cha-An's bread is also key to the popularity of the Japanese pork sandos at neighboring Hi-Collar [that is, Hi-Collar buys bread from Cha-An], one of the most in-demand sandwiches in New York City."
(i) The "sando" in Japanese (katakana: サンド) is short from "sandwich."
(ii) The "pork sandos" is
(A) katsu sando カツサンド (transliteration, where "katsu" -- short from カツカレー (pronounced katsukalei (ei means a long vowel of e)) -- is Japanese for "cutlet"), or
(B) pork cutlet sandwich.

choi

(c) "Konbi in Los Angeles * * * Katana Kitten, New Yorks hot Japanese pub, takes an Italian-inflected approach with ­mortadella-stuffed bar bites. * * * The bread is also showing up at elite sushi counters. At Shuko [no Japanese name] in Greenwich Village * * * At Orsa & Winston in LA, chef Josef Centeno makes sandwiches—from porchetta to tuna niçoise to less conventional raspberries and mascarpone—with his homemade loaves, while Carpenters Hall in Austin uses its milk bread in a mean turkey club [sandwich] as a sort of highbrow Texas toast.  Chefs in San Francisco, sourdough's spiritual home, have particularly taken to shokupan for dishes that have a strong American DNA.  ( ( ( Sarah Rich, co-owner and co-chef with her husband, Evan, of Michelin-starred Rich Table. She uses it as the base for fried soft-shell crab po' boys. * * * At the Progress, Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski's new-American dining spot, milk bread stars in an off-menu riff on the most American of dishes: a double-smoked hot dog."
(i) Konbi コンビ
https://konbila.com
("We serve Japanese style sandwiches, seasonal vegetable dishes, French pastries, as well as a selection of coffee & tea")
(A) The la in URL alludes to Los Angeles.
(B) Konbi コンビ is Japanese short for combination.
(C) The website shows a typical katsu sando.
(ii)
(A) Katana Kitten
https://www.katanakitten.com
has no Japanese name.
(B) The katana is Japanese pronunciation for 刀, and refers to a special kind of knife: Japanese sword.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana
(C) The Japanese for kitten is 子猫 (puppy for 子犬).
(iii)
(A) ­mortadella
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortadella
(B) "Mortadella is a traditional sausage in Bologna, Italy used as a charcuterie meat [only slicing; no further cooking]. It comes already cooked, and has a pronounced taste.  It is unsmoked and unfermented. * * * The meat in Mortadella is usually pork. * * * But, the sausage can also be made from a mixture of pork and beef, and even pork, beef and horse. * * * A minimum of 15% of the weight of the Mortadella must by regulation be the chunks of lard. * * * A Mortadella of 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter will be cooked for 4 hours; one that is 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter will be cooked for 21 hours."  Cooksinfo.com.
Mortadella. Cook's Info, undated.
https://www.cooksinfo.com/mortadella
(iv) "sandwiches—from porchetta to tuna niçoise"
(A) porchetta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porchetta
(B) salade niçoise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salade_niçoise

Nicoise (or Niçoise; n or adj; etymology):
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Nicoise

niçois (from Nice (which is both English and French) + -ois)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/niçois
(also: Niçois to denote an inhabitant of Nice)
(v) mascarpone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascarpone
(section 2 Origins: name)
(vi) club sandwich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_sandwich
(vii) "San Francisco, sourdough's spiritual home"

sourdough
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough
(lactobacilli and yeast (the former produces lactic acid 乳酸); section 2 History)
(viii) po' boy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po%27_boy
(section 2 Origin of the term)
(ix) riff (n): "a distinct variation : TAKE [as a noun]"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riff

(d) It is all a lie. Taiwanese for bread is "shopan;" no one knows why, suspecting a Japanese origin. I learned Japanese language and soon learned it was corrupt from Japanese shokupan. The white bread in Taiwan tastes the same as in America.