firmersbay
Visited on a regular Tuesday around 11 am. Located about a 7-minute walk east from Tokyu Ikegami Line Togoshi Ginza Station, and a 5-minute walk from Toei Subway Togoshi Station. Established in 2010, this bakery is well-known in Tokyo for using rice flour. The owner's parents are rice farmers, and they started the bakery after witnessing a decrease in rice consumption leading to local farmland deterioration. The name of the bakery is pronounced as "Beikon". They offer two types of bread: 100% gluten-free made with rice flour and 80% rice flour/20% wheat flour. They carefully select rice flour from Niigata and Kumamoto prefectures. The 100% gluten-free bread is made with Shirakami Kodama natural yeast and rice flour, without wheat, yeast, preservatives, additives, or synthetic thickeners. However, since all bread is made in the same bakery, there may be a possibility of trace amounts of gluten. At one point, they had all gluten-free products, but due to business reasons, they changed their approach. They also offer vegan-friendly bread without animal products like eggs or dairy, and supply bread to vegan restaurants. Their shelves and labels clearly indicate the type of bread. A must-try item is their Arctic Melon Pan, introduced in 2013, made by placing cookie dough on top of rice flour bread, adding lemon whipped cream, and freezing it. It can be quite hard when frozen, so wait for it to soften a bit before eating, especially recommended during summer. I refrained from the Melon Pan this time and bought a Bâtard for ¥389, Okaki with pickled vegetables for ¥281, and Okaki with braised pork for ¥324. The Bâtard is not 100% rice flour but vegan-friendly with wheat. The crust is crispy and flaky, with a unique fragrance resembling baked goods made from different rice. The crumb is moist and fluffy, unlike a baguette, with no large air pockets. When toasted, a lot of steam was produced due to the high moisture content. It can dry out quickly due to low water retention, but it's still delicious with a different taste and texture from a regular baguette. The Okaki usually made with wheat and buckwheat flour is made here with rice flour. The staff advised warming it up in the microwave for 20 seconds if it feels hard, which I did. The rice flour dough has a moist and chewy texture, with the pickled vegetables and braised pork providing a flavorful and enjoyable experience. Although slightly pricey, indulging in rice flour bread once in a while is a nice treat.