One-Woman Bakery Sells Only 3 Types Of Bread, Including Shokupan, Sourdough
The tiny bakery in Balestier has a cute Japanese vibe.
Among the endless lighting shops and kopitiams along Balestier Road, it’s hard to miss Hiro Bakehouse, a tiny and simple Japanese-inspired takeout bakery that looks like it’s been plucked out of Kinfolk magazine with its relaxing, cosy space.
It was precisely the area's bustling vibe and slightly seedy reputation that caught 29-year-old Irvin Ong’s eye when she was scouting for a location for her first bakery, Hiro Bakehouse, which opened last November. “I love it here. There’s a real sense of community — our customers include expats as well as uncles and aunties who have lived here for decades. It’s been great getting to know people from all walks of life,” the bubbly baker tells us.
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It only took her two months to open the bakery
Just like many of us, 2020 was a time of reflection for Irvin. “I started thinking a lot about dreams, and what I really wanted to do with my life,” shares the bakery owner, whose full-time job (in a service-oriented industry she shares with us off-the-record due to company confidentiality issues) has been temporarily suspended due to the pandemic.
Baking has always been her greatest passion, and she decided that it was now or never when it came to realising her dream. With help from her family, the self-taught baker made Hiro Bakehouse a reality in just two months.
Family also pitched in
“This is all teamwork,” she gestures around the shop that she spent only about $15K to set up. “My sister worked on marketing, my brother read all the industrial oven manuals and created an excel sheet for SOP, and my parents, who have an entrepreneurial background in construction, helped me to realise my vision. Even little touches like the plants and menu board came from my mum!”
Clearly, Hiro Bakehouse is a family labour of love. Even its name is derived from an important member of the Ong clan – an adopted Silky Terrier with a tag that bears the same mountain symbol found in the bakery logo that’s found on its signboard and also branded onto each loaf of bread.
Born and bread
Even though she demonstrated an all-or-nothing attitude when it came to opening the takeout-only bakery, Irvin expresses a desire for slow and simple living. This is reflected in the bakery’s minimalist decor, as well as the soothing music that plays in the background – a little bit reminiscent of the calm, meditative ambience we see in the cult Japanese TV series Midnight Diner.
“When I was younger, I never succeeded in baking a single loaf of bread,” shares Irvin, who started an online shop selling cookies at 14 years old. “It was years later that I realised, ‘Oh I failed because I was too impatient.’ I skipped steps. I tried to get something done in 30 minutes instead of an hour.”
Sourdough, but we didn’t get to try it
She focuses on baking bread now as it allows her to take a step back and enjoy the process. “Before I made my first sourdough loaf, I thought it was something I could do in three hours. I didn’t even know what a starter (the oldest method of leavening bread that uses a live culture of flour and water instead of instant yeast) was – I was so ignorant!”
Now, she proudly shows us her starter (affectionately named “Mama Starter”, which Irvin jokingly tells us is “still hungover from Christmas”) while sharing how she has to feed it diligently. “It’s definitely a commitment. I feed it with expensive flour and water every day. You really need to love bread to make them… I’ve learned many life lessons from it.”
Why only three breads?
Irvin opened her bakery with only two types of bread in mind: Japanese milk bread called shokupan and European-style sourdough. “I was inspired by a bakery called Wazawaza in a rural town in Nagano, Japan. The owner was also a home baker who converted her garage into a bakery. As she gained popularity, the bakery’s menu expanded. One day, she realised that she wasn’t doing a good enough job and decided to just focus on shokupan and sourdough. I admire her approach and decided to do the same.”
Staying true to her tagline “bread to basics”, Irvin tries to balance her focus on basic breads while accepting customer feedback. She introduced the newest item, pain de mie (French-style sandwich loaf with less milk than shokupan), a few weeks ago after ‘complaints’ from regulars. “Singaporeans love variety,” she says with a laugh. “They would come in and say ‘Har, shokupan and sourdough again?!’ So I added pain de mie to the menu.”
One-woman show
The other reason for her minimal menu is practicality. Hiro Bakehouse is largely a one-woman operation, even though her sister Janice pops by occasionally to help serve customers. As the only baker, Irvin, who tells us she needs to set three alarms to wake up at 5am, is unable to offer an extensive menu.
“I hope to open a bakery cafe someday, as I’d love to experience more of the human interactions that I see in my current shop. There are so many heartwarming moments, from customers opening the door for each other to our casual conversations. It’d be really nice to be able to see them enjoying my bread,” shares Irvin.
Make sure you check the website before visiting
Hiro Bakehouse does not have fixed opening days – Irvin usually opens the bakery for four to five days a week. You’ll also have to refer to the schedule on their website to see which breads will be on sale. We recommend placing a pre-order via Instagram, although fresh loaves are also available for walk-in purchases around noon on days that the bakery is open.
Shokupan, $8
Shokupan means “eating bread” in Japanese and is the most commonly eaten loaf in Japan. Made with white flour, milk, butter, salt and sugar, then baked in a pullman loaf, it is loved for its fluffy, sometimes slightly mochi-like texture. Irvin uses locally-sourced flour (her goal is to work with a mill to customise her own flour in the future), French milk and Danish butter to create her loaves.
Her shokupan, while a tad lacking in the magical, melt-in-your-mouth quality of those we’ve had in Japan, is billowy and tears beautifully into wispy strands. We also enjoyed the natural milky-sweet flavour, which lives up to Irvin’s goal of making breads that taste good on their own.
The bakery sells shokupan in whole loaves, and we recommend slicing them into thick squares to truly appreciate its texture.
Pain de mie with cracked black pepper, $9 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Her other specialty, sourdough, was unfortunately not available on the day we visited, so Irvin let us try the newest item, pain de mie, instead.
Despite its appearance, the French-style sandwich loaf was anything but plain. The spicy, earthy notes of fresh pepper, an interesting addition to the usually unflavoured loaf, are a good foil to the bread’s slightly sweet flavour and richness from Danish butter in the dough. We liked its soft, tender texture, which has a fluffier crumb than your usual chain bakery’s sandwich loaf. Pair with scrambled eggs for a lovely brunch.
Bottom line
We prefer the softer, creamier, peppery pain de mie here to the shokupan, though we wouldn’t mind trying the newly launched flavours of black sesame and hojicha for the latter when they’re available. The breads here are a step up from your usual chain bakeries and should only improve with time as the one-woman-show gets a bit more practice. We also enjoy the intimate vibe of the shop and the bubbly banter with the owner-baker. Tip: try to finish the bread in three days to enjoy them at their fluffiest, otherwise, slice, freeze and toast them.
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