Dorayaki, a Japanese confection pancake

photo by Ranelle

Dorayaki, simple and sweet, best enjoyed with a cup of green tea

Lately, I've been exploring various Japanese foods. Looking for breakfast, one recipe in particular one stood out: Dorayaki. It's appeared in cooking shows, and recently featured in Tasting Table, so I began to grow curious: What was all the hype about? It is just a pancake, after all. Right?

Wrong. 

Dorayaki is not just any pancake. It's one of the most popular Japanese confections, filled with anko, a sweet adzuki red bean paste, sandwiched between two pancakes. 

You heard me. Two pancakes! But they're small.

Typically, the pancakes are quite sweet, so I cut out a lot of the sugar; I don't do well with things that are overly-sweet, especially at breakfast. But if you're looking for the full-on, sweeter pancake made as intended, add the full amount (using 1/2 cup sugar instead) from the recipe below. 

To make things interesting, I chose to make three different fillings. It was too difficult to choose just one: I was initially interested in trying the traditional bean paste version, but couldn't say no to a matcha green tea variation as well. It was around this time that I also noticed the abundance of ripe squash sitting on my kitchen counter, and decided to make a butternut squash filling for a third option.

Before you get off your seat to make some tasty sweet cakes, check out this clip from the popular manga-turned-anime-series Doraemon to get the full sense of what it's like to love dorayaki, below.

 

... and now the recipe: Dorayaki

Pancake ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp honey
3/4 cup milk*
1-2 tablespoons butter
8 oz filling 
*Can use animal or plant-based milk

Directions: 
1. Mix dry all-purpose flour and baking soda in one bowl with a whisk. In a second bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, and milk. 
2. Gradually whisk the wet ingredients into the dry. 
3. In a nonstick pan, apply a small amount of butter. Ladle in a some of the batter into a circle and repeat. Flip after 2 minutes, or until golden brown, and cook the remaining side for 1-2 minutes. The idea is to make them snack worthy and be consistent in shape and size.
4. Work in batches until the batter is finished. 
5. In the middle of one pancake place a dollop of filling in the center. Place another pancake on top and press along the edges to create a seal, enclosing the filling. It's OK if some of the filling seeps out, messy can be good sometimes. 

photo by Ranelle Kirchner

Dorayaki filling recipes

Adzuki bean paste filling:
1 cup adzuki beans
1/8 cup sugar

Directions: 
1. Soak beans overnight or for 8 hours.
2. Drain, rinse, and cover with water. Cook for about 45 minutes or until softened. 
3. Puree beans in a food processor. 
4. Heat a frying pan and add bean puree with sugar. Cook until all it's dry and there's very little to no moisture. 

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Matcha cream cheese filling:
1/8 cup honey
2 tbsp matcha green tea
8 oz softened cream cheese

Directions: 
1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients until well-mixed. 

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Miso pumpkin filling:
2 cups squash, skinned, seeds and guts removed, roughly chopped
1 tbsp yellow miso 

Directions: 
1. In a pot, combine squash with enough water to cover. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until soft. 
2. Puree squash and add miso. 

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Still hungry? Check out the miso carrot spread (within the napa cabbage wrap recipe) for another alternative filling.