Dorayaki (Japanese Red Bean Pancake) どら焼き

I’m so excited to share this traditional Japanese dessert recipe today.

Today’s dessert Dorayaki is best described as a dessert sandwich with red bean filling between two slices of pancake.  If you are familiar with Japanese cartoon from the 70’s, you probably know this dessert from the anime character Doremon who is crazy about Dorayaki.However, it is really easy to make at home and much more delicious if you make it from scratch.  Hope you give this simple recipe a try.  Have a great weekend!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 8 pieces

Ingredients for pancake:

4 large eggs
140 g (2/3 cup) sugar
2 Tbsp. honey
160 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1-2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. oil

Ingredients for homemade sweet red bean paste (tsubuan):

200g (7 oz, a little bit less than 1 cup which is 220g) Azuki beans (red beans)

Water

200g(7 oz, 1 cup) granulated white sugar

Pinch of salt

Preparation of tsubuan (red bean paste):

1. Soak the Azuki beans overnight.

2. Rinse azuki beans.

3. Use a big saucepan/pot because the amount of azuki beans will double after cooking. Put washed azuki beans in the pot and pour water till 1-2 inch above azuki beans. Turn the heat on high.

4.When boiling, turn off the heat and cover with lid. Let it stand for 5 minutes.

5. Throw away water and put the azuki beans into a sieve.

6. Put the azuki beans back in the pot. Add enough water just to cover the beans and turn the heat on high. Once boiling, turn down the heat to medium low and keep it simmering.

7. Once in a while push the azuki beans under the water with slotted spoon. Water will evaporate so you need to keep adding water to cover just above the beans. If you put too much water, the beans will move and break. If you need to leave the kitchen, make sure to turn off the heat. You will be cooking for 1+ hour.

8. Pick one azuki bean and squeeze it with your fingers. If it is smushed easily, it’s done.

9.  Turn up the heat to high and add sugar in 3 separate times. Stir constantly. When you draw a line on the bottom of the saucepan and see the surface for more than 2 seconds, add salt and turn off heat. Anko will thicken more when it cools.

10. Pour into a container to cool down. Do not leave it in the pot. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge to store after cool down. If you aren't planning to use it all at once, you can divide it into 100g packages. Wrap in plastic bag and store in Ziploc Freezer bags and can store in fridge for a week and freezer up to a month.

Preparation of pancakes(Dorayaki):

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and honey and whisk well until the mixture becomes fluffy.

2. Sift flour and baking powder into the bowl and mix all together. Keep in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

3. Stir in 1/2 Tbsp of water at a time to get the right consistency. It should be a little bit thicker than pancake batter. If the batter is too thin, pancakes will be too flat and not fluffy.

4. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Dip a paper towel in oil and coat the bottom of the pan with the oil. The pan should be slightly oiled but shouldn’t be visible. That’s the secret to get nice texture on the surface of dorayaki. With a ladle, drop the batter from 6" (15 cm) above the pan to create 3" (8 cm) diameter pancakes. When you see the surface of the batter starting to bubble, flip over and cook the other side. Transfer to a plate and cover up with a damp towel to prevent from drying. Continue making pancakes.

5. Make sandwich with red bean paste. Put more red bean paste in the center. Wrap dorayaki with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

Note:
If you don't eat it on the same or next day (keep it in a cool place), wrap the dorayaki in plastic wrap and put in a Ziploc bag to store in the freezer for up to a month.