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.

Crispy Potato PanCake

I remember in my college kitchen. I think it was because my roommates and I had bought a ginormous sack of potatoes  and we didn’t know what to do with them all. We must have wanted Mr. Potato Head to have some buddies to hang out with. So lets play with Mr. Potato Head San

Ingredients:
1 large potato
2 green onion
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
Butter for cooking

Method:
1.  Grab a peeler and remove the potato skin.

2.  The potato will have a little dirt on it, so go ahead and rinse it under water.

3.  Grab a grater or a box grater. Grate the potatoes on the large holes of the grater.

4.  Chop some green onion or you can use simple white onion also but I prefer green one.

5.  Mix together the potato,onion,salt and black pepper in a bowl.  If you let the grated potatoes sit out too long, they start to oxidize and turn a little ugly, so work quickly.

6.  Heat up a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil and a pat of butter.

7.  Grab a handful of potato mixture and plop it into the pan.Use a spatula to spread it out into a pancake shape. Press down to compress the ingredients. Allow the bottom to brown for about 2 minutes.

8.  Drizzle in a little bit of water… the potatoes will cook quicker if they have some steamy action.

9.  After you add water, cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil. Allow the bottom to brown and crisp up for about 5 minutes.After the bottom has browned, loosen the pancake from the pan with a spatula.

10.  Now slide the pancake onto a plate whose diameter is larger than the pan.We’ve gotta cook the top side, so let’s fliperoo the pancake.Place the pan upside down over the plate…. and place one hand under the plate.
TA-DA ITS OVER!

Note: You can also form smaller potato cakes by making small mounds of potato on the pan. Follow cooking directions above.

Oatmeal Banana pancake

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons dry milk powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 egg

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 banana, mashed

Method:

Place the rolled oats into the jar of a blender and blend until the texture resembles coarse flour.

 Whisk together the blended oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, dry milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

Whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana

Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Let the batter stand for 5 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Yummy healthy breakfast is ready for you kids and family members.