{"id":109759,"title":"Authentic Japanese Dorayaki","modified":"2025-10-29T15:57:21+01:00","plain":"Discover a delicious recipe for making Japanese Dorayaki\u2014a super fluffy Japanese pancake that looks like an American pancake, but is filled with a sweet paste, sandwich-style. Sweet treat\n\n\n\nDorayaki: What is it?\n\n\n\nDorayaki is a Japanese dessert made of two soft, sweet pancakes sandwiched together with a filling of sweet red bean paste (anko) in the center.\n\n\n\nThis treat is famous around the world, especially thanks to the 1970s cartoon character Doraemon, who can never resist this snack\u2014even falling for every trap involving it.\n\n\n\nThe film \"Sweet Bean\" by Naomi Kawase, released in 2015, also played a big role in making Dorayaki popular in France. The story follows a small Dorayaki shop in Tokyo, run by a withdrawn man whose life is upended by the arrival of an elderly woman who is an expert in anko.\n\n\n\nHow many could you eat? Personally, I could easily have four.\n\n\n\nAnko Expert?\n\n\n\nWhat I love about Japanese food culture is how every aspect of cooking\u2014even the most specific ones\u2014are taken to the next level, to the point of true expertise. Or should I say, mastery.\n\n\n\nWhereas in France, we might joke about a \"Master Kebab Chef,\" in Japan, the title of Master Sushi Chef, Master Mochi Maker, or in this case, an expert in red bean paste, is taken very seriously.\n\n\n\nI go into more detail in my Anko recipe, but there are two main types, and each can be refined to achieve a \"perfect\" texture. I won't go any further into it\u2014I'll leave that to the true masters.\n\n\n\nHomemade azuki bean paste\n\n\n\nIn Japan, Dorayaki isn\u2019t just enjoyed as a dessert\u2014it\u2019s also a popular energy snack eaten any time of day. The word \"dora\" means gong, referring to the shape of Dorayaki, while \"yaki\" means grilled or cooked, just like Yakitori, Yakisoba, and Yakiudon.\n\n\n\nThese little treats are especially enjoyed at breakfast or as an afternoon snack, offering a comforting, nostalgic moment. For many Japanese people, Dorayaki is pure comfort food\u2014paired with tea or coffee, it brings a sense of calm and sweetness, capturing the beauty of the moment in its simplicity.\n\n\n\nMain Ingredients in Dorayaki\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEggs: Essential for the texture, the high egg content in this recipe also gives Dorayaki their beautiful yellow color, which sets them apart from American pancakes.\n\n\n\nFlour: Use regular all-purpose wheat flour\u2014no need to overthink it. T45 or T55 will work just fine. Unlike dango, this time you want ordinary flour.\n\n\n\nSweet red bean paste: Honestly, red bean paste is just delicious\u2014I could eat it by the spoonful. But let\u2019s be clear: you can use WHATEVER YOU WANT. As long as it\u2019s sweet and spreadable, it\u2019ll work. Try chestnut cream, black sesame paste, lotus paste, taro paste, mung bean paste, or even your grandma\u2019s strawberry jam\u2014feel free to experiment!\n\n\n\nSugar: This is a hot topic\u2014my readers know all about my sugar addiction (and my garlic addiction, too), and you often like to cut down the sugar in my recipes. While it doesn\u2019t make much difference for my American mom\u2019s cookies, here we\u2019re working with small quantities and reducing the sugar too much can really change the result. So, adjust at your own risk.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tAuthentic Japanese Dorayaki\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t4 large eggs140 g granulated sugar2 tablespoons honey160 g all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking powder2 tablespoons waterneutral oil, for greasing the pan520 g red bean paste (Anko; you can substitute with a sweet spread or chestnut cream)\t\n\t\n\t\tFor the batterIn a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and honey until pale and foamy.Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl, then whisk into the egg mixture until smooth and combined.Refrigerate the batter for 15 minutes.After resting, the batter will be looser and slightly smoother. Stir in half the water and check the consistency; it should resemble pancake batter. Add the remaining water as needed to reach the right consistency.CookingHeat a large nonstick skillet over very low heat for 5 minutes. Warming the pan slowly works best. Once hot, increase the heat to medium-low. Dip a paper towel into neutral oil and lightly grease the bottom of the pan, then wipe away any excess oil. This is the key to evenly golden-brown Dorayaki. Using a ladle or small measuring cup, pour 3 tablespoons of batter from about 8 cm above the pan to form an 8 cm round. Cook one pancake at a time.When bubbles appear on the surface, flip and cook the second side.Transfer to a plate and cover with a damp kitchen towel to prevent drying. Grease the pan between batches as needed. Continue with the remaining pancakes.AssemblyAssemble the Dorayaki by sandwiching two pancakes around a spoonful of sweet red bean paste. Mound a bit more paste in the center so the middle is thicker than the edges and the Dorayaki has a gentle dome.Wrap each Dorayaki in plastic wrap until ready to serve.StorageWrap leftovers in plastic wrap and keep in a cool place for up to 2 days. Alternatively, place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.\t\n\t\n\t\tDip a paper towel into neutral oil and lightly grease the bottom of the pan, then wipe away any excess oil. This is the key to evenly golden-brown Dorayaki. \n\t\n\t\n\t\tJaponaise\t\n\n\n\n\n\nCulinary Sources\n\n\n\nFor this recipe, I used the one from Just One Cookbook, a go-to for Japanese cooking. For the cooking technique, I followed Nino's Home on YouTube. The video is super thorough and gave me all the tips for getting that perfect look. Because yes, in Japanese cuisine, appearance really matters.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109759"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110102,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109759\/revisions\/110102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}