Dorayaki (Japanese red bean pancakes)

After successfully making my mom's Chinese red bean pastry roll, I had half a can of red bean paste left over. I didn't have to think too long or hard about what to make next because I am a huge fan of red bean paste. I've been known to eat it straight out of a can, but I digress...

The Japanese have several red bean desserts, and one of them is the dorayaki.  Essentially, it's a red bean pancake sandwich. You make the pancake batter and cook it on a griddle. Then you add the delicious red bean paste in the middle for some added sweetness and texture. Voila - dorayaki!

I found this recipe online and was stoked to finally try it. I knew this is how I wanted to use up the remainder of the red bean paste. While my husband was swimming, I whipped these up and even got some help from our daughter. She was ecstatic to mix the pancake batter and be my first taste tester. The dorayaki got the husband and daughter's seal of approval, so I am sure I will be making it again.

Another thing that made me super happy was that when my parents were over to visit this weekend, I happened to have several dorayaki in the fridge. They both tried one and loved it - so much that Mom even asked for the recipe! Here you go, Mom!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 140g (2/3 cup) sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 160g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1-2 Tbsp. water
• 1 can Ogura-An (sweetened red bean paste; I used half a can of this brand that was left over from the Chinese red bean pastry roll) 

Directions

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

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

Stir in ½ 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, Dorayaki buns will be too flat and not fluffy.  

Heat a large non-stick frying pan on medium-low to medium heat (I used my pancake griddle and did not oil it). Dip the 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 (I used a medium sized cookie scoop and filled the batter to the top and dropped it from about 6-8 inches above the griddle), drop the batter from 1 foot above the pan to create 3 inch diameter “pancake”. When the surface of batter starts to bubble, flip over and cook the other side. Transfer to a plate and cover up with damp towel to prevent from drying. Continue making pancakes. 

Make sandwiches with the red bean paste as the filling. Put more red bean paste in the center so the shape of the dorayaki will be curved (the middle part should be higher). Quickly wrap them with saran wrap until you ready to serve. You can store these in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for about a week. To reheat, microwave for about 20 seconds and enjoy.

Yield: I got about 11 dorayaki pancakes by using a medium cookie scoop for the pancake batter. The original recipe states you should get about 8 dorayaki.

Source: Just One Cookbook