After watching an episode of Dotch Cooking Show, a kooky Japanese Iron-Chef-esque game show that pitches dish against dish, I was inspired to make dorayaki – Japanese pancake filled with red beans.
Dotch Cooking Show is addictive viewing. Two hosts, Sekiguchi and Miyake, each choose a dish that is similar in theme. The dishes are then cooked by two different kitchens and judged by a panel of seven “guests”. The hosts yell “Kon’ya no goch?mon wa dotch?”, which translates as “Which dish will you order for tonight?” Those that choose the most popular dish are fortunate – they get to eat what they have watched being cooked for the last half hour. Unfortnately those that choose the least popular dish only get to watch 
How cruel.
The show also goes into the origin of the special ingredients used to make each dish. For instance, in this episode which pitched Dorayaki against Cream Puff, the show ventured to Hokkaido to chat to a farmer who hand raised a small herd of Jersey cows. The show then visited a chestnut farmer in the Japanese Alps, who chatted about all the things he needed to do to ensure a good crop of sweet, bountiful chestnuts.
All the while the guests are getting quite passionate and vocal about how good each ingredient is, and become postively inconsolable when “tasting time” happens; a rare opportunity for a guest to sample one of the special ingredients in its pure unadulterated form. The squeals of orgasmic delight from a lady who gets to sample fresh Jersey Milk is priceless.
Anyway, as I happened to have a can of an (red bean paste) in the cupboard (yes…I really did!), I decided to give the recipe a shot myself. Red bean paste is essentially cooked and mashed azuki beans that have been sweetened with sugar or honey (you can find a recipe here). The paste comes in a chunky or smooth form, kind of like peanut butter (but not crunchy!). I cheated using the stuff in the can.
Dorayaki (makes 2)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup water
0.5 tablespoons honey
0.5 cups plain flour
1/2 cup red bean paste
Combine the sugar and eggs, but don’t leave the mixture sitting around too long as it’ll cook the egg. Stir the baking soda into the water, and then mix it into the eggs. Add the honey and flour and mix well.
Heat a non-stick fry pan with a little oil, but ensure it is wiped out with a paper towel before cooking. This bit is important as if there is fat in the pan, it won’t allow the pancake to brown evenly.
Pour in enough batter to make a 10-12cm round pancake. Heat until the surface starts to bubble and the bottom is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes, and then flip and cook the other side until golden brown (about 1 minute).
When you have made two, sandwich them together with a a couple of tablespoons of red bean paste.
Then to the eating. It goes ever so well with a steaming pot of Genmaicha, green tea combined with roasted brown rice. Oishii!
New blog post: RECIPE: Dorayaki http://bit.ly/10IUfT
I love dorayaki! It’s doraemon’s favourite food don’t you know! Hehe.
xox Sarah
That looks delicious! I’ve never tried one of these before, but my mouth is salivating just from the thought of eating one. That shows sounds awesome. Its time for me to visit you tube!
this looks marvellous!!! i am going to try this recipe. i adoooooooooore dorayaki and all things japanese (i’m still looking for my taiyaki moulds!!).
Ooh… taiyaki!! If you find the moulds PLEASE let me know where you find them! I *heart* Taiyaki too!
xox Sarah
Sarah, I’ve tried finding them in Melbourne but I couldn’t. I can’t even find a shop that sells taiyaki! Let me know if you find any!!
Hey Sarah – ahh, in fact, doraemon even looks like a dorayaki
Hiya Maria – you’ll love dorayaki! You can pick them up in most Asian grocers, but I find them not very good. You just can’t beat the freshness of a home made pancake! Next time though, I’ll try to make my own red bean paste. I kind of cheated
Hey Pseudo Epicurean – you have taiyaki moulds!?!?
Hi Sarah (again) – I soo must get myself some taiyaki moulds. Actually a friend of mine brought back some cast iron momiji manju moulds from Hiroshima, which we used the other day to do some maple leaf shaped yaki onigiri. Dang…I think I need to go back to Japan!
Hey Pseudo Epicurean (again) –
…nope, no taiyaki in Melbourne…yet.
OMG OMG OMG! I bought those Adzuki beans but never got around to making those paste- where did you get this can? In that Jap shop in Prahran? Or did you get it somewhere else??
I’ve GOT to try this!
Good guess…I picked the anko up from FujiMart in Prahran
Hey Piggy, you can actually pick up the canned adzuki pretty much from any Asian grocery store.
where is the recipe for toscana cake, I have that craving again
Oh yes I can’t find Taiyaki moulds either – wish I could because I have Taiyaki cravings all of the time!
Does anyone know where to buy fresh beans (as opposed to canned?)
Thanks!
Hey Cat – you can find fresh adzuki beans at most healthfood or nut stores. You can find a good recipe to make your own red bean paste from scratch here.
Oh taiyaki.. how I <3 taiyaki so much! Can't wait for my vacations-
-Shizouka-chan <3
I looked at the dorayaki picture and came across a thought- what if we make a shallow hole in the first pancake and fill in the paste in that itself? It’ll look just like doraemon dorayaki- I <3 Kuromame Daifuku Mochi!
-Shizouka-chan <3
xx Sara and mellie: you guys could rather buy a big fish-shaped cookie cutter and cut that out after the cake is prepared.If you really want the japanese texture, I think you guys should buy one of those texture tools which you see on internet and stuff.
Xx Yours,
Shizouka Xx
xoxoxo
Thanks Shizuoka – Sarah actually bought a taiyaki mould (lucky thing)! You can read about what she made here. Now I just need to buy myself one!