Dorayaki 銅鑼焼き - Doraemon's Favourite Japanese Snack

I grew up with Doraemon Manga (Japanese comics). I would scour the library for those flimsy copies of Chinese publications. They cost about 50 cents per copy when I was in primary school. Doraemon (ドラえもん) is one of my favourite Japanese cartoon character - possibly a close second to Chibi Maruko (樱桃小丸子).  For those who are not familiar, Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written by Hiroshi Fujimoto. The key character of the same name is a futuristic robotic cat entrusted to chaperone the lazy 'protagonist' of the series,Nobita.

I remember waiting eagerly for every new instalment of the series, curious to see what new futuristic gadgets the ear-less blue cat will pull out of his little front pocket. The series is still running today and I hope it will never end!

Doraemon fans out there will know that Doraemon's favourite snack is a Japanese Bean Paste Pancake sandwich known as, what else but Dorayaki!

The pancake takes the form of a Dora, (铜锣) which is a gong-like(cymbal like) instrument. Seemingly simple to make, it is, but a nightmare for a perfectionist. You would want your pancakes to turn out evenly and beautifully browned to just the right shade of brown - not too black and not too light. Then, you want them to be all of the same size. The former entails super precise heat control. Too hot and you get a blackish brown, too low, it ends up with a pale brown blush. What you really want to achieve, is a almost rich chocolately brown. With the professional steel hot plate and professional recipe, you get an almost deep mahogany shade. See how they do it here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO6oEhIWgAI&feature=player_embedded

 

To be quite honest, I don't even really like to eat Dorayaki but it seems like a fun thing to experiment in the kitchen.I followed Keiko Ishida's recipe published in her Japanese Kitchen. Results are decent enough but I had to do quite a few pancakes to get a few relatively 'photogenic' ones. Given that I am not that crazy over the treat, I don't suppose I will make this again. This one's for Doraemon!

Recipe

Plain flour                100g

Baking powder        1/2 tsp

Eggs                        2

Castor sugar            90g

Honey                     1tbsp

Mirin                       1tbsp

Water                      2tbsp

Method

1. Sift flour and baking together twice.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar with a whisk until egg mixture turns pale and thickens.

3. Add Honey, Mirin and water to the foamed egg.

4. Fold  (1) carefully into the egg.

5. Set batter aside for 30mins.

6. In an oiled griddle/ non-stick frying pan, add 3 tbsp of batter and swirl pan to get a round 8cm circle.

7. Control heat carefully to just brown the underside of the pan cake.

8. Turn pancake over and pan-fry other side for a few seconds until brown.

9. Remove pancake and repeat until all batter is used up. Makes about 16 pancakes.

10. Top half the pancakes , with a portion of red bean paste. (I made this myself but this can be bought easily from Japanese supermarkets.) Sandwich with remaining pancakes.