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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Dorayaki 銅鑼焼き - Doraemon's Favourite Japanese Snack

Dorayaki 5

Dorayaki Collage

Dorayaki2

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 :

 

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!

Dorayaki 4

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.

25 comments:

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

when I was young, I also like to read Doraemon. I immediate bookmark this, and will do this for my kids soon.

Angie's Recipes said...

I like Dorayaki pancake! You have made them so good!

Anonymous said...

Nice dorayaki. =)

christine

La Table De Nana said...

I would never of heard of any of this if not for you..

I bet kids love them!

samsam said...

Your dorayaki look so fluffy and i like the colour of your red bean paste.

WendyinKK said...

Very very generous with the fillings :)

Allie said...

Yours look so fluffy, nicely-browned and delicious! My previous tries yielded unevenly brown dorayakis...and I love to eat them hence it didn't stop me. I'm so envious of your pretty and fluffy ones!

MsMoon said...

Nice, nice! Great colour & you're so generous with the red bean paste ^^

hjn said...

These look wonderful! I love the layout of your blog! Very Nice! I love trying new recipes from all over the world! Coming back to learn from you!

thecoffeesnob said...

Ooh I love that cookbook and absolutely love how simple and tasty the recipes are.

These look like giant red bean burgers- how adorable!

Trissa said...

Ha! You remind me of my husband who used to collect comics for a few pesos and now they are worth a lot! I wonder what superman's favourite treat was, maybe he'll ask me to make it... oh but I am getting ahead of myself... the real message is your snack, - it looks worthy of a superhero!

tigerfish said...

Your dorayaki looks as perfect as made from those machines :) Excellent!

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

You made them perfect. That's a generous amount of red bean filling ... surely a reflection of your character. ;)

Irene's Footprints said...

Shirley
How you made the red bean paste? wow looks veri smooth and nice.
Any recipe to post?

Thanks
: )

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Ladies, thanks for your flattering comments but honestly, the 2 that made it into the photos are the better ones. The rest are odd sized and not evenly browned.

Irene, I made the bean paste by boiling azuki read beans in water after they are soft. These are then drained and mixed with sugar while hot. I did not follow sugar content as recommended - I added according to my taste. Then I blended them in a food processer and pushed them through a mesh to get a smoother paste. Actually, it is ok to just stop with the food processor.

Happy Homebaker said...

I used to eat dorayaki when I was younger (now I find it too sweet) and I grew up reading Doraemon, thanks for sharing such a lovely post. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I love 樱桃小丸子 too!

Irene's Footprints said...

Hi Shirley
Thanks for the red bean paste recipe...will try it.

: )

MaryMoh said...

I love these...very delicious. I love it with peanut butter too but red bean paste is the best.

diva said...

MAN! i miss dorayaki. haven't had one in a while. high school was all about dorayaki and pocky for me. :) this looks so good and generous amount of filling. great for me. thanks for the recipe x

Jared said...

I love watching doraemon on TVB growing up. Every sat my sister and I would get up early to watch it. I am not really into sweets, but this is the one thing I do enjoy with a nice cup of tea. Thanks for the recipe.

Ariana said...

What a strange coincidence! Just yesterday I handed in a composition in my Japanese class, and I had to make up a new tool for Doraemon - I chose to make a dorayaki machine!

These look great!

mina said...

i can't wait to try these when we go back to japan. i'm too lazy to try and make them.

Alberta Leong said...

wow! i have to try making these soon! where can i purchase Mirin? can i find them in Singapore's major supermarkets?

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Hi Alberta, Mirin can be bought at the Japanese food section of most supermarkets here in Singapore

Unknown said...

its so cool!my mought is watering!as my stomoch is crying to eat that!beacuse iam hungry and mom is sleeping!my stomoch is rumbling!as i think i will like dorayaki[doracakes].beacuse i am doremons fan!

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