Dorayaki
Dorayaki looks trivial — two pancakes and a filling — yet most attempts at home come out uneven, pale and wrinkled. Three things are responsible: honey and mirin, which give gloss and even colour, resting the batter so the bubbles disperse, and a dry pan. Fat in the pan leaves blotches, and blotches show here, because the pancake has nowhere to hide them.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Batter 10 min
- Resting 25 min
- Cooking 25 min
- Assembly 5 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneWhisk eggs with sugar, honey and mirin
Whisk for 2 minutes, until slightly paler. The honey brings moisture and colour, the mirin gloss and that characteristic faintly lacquered surface. Without them the pancakes come out noticeably paler and matt.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 1 tbsp mirin · 200 g plain flour · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 50 ml water
Fold in flour and soda, then rest
Sift the flour with the soda and fold in briefly, just to combine. Rest the batter for 25 minutes — the air bubbles rise out and the flour hydrates. Cooked immediately, the batter gives pancakes with holes and a wrinkled top.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 1 tbsp mirin · 200 g plain flour · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 50 ml water
Smooth and bubble-free after resting.Thin with water to a ribbon
Stir in the water a spoonful at a time, until the batter falls from the ladle in a slow ribbon that vanishes after two seconds. Too thick gives thick uneven pancakes; too thin and it spreads and loses its round shape.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 1 tbsp mirin · 200 g plain flour · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 50 ml water
Cook on a dry pan over low heat
Heat a non-stick pan and wipe it completely dry with kitchen paper — no fat at all. For each pancake pour about 3 tablespoons of batter from one point, from a few centimetres up; it spreads by itself into an even circle about 9 cm across. Cook over low heat, 2–3 at a time — the batter makes about 16 pancakes, around 20–25 minutes of cooking in all.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 1 tbsp mirin · 200 g plain flour · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 50 ml water
Turn when bubbles appear
Turn when small bubbles cover the surface and the edges look matt, after about 2 minutes. The second side needs only 40 seconds and should stay paler; that is the side that faces inwards. Keep the cooked pancakes under a clean tea towel so they do not dry out.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 1 tbsp mirin · 200 g plain flour · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 50 ml water
Bubbles across the whole surface — time to turn.Assemble warm, pale sides in
Mound the paste (about 40 g) in the centre of one pancake, cover with a second pale sides facing each other and press the edges gently. Assemble while they are warm — the edges then curve towards each other and meet on their own.
Ingredients: 350 g red bean paste
Pale sides inwards, edges pressed together.
Before you start
Homemade anko
Simmer 250 g of adzuki beans until soft (about 90 minutes), drain, add 200 g of sugar and a pinch of salt and cook down, mashing, until as thick as jam. It makes about 700 g of paste — it keeps a week in the fridge and the rest can be frozen.
Even circles
Always pour from the same height onto the same spot, without tilting the pan. Batter of the right consistency spreads into a circle by itself — nudging it with a spoon always ends in a ragged edge.
Other fillings
Chestnut cream, dulce de leche, peanut butter with banana, or whipped cream with a strawberry. The cream version is called nama dorayaki and has to be eaten the same day.
