The first time I heard of the word dorayaki was when I was a little kid because I often watched Doraemon on TV and the dorayaki was his favourite food. Probably that was also why I loved snacking on them because Doraemon made them look so tasty, lol. Anyway, the dorayaki is basically made up of red bean paste sandwiched between two pancakes and it’s called dorayaki because its shape resembles that of the percussion instrument, gong (or ‘dora’ in Japanese) and ‘yaki’ simply means ‘grilled’.

Having failed making perfectly browned pancakes previously, here are some tips to help you avoid the same mistakes I made:

1. Use a non-stick pan that is much bigger than your pancake size, not those small ones for frying eggs. If you use the egg pan because you want perfectly round pancakes and then you start swirling the batter in the pan, you will notice the round edge of the pancake that has been in contact with the pan while cooking will not brown properly. Also, a small pan makes it difficult to flip.
2. Combine 3 tbsp of batter in a small jug and pour it into the pan all at once instead of scooping 1 tbsp a time so to get an almost perfect round circle and to ensure even cooking time.

Don’t worry if the first, second or even third pancake doesn’t work out well. The more you make, the better it gets. Have fun!

DORAYAKI RECIPE

Ingredients (makes 4)
100g self raising flour
2 large eggs
30g castor sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp water
sunflower oil for greasing pan
100g red bean paste

Instructions
1. Sift the flour into a bowl.
2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add honey, mirin and water and continue to whisk till smooth.
3. With a spatula, gradually fold the flour into the egg mixture till you get a smooth batter. Leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.
4. Dab paper towel with a little oil and spread over a non-stick pan evenly.
5. Pour in 3 tbsp of batter to form a 10cm circle.

6. Cook on very low heat till bubbles start to appear on the surface of the pancake and underside is brown.

7. Flip the pancake to cook the other side. Repeat till the batter is used up (yields 8 pancakes). There is no need to re-grease the pan.
8. Spread the red bean paste on one side of a pancake and cover with another pancake.

Tags: cookingdessertdoraemondorayakihomemadepancakesreciperecipesred beansweet treats