Recipe & Video: Dorayaki (Red Bean Pancake)

If you are looking to make something traditional, you’ve come to the right place! Dorayaki is one of Japan’s most beloved wagashi. You don’t have to go to Japan to enjoy this sweet. You can easily make it at home! Read on to learn how to make this delicious snack.

What is Dorayaki?

For those of you who like Japanese anime, you might know dorayaki from the “Doraemon” anime series. Dorayaki is a favorite food of Doraemon, a fictional cat-robot character.

As prominent in Japanese popular culture, dorayaki is one of the most popular Japanese sweets. It’s a sweet red bean paste sandwiched in between chewy honey pancakes that go really well with a good cup of green tea. Red bean paste is the typical fillings for the sweet. Still, you can find many varieties of dorayaki in Japan, from traditional fillings like matcha cream or kuromitsu (dark sugar) cream to modern fillings like whipped cream, chocolate, and sometimes ice cream fillings! 

How to Make Red Bean Paste

There are two kinds of red bean paste: chunky and smooth. You can use either kind to make dorayaki, and you can easily purchase red bean paste online.

However, you can also make homemade red bean paste if you’d like to make your own red bean paste. To make it is a bit of a time-consuming project, but it’ll definitely be worth the effort for sure! Follow the recipe here to learn how to make both chunky and smooth red bean paste.

Cooking Tips

• Dorayaki batter is more liquidy compared to regular pancake batter. Don’t worry if your batter looks too liquidy!
• You can double the recipe and make bigger dorayaki if you’d like.
• Try different kinds of fillings like whipped cream or matcha cream. You can even add a bit of whipped cream to the red bean paste to make a red bean whipped cream.

Print

Dorayaki: Red Bean Pancake

Course Dessert

Cuisine Japanese

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 5

Ingredients

All Room Temperature

• 1 cup Flour
• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 Egg
• ½ cup Milk
• 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Mirin
• 2 tsp Honey
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• Plenty of Red Bean Paste (sold in can or bag)

Instructions

1. Break eggs in a bowl and mix well.
2. Add milk, soy sauce, mirin, and honey to the egg and mix well.
3. Sift in flour & baking powder into the mixture and mix with silicone spatula. Add sugar and mix more.
4. Heat the frying pan over medium heat.
5. Pour the batter onto the pan. It should be about the size of a cup coaster. No oil needed.
6. Once you see small bubbles on top of the pancake, flip over and cook the other side. Make about 10 small pancakes. Cool them down.
7. Once cooled down, make a sandwich with two pancakes, with plenty of red bean paste in the middle.