How To Cook Dorayaki

Yields: 10 pancakes

Preparation method: overnight

Cooking method: 2 hours

Ingredients needed to make Dorayaki:

For the bean paste:

• 1 cup adzuki beans
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup sugar

For the pancakes:

• 1 cup flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups adzuki bean paste
• ½ cup water
• 1 tbsp honey

Cooking instructions for Dorayaki:

• To make the bean paste, place the beans in a bowl and fill it up with water; set aside overnight to soak.
• Drain the beans into a large pot and pour a cup of fresh water into it.
• Heat the mixture until it starts boiling and pour in a couple of cups of water into the pot.
• Bring it back to a boil and tip the contents of the pot into a colander to drain.
• Dump the drained beans back to the pot and empty 3 cups of water into it.
• Cook them over high heat and boil the beans yet again until they start jumping in the water.
• Reduce it to a simmer over slow flame and continue to cook the beans for an hour or until they soften and turn mushy; discard any foam that accumulates on the surface while simmering the beans.
• Drain the beans into a bowl, using a colander and return them to the pot.
• Stir in the sugar and cook the mixture over moderate heat for about half an hour, while mashing it with a spoon at the same time, until all of cooking liquid disappears.
• Sprinkle a dash of salt to season and cook further for another 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and spoon it into a bowl; set aside to cool completely.
• To make the pancakes, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them thorough along with sugar and a splash of honey until well combined into a pale, yellowish mixture.
• Stir the baking powder into the flour and sift them into a large bowl.
• Pour in water gradually in a steady stream while beating it into the mixture until it is completely incorporated into it to form a smooth, uniform batter.
• Oil a hot griddle lightly and ladle a small portion of the batter to make a 3’’ wide round disc.
• Cook the pancakes, two at a time, until bubbles pop up on the surface of each pancake and the lower side turns golden.
• Flip them over to cook the other side in a similar fashion.
• Spoon in 2 tbsp of the adzuki bean paste at the centre of one pancake and spread across it.
• Cook the other pancake on top of the filling and transfer it to a serving plate.
• Make rest of the dorayaki in the same manner and serve warm.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons