Dorayaki (w/ homemade anko) {vegan}

(cliccate qui per la versione italiana)

Happy Monday!

I’ve never watched Doraemon (or any other anime for that matter), so I discovered dorayaki later on in life, not sure when or how. And I just knew I had to try them because I’d love them for sure. And I tried them for the very first time…. when I homemade them! Anko included.

So, what are dorayaki? 2 pancakes (traditionally made using honey but you can substitute any other liquid sweetener) with sweet azuki/red bean paste in between. Usually the amount of sugar called for in anko making is A LOT so I used less and could even go down a little bit, for my personal taste, but the sugar is also necessary for preserving the paste.

Anko reminds me a lot of chestnut paste. The texture is the same and the taste very similar, which means: AMAZING.

N.B. following these doses you will make 8 pancakes, for 4 dorayaki, and a lot of anko. I would say it’s enough for at least 12 dorayaki (24 pancakes). You could either multiply the pancake recipe by 3, build all of the dorayaki, tightly individually wrap all of them in plastic wrap, keep 3-4 in the fridge and freeze the rest. To thaw them you will simply need to transfer a few to the fridge overnight, then eat them cold (they’re not supposed to be reheated). Or, what I did is: I prepared 4 dorayaki and froze the leftover anko in 2-3 ziploc bags. After 4 days I thawed one bag overnight and prepared 8 more pancakes. And I will do the same in a few days. Depending on how much anko you put in each dorayaki you may be able to yield more than 12! Also you could spread anko on bread, it’s just as good.

DORAYAKI (W/ HOMEMADE ANKO) {vegan}
by Marta Giaccone

Recipe
4 dorayaki
pancakes: prep time: 5 mins, cook time: 16 mins, total time: 21 mins
anko: prep time: 10 mins, cook time: 1 hr 25 mins, total time: 1 hr 35 mins + 18 hrs soaking

Dorayaki
1 + ¼ cups / 170 gr flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch turmeric
3 tbsp honey (or other liquid sweetener)
1 cup / 250 ml plant-based milk
1 tbsp light oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
seeds from ½ vanilla pod
about 1 cup of anko (azuki bean paste) (see recipe below)

Method

1. In a medium mixing bowl sift and combine flour, baking powder and soda and turmeric. Mix, then add honey, milk, oil, lemon juice and vanilla. Stir well.
2. Heat up a flat non-stick pan over medium heat, then set the flame to low. Pour ¼ cup worth of batter. Cook for about 1 minute, until you see small bubbles appearing on the surface. Flip with a spatula and let cook for another minute. Repeat with all of the batter. Stack pancakes to keep them warm. You should get 8 pancakes.
3. Spread about 2-3 tbsp of anko over 4 pancakes, then top them with the other 4.
4. Personally I think dorayaki are much better when eaten cold and you can really taste the anko. Wrap each dorayaki tightly in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This way the pancakes will keep moist, too.
5. Dorayaki can be stored like that in the fridge for a few days. No need reheating them up.

Anko (azuki bean paste)
200 gr dry azuki beans
150 gr sugar (I used brown)
1 scant tsp salt

Method

1. Soak the beans for at least 18 hours (this is important). Rinse and drain them.
2. Put them in a pot, cover them with water (just covered is fine), and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and discard the water. Repeat this twice more for a total of 3 times. This helps remove some of the bitterness.
3. Put the beans back into the pot, cover them with water by about 5cm/2in, bring to a boil, then lower the flame to low and let cook, covered, until soft, about 1hr-1hr15min. You can add some water if you can see it’s getting dry; personally, I didn’t need to.
4. When the beans are completely soft, drain them and save the cooking water. Put them back in the pot and use a hand blender (or transfer into a blender) to blend them into a velvety paste, adding as much cooking water as you need.
5. Heat up the pot again on low heat, add sugar and salt, mix and reduce the mix until you are able to draw a line on the bottom (see photos).
6. Anko is now ready! But before using it, transfer it into a large baking dish or container, let cool a bit, cover and let cool further in the fridge. Depending on how much sugar you use, anko keeps in the fridge for a few or more days. In my experience, mine lasted perfectly well for a week. Then I froze the leftovers.