Imagawayaki

Two batter discs cooked in rings and pressed together round the filling while still wet.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (milk), honey.

Ingredients

batter

200 g plain flour
80 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
250 ml milk
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon oil

filling

300 g anko
100 g custard, thick

Method

TWO HALVES JOINED IN THE PAN, which is what separates it from the taiyaki on this site. Taiyaki is one hinged mould closed over a filling and turned; this is cooked in two open rings and the halves are lifted and pressed together while the top of each is still wet batter. The wet surfaces weld.
RING MOULDS, NOT A SHAPED MOULD. Crumpet rings or straight metal rings on a flat griddle give the thick, straight-sided cylinder the dish is, and nothing shaped will.
THICKER THAN ANY PANCAKE ON THIS SITE -- about 2 cm of batter in each ring. It is nearly all crumb, and a thin one is a different thing altogether.
Batter whisked smooth and rested 20 minutes. Smooth is right here; the lumpy-batter rule belongs to tempura.
Oil the rings and the griddle well and heat to a moderate, steady temperature -- too hot and the outside sets before the middle has risen.
Batter into each ring to about two thirds. Wait until the surface loses its gloss but is still tacky, 3 to 4 minutes.
Filling spooned into the centre of HALF the rings, leaving a clear margin. Filling to the edge means it bursts out of the seam.
JOIN AT THE TACKY STAGE. Lift a plain half out with a palette knife and invert it onto a filled one, pressing down gently. Left to set dry, the two halves will not bond and come apart when eaten.
Cook the joined cake another 2 to 3 minutes a side, turning once, until both faces are even gold.
Run a knife round the ring to release. Eat warm.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes