Dorayaki どら焼き
Two soft, round sponge cakes sandwiched around sweet red bean paste. One of the best-known wagashi, and Doraemon's favourite food.
About Dorayaki
- What it is: A wagashi of two small, round cakes made from a castella-style batter, closed around anko (sweet azuki bean paste). The cakes are softer and spongier than a Western pancake.
- History and name: Dora means gong, and one story says the first ones were cooked on a gong. The early version had a single layer; the two-cake sandwich is credited to a confectioner in Ueno, Tokyo, in 1914.
- Styles: In Kansai it is often called mikasa, after the hill in Nara whose full moon its round shape is said to resemble. Nama dorayaki is filled with fresh whipped cream, and there are chestnut, matcha and sweet potato versions.
- Where to try it: Traditional wagashi shops, especially in old Tokyo neighbourhoods such as Ueno and Asakusa, and almost every convenience store and supermarket.
- Did you know: Doraemon, the robot cat from the manga and anime, loves dorayaki, and it turns up in the stories again and again.
Checked against: Dorayaki | Wikipedia · Dorayaki, the Japanese sponge cake | Japan Experience · Dorayaki: Japan's favorite sweet from A to Z | Arigato Japan.
Dorayaki on Shibuya246
Photos and stories from the blog, as they were written at the time.
Conbini Monday Wk62
A short Conbini Monday this week due to the Public Holiday and lots of other activity going on, but the selections are pretty interesting. See if you can…
Conbini Monday Wk69
Forgot to put these up yesterday. The Golden Week holiday made me forget it was a Monday and not a weekend.
Kisaragi and Setsubun
The month of February used to be called Kisaragi in Japan. February was the second month of winter under the lunar calendar, which Japan used before the…
Dora Pudding
I tried this new Dora Pudding どらぷりん today that I picked up at the Family Mart. This is a mix between a dorayaki, azuki bean filled pancake, and purin…