Adzuki bean widely grown throughout East Asia and the Himalayas for its small (approximately 5 mm) bean. Sweetened azuki bean paste is used in a variety of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean sweets. Whether used in bread or pastry fillings, sweet soups, pancakes, or ice cream, the essential adzuki bean is usually highlighted as the main flavor. Its assertiveness is best complemented with neutral ingredients but it is also common to add flavoring to the bean paste, such as chestnut. I don’t know if it is true but it is also said that an adzuki-flavored Pepsi product was released in Japan a couple of years ago. That’s interesting!
Make these pancakes on a lazy weekend when you have nothing else to do just staying in bed late, reading a good book, drinking a nice cup of hot tea and watching a great movie. These are my favourite programs to relax the hectic weekdays.
How do you relax?
Mini Dorayaki – Japanese Pancakes with Adzuki Beans Paste
Ingredients
For the pancake
– 1 and 1/4 cups white spelt flour, sifted
– 1/4 cup cold water
– 2 organic eggs
– 1/4 cup cane sugar
– 2 tablespoons honey
– 1 tablespoon sunflower oil plus 1 tablespoon for oiling pan
– 1 tablespoon mirin
– 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
For the adzuki beans paste
– 1 cup adzuki beans
– 3/4 cup cane sugar
Method
Soak the beans in three times their volume of cold water for a night before cooking. Drain, then put them in a pot of cold water again with the sugar; bring them gently to a boil and cook them until tender (45 minutes). Drain and mash the beans with fork or in a blender. If you have leftover, it freezes well.
Break eggs in a bowl and add sugar, honey, sunflower oil and mirin. With a whisk, beat the mixture by hand until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add dry into wet in batches, whisking in between. Once all combined, slowly add just enough water to form a smooth batter. Heat a pan over medium heat, add small amount of oil and spread with a piece of kitchen paper. Turn heat to low, pour enough batter to make a 9cm pancake then cover immediately with a lid and bake until small bubbles form on the surface and the bottom is nice and brown. Turn the pancake over and cook the other side. Repeat process to make about 36 pancakes(18 dorayaki). Fill one side of the pancake with azuki bean paste and sandwich with another pancake.
