Dora Yaki どら焼き

It's been awhile since any recipes have been posted but here is a recipe for Dora Yaki or Japanese pancakes. You don't but syrup on them or anything, they just resemble pancakes except they are a lot sweeter. We made these at a Japan Club activity and they were a big hit. We almost didn't have enough for everybody! If you have any questions feel free to post comments.

Dora Yaki どら焼き

Ingredients:
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 cup flour, sifted
• 3/4 lb sweet azuki beans

Directions:
Put eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk very well. Dissolve baking soda in water. Add the water in the egg mixture. Add sifted flour in the egg mixture gradually. Heat a skillet or hot plate and lightly oil it. Pour a scoop of the batter into the skillet and make a small pancake. Turn over when bubbles appear on the surface. Repeat this process to make 8-10 pancakes. Cool the pancakes. Divide pancakes into pairs, matching size and shape as best you can and put a 1 1/2 Tbsp (or an amount to your liking) red bean paste between each pair. Slice in half before serving.

Makes about five 4" dorayaki cakes or ten 2.5" cakes.

A note about the recipe: If you're used to making typical pancakes, it tempting to want to let these cook on the first side until bubbles appear and the sides of the top start to dry out. With dorayaki pancakes, do not wait for the sides to dry out or the pancake will most likely burn. Be sure to flip them once the surface becomes bubbly.

Because of the moisture still present in the edges, these are a bit tougher to flip than breakfast pancakes. The easiest way I found to do this while preserving the round shape of the pancake was to slide a spatula under the pancake slightly, lifting it up enough to fit a chopstick underneath it. You can then lift the pancake with the chopstick, allowing you to slide the spatula far enough under the pancake to flip it properly.

Oyakodon

Jessica here. Today, I used my wiles to convince Staci and Jamie to come over after class and make Oyakodon (親子丼) with me. In Japanese, "oya" means "parent" and "ko" is "child," so "oyokodon" basically means "Parent and child donburi." It consists of chicken and egg. Pretty cute, huh?

This recipe is pretty easy, although not super speedy. I modified it slightly off of an English recipe I found via google. So here it goes:



Oyakodon 親子丼
makes about 4 servings
1 large or medium sized onion
2 small chicken breasts, or one large chicken breast
about 1/4 head cabbage, chopped medium (optional)
Dashi (fish stock- I dissolved about 1 Tbsp in 1 1/2 cups of hot water)
4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Mirin
1 Tbsp Sugar
2-3 eggs (or to match preference) mixed slightly
---
about 2 cups rice

1. Slice onion. Add 2 Tbsp of oil to the bottom of a pot; heat over medium-low to medium heat. Add Onions in one layer on the bottom of the pan. Don't stir them, just let them sit there and begin to cook. They'll be there for a while, so make sure the heat isn't too high or they will burn.

2. Cut your chicken into small cubes-- about 1/4 inch cubes are good. If they seem really small to you, don't worry. It's better they be a little too small than a little too big. Place chicken in a layer over the onions.

3. Mix your wet ingredients together: Dashi, Soy Sauce, Mirin, and Sugar. Pour the sauce over the chicken and onions-- aim to cover the chicken so everything cooks through. (If you don't have enough sauce to cover the chicken, you can cover the pot for a bit while cooking to ensure the chicken on top is cooked).
(Now's a good time to start the rice-- cook according to your rice's directions!!)

4. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer until reduced by about half. Now's the time to add the cabbage, if you so desire (I like cabbage in mine!) The cabbage will cook down a lot so don't worry if it looks like a lot. Let it simmer for a while longer, until much of the liquid is gone.

5. Pour your lightly mixed egg on top and cook until it reaches your desired cooked-ness. In Japan, the eggs are usually left pretty raw and runny, but if you want yours more cooked that is totally okay! Oyakodon on top of it. With this recipe, I usually make about 4 servings, so just cut the pan into fourths and dish out the goodness.