Have you seen the famous Japanese Souffle Pancakes store “Shiawase no Pancake” (幸せのパンケーキ- Happiness Pancake)? Their Japanese souffle Pancakes look incredibly airy, fluffy and delicious! In Japanese, we call this kind of texture “Fuwa Fuwa” which is a mimetic word which means “Fluffy”.
I have tried to recreate that airy fluffiness and thickness without using a mould like I used for the “Extra Thick and Fluffy Japanese Pancake” recipe I posted a little while back. Also only required 5 ingredients!!
This famous pancake shop is said to have started in Osaka. The airy fluffy pancakes used to be often served after a wedding at the reception, and that’s where the pancake’s name “Shiawase” (Happiness) comes from. The pancake shop is very popular and the business has grown, so now there are several shops in both Osaka and Tokyo.
I first shared my version of soufflé pancakes in 2016, because I received an email from a lovely reader who was looking for a recipe for Matsunosuke’s Chiffon Pancake. Matsunosuke is a café famous for it’s apple pie and sweets produced by Akiko Hirano. There are a few of these cafes in Japan and I believe there is one in New York as well. I don’t know the actual recipe and I’ve never eaten the Matsunosuke pancakes before but I decided to try and make something as similar as I could.
When I first posted my original Soufflé Pancake recipe, I’d never been to these famous Japanese cafes so my recipe was my attempt to recreate something looks similar in terms of the texture and appearance of these unique desserts. Since I am updating some of my older recipes now, and I have now seen Shiawase no Pancake, I have changed and improved my original recipe that I first shared in 2016.
Making the meringue successfully is the most important step to achieve that airy and fluffy Soufflé Pancake. There are few point to remember to successfully achieve this:
1. Make sure you use fresh eggs. Older eggs do not froth up as well, and will simply collapse and
turn runny, losing those all-important air bubbles.
2. The separated egg white should be kept refrigerated till just before whipping.
3. All equipment used for frothing the egg white need to be fully dry and clean. Any trace of
liquid or oil will have a negative impact on your whipped egg white.
4. Add sugar in a little at a time. I recommend adding them in a little at a time over 2-3 separate
intervals. If the sugar is added in all in once at the beginning, it is difficult to incorporate
it into the mix, and you risk losing some of your airy egg white bubbles.
5. Add cream of tartar to stabilise the beaten egg white. A little bit of lemon juice or salt can
be used if you have or don’t like cream of tartar.
6. When the whipped meringue is added to the other oily mixture, add 1/3 of the meringue to the mixture, carefully folding the meringue into the mixture. Then add another 1/3 of the
meringue, and fold it carefully trying not to break the too many of your bubbles. Finally add
the remainder of the mixture into the meringue, again mixing carefully. Be very careful to not
overmix – stop as soon as it has just combined evenly.
Another important part to make this Shiawase no Soufflé Style Pancake is the cooking temperature. I used a Tiger brand electric cooking plate that I bought in Japan and brought back to Australia. Because you can preheat the cooking plate to a constant “keep warm” temperature, you can cook the pancake on a very low heat setting (below 160 degrees Celsius, or 320 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Japanese soufflé pancakes is best served immediately as it shrinks a bit. Then dusted with icing sugar and syrup or top with anything you like!
If you liked my improved Japandese souffle pancake recipe, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I see your wonderful creations!
Japanese Souffle Pancake
Ingredients
- 2 egg(large) an egg weighed about 55g
- 15 g sugar
- ½ tbsp. mayonnaise
- ½ tbsp. milk
- 20 g flour
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
- Separate the egg yolk and the egg white into two different bowls.
- Keep the egg white refrigerated until it’s ready to be whipped.
- Set the cooking plate temperature to a very low or keep warm setting.
- Place egg yolk into a mixing bowl, add milk and mayonnaise and mix well
- Sift the flour into the yolk mixture and mix well.
- Make the meringue: Take the egg white out of the fridge and add a cream of tartar.
- Whip the egg white until bubbles start to form.
- Add 1/3 of sugar (5 g) to the egg white and keep whipping until fine bubbles form.
- Add another 1/3 of sugar and continue to whip.
- Add the last 1/3 of sugar and whip until the foam becomes shiny and soft peaks start to form.
- Take 1/3 of meringue to the egg yolk mixture and fold it in.
- Add another 1/3 of meringue, and again carefully fold into the yolk mixture.
- Pour the yolk mixture into the meringue bowl and carefully mix it all together with a spatula.
- Drop a spatula spoonful of the batter onto a cooking plate, then top with an additional ½ spoonful on top of each pancake to help add height and cook it for 3 minutes.
- Flip them over after 3 minutes and then cook for a further 3 minutes or until both sides are browned.
- Dust with icing sugar and syrup, and serve immediately.
Hello Shihoko,
Thank you for your recipe and great effort for the details to prefect the recip.
I tried it, did turned out to be really good, but can I please have the name of the brand of the pan that you used or a link I can buy the pan from.
Thank you.
Regards,
Noura
Hi Noura, Thank you for your comment. This is similar to what I have or it could be exactly same.
Will it work in Australia, as we have 240V?
Hi H Lam, I have a transformer 😀
Hi there,
I have tried a few of your recipes and the finished product has always been a success! Thank you
For this recipe, am I able to replace the milk with almond milk?
Hi Michelle, I have not tried with almond milk for this recipe so I am not sure but I think it will work.
Thank you for this recipe. Tried it and it tasted wonderful. Grateful for the tips on the egg whites’ frothing as well. 😊😊
Thank you for making this souffle pancakes and five star rating 😀
Great recipe, but two things:
It’s false that fresh eggs whip better. It’s common professional cooking knowledge that old egg whites whip better.
The photo you used clearly showed Japanese mayonnaise, which is not the same as regular western mayonnaise (malt vinegar, MSG).
I’ll def try this version out myself!
Hi John Thank you for your feedback and professional knowledge. Yes I use Japanese mayonnaise because it made from egg yolk not whole eggs. I believe that Kewpie mayonnaise made and sold in Japan do not contain MSG.
Japanese Souffle Pancakes –
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is
written by him as nobody else know such detailed about
my difficulty. You’re amazing! Thanks!
Hi Calator, you are welcome. I wrote the recipe and post. All recipes here is my own recipes that I cook 😀
I made these and these are by far the best of the three recipes I tried! Thank you 🙂
Konnichiwa Td 😀 Thank you! I am glad you liked it 😀
does it matter if i use normal mayo instead of the Japanese mayo?
Hi Mona, Yes it does matter actually as Japanese mayo made from egg yolk and rice vinegar, and ordinary mayo are made from whole egg and white vinegar. So it will make different result.
I followed this recipe exactly, I even weighed the eggs, nothing but a mess, still trying to get them to cook.
Hi Marjorie, I am not sure what went wrong…..
i’ve had that shiaease pancake in kanazawa with my wife, very good, will try your recipe for my wife
Hi Jimmy, Lucky you! I have never had Shiawase pancake….. that’s why I created it myself 😀 Hopefully it is similar ;D
I tried a couple of recipes from YouTube but they didn’t come out as fluffy as shown in the videos. I always thought they were not giving their secret ingredient or something. And you said about the mayo. I will definitely try your recipe. Thank you.
Hi Cess, I share my secret with my reader 😀 my secret is yes! Japanese mayonnaise and how you success with meringue ;D
Hi any replacement for the mayo ? I cant get any mayo due to Covid19 lock down now.
For now, just omit mayo. I am planning to post homemade Japanese mayonnaise recipe up.
Ahah i was thinking the same 😅
hello Shinhoko,
i have attempted souffle pancakes for more than 20 times but i have always failed my pancake wont raise as much, when i close the liq they seems to raise a lot higher, once open the liq they would immediately shrink to normal pancakes levels.
it has always been a struggle to me of making these for someone i love , hopefully this will work!
p.s. cooking the souffle pancakes on normal sauce pans
Ohhh Kutar, good luck! let me know if it work or not for you 😀
Hi. I know a staff member from shiaease no pancakes. They make them. She told me there the marange ( egg whites ) are mixed over a bowl of ice. They use a hand mixer.
Hi Arran 😀 ohhh really? It make the marange firm I think. Thank you for the insider information 😀
These Japanese Souffle Pancakes look and sound amazing ! Will be trying your recipe soon 🙂
Thank you Linda 😀