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.
Ronda Hisereau says
I made these a couple of weeks ago for my dinner and they were absolutely amazing. Tomorrow i am doing it for my grandson’s birthday breakfast with srawberries and whip cream. Thank you for sharing!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Why not Ronda 😀 Japanese Souffle pancake for dinner! Strawberries and whipped cream will be wonderful!! Happy Birthday to your grandson 😀
Sam says
Hi Shihoko,
20g flour comes to be 4 tsp flour. Is this correct?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Sam, yes 😀
Jessica says
Hi Shihoko,
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I tried it today, and while the texture was wonderful, I felt the pancakes tasted too eggy. Almost like souffle tamagoyaki. Would reducing a yolk helps?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jessica, Thank you for your feedback. I will work on the eggy taste very soon 😀
Ali O says
Great recipe, but I’m wondering if these are meant to set completely? My cakes were fluffy and golden on both sides but still creamy inside. I was using a griddle on gas on low heat
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ali yes they supposed to be completely set. They are cooked very low for quite a long time. That’s the reason I used for electric pan for controlling the heat vely low for long time.
DoWon, Kim says
Hi Miss Shihoko,,,,,
I am planning to manage a small coffee-shop at Korean eastern beach together with serving pancake.
Your recipe is really helpful for me to learn cooking so Fluffy Suffle Pancake especially you give those
tips which I must pay attention on….
On question in addition to those important points, HOW LONG I CAN KEEP THE BATTER which may
be made in advance……
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Dowon, once you add meringue to the batter it need to be cooked otherwise the pancakes will not be fluffy. But if you have to, I would make the batter up to adding meringue it may keep for a couple day in fridge and add meringue just before you cook it.
DoWon says
Thank You Miss Shihoko….
I will try to cook in that way. I need just 24 hours in advance to cook….
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome Dowon
pablo says
great work i love it!
Chopstick Chronicles says
thank you very much
Ann says
Hi Shihoko,
Thanks for the recipe! I just tried it today. They turned out really well, however the inside was still soft and not done. Do you have any tip how I can get the inside done?
Thank you in advance! Kind regards from Germany
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ann, glad to hear that it turned out well for you. It is quite difficult to controll the cooking temperature and that’s the reason I use electric pan to cook it very low and also you can add a little bit of water around the pancake batter to steam cook.
Grace says
Hi there. Would love to try out your recipe tomorrow morning. Just to double confirm, you are using just plain flour or it have to be self-raising flour? Thanks
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Grace, I used plain flour 😀
gee says
Hi Shihoko,
Many thanks for posting this receipt!
I tried making the pancakes this morning, substituting with coconut flour and honey. The meringue worked wonderfully, but somehow the batter became liquid before cooking. I wonder if this is caused by the ingredients change, or perhaps I was not gentle enough in mixing the last 1/3 of the meringue, since I used a fork rather than a spatula.
Nonetheless, the finished products were delicious.
Thanks again 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Gee, THank you for trying this recipe. I think meringue was not made properly? I don’t think changing flour does not affect much but not sure. Anyhow glad it turned out delicious 😀
Elizabeth says
Honey is a lot denser than powdered sugar and coconut flour is a lot denser than self-rising flour. Also it doesn’t have a leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda) so all of those things probably contributed to batter collapsing. If you grind up maple sugar in a blender or spice grinder, that might get you closer to powdered sugar consistency, and be enough to help keep the batter from collapsing (despite the heaviness & high fiber of the coconut flour)
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Elizabeth for the comment 😀
Dr Martin Huang says
This look amazing. I’m a pancake lover but not yet try a Japanese style pancake. This would be prefect for my tomorrow breakfast.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Dr.Martin Huang, Enjoy it tomorrow morning 😀
Albert Bevia says
I have never heard of these pancakes, but they look and sound delicious, easy to make and a beautiful presentation, can´t wait to try these out 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Albet, Thank you 😀
Marie says
Hi,
I’m currently testing your recipe and I was wondering if there is any technique of cooking the pancake on the pan to get them rise ?
Mine rise during the cooking but then they sink …
Marie says
I mean do you cook them on a high or low temperature ?:)
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Marie, sorry to take long time to reply. I cooked on low-mid temperature.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Marie, was your pancake batter mixture too runny? Mine was quite plumped
Sherlyn says
Hi, I would love to attempt this amazing recipe of soufflé pancake from you. However, can u tell me what form peak? Is it soft, firm or stiff peak? Many thanks.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Sherlyn, I would say firm peak.
Nano @ Travel With Nano B. says
Hello Shihoko-san! I’m an American expat currently living and blogging in Tokyo. I just discovered your blog while doing a research of fluffy pancakes, and gave you a shout-out in my post. I will definitely give this recipe a try as I love the souffle pancakes. Will also explore other recipes in your index, love how you give little background about each dish and reveal some secret ingredients. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Nano san 😀 Konnichiwa and arigatou for visiting my blog 😀 I have just come back from Japan and miss them already
Emi Zimmerman says
Hi, I am intrigued by your recipe, but could you please help me with two of your ingredients? What is “Icing Sugar” and “Self Raising Flour” for those in the US and ingredients-challenged?
Thank you!
E
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Emi 😀 I learn everyday by blogging. I thought all ingredients are called same worldwide in English…. I did a little bit of research. Icing Sugar is confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar. Self rising flour is the flour contains rising agent such as baking powder. So if you can replace self-rising flour in my recipe by adding 1 teaspoon of baking powder to every cup of all-purpose flour. Hope this help 😀
Tash says
I made these pancakes yesterday for breakfast and they were absolutely amazing! We had them with Nutella, strawberries, bananas and vanilla ice cream. I also tried some of the pancake on its own and it was so delicious. I would almost dare to say that these are hands down the best pancakes I’ve ever made. Thank you so much for the recipe and I love how Japanese mayonnaise is the secret ingredient 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Tash,
Thank you so much. I am so happy to hear the pancake recipe and Japanese mayo worked for you too!
Tash says
Hi Shihoko,
Do you still have your old recipe from a few years ago for these pancakes? I tried your updated recipe, but I prefer your old. Would you be able to share your old recipe with me? Thanks in advance!
Chantel says
Hello! I am unsure where to get Japanese mayo. There are a lot of little Vietnamese specialty food stores where I live but no Japanese shops. Could I substitute it with a different Mayo or something else? Or would it be easier to order the mayo online?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Chantel, you can omit Japanese mayo all together if you can not get it. You can still make airy fluffy and light pancakes 😀
GChow says
I think you can substitute the Japanese mayo with sour cream. I tried it with your other pancake recipe and it worked fine
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi GChow, That’s great 😀 that sour cream worked for the recipe. For the people don’t like mayo or can not get mayo, yoghurt might work too. Thank you.
GChow says
I bought the kewpie mayo at Vietnamese Chinese grocery stores but again I live in Southern California.
Teri Giese says
By far the lightest,fluffiest,pancakes I have ever seen!Love to subscribe to your blog!!New to Japanese food,but psyched to expand my culinary “skills”!Awesome photography as well.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Teri, Thank you so much for your kind words 😀
Kathrina says
These look so lovely! I can’t wait to try them!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Kathrina 😀
Sue R says
Those pancakes look amazing! I’m supposed to be making cookies and cream ice cream but I’m getting a bit side-tracked by all the amazing recipes in your blog!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Sue 😀 Perfect for Sunday morning breakfast 😀