I shared this Taiyaki recipe for the first time last year for The Children’s day celebration. Since I had some sweet azuki bean paste left over from my anmitsu post, I decided to update the taiyaki recipe. The Children’s day is celebrated on the 5th of May to wish the healthy growth of the children in the family.
Usually we celebrate the day with “Kashiwa Mochi” (rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves) and “Chimaki” (rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves). I wanted to make Kashiwa mochi but oak leaves are not available in Australia, so I decided to make Taiyaki instead. Because Taiyaki kind of resembles the Koi nobori (carp shaped streamers) that families raise up outside the house to wish the success for lives of the boys in the family.
This is also my father’s favourite snack. There is always a food stall at the supermarkets’ or at the shopping centre entrance and also at every service station. My father gets into trouble by my mum because whenever we go to the shops, he keeps buying them even though he already has stock of Taiyaki in the freezer. He loves Taiyaki that much.
Taiyaki is a little bit like a waffle filled with sweet Azuki bean paste. It is said that a good taiyaki is one that has a thin crispy waffle outside and is completely filled with An (the sweet red bean paste) from head to tail. Some people are not big fans of sweet red bean paste, if you are one of those people, the”An” can be replaced with custard cream or Nutella.
I am also aware that many people do not have this special fish shaped pan to specifically make Taiyakis. I certainly did not have one and could not buy it in Australia so I bought it online and got it sent to Australia from Japan. You can get Taiyakipan
on line.
I usually make 6 to 12 taiyaki and freeze them. Taiyaki needs to be wrapped individually with cling wrap then in a ziplock bag. It can be kept for a couple days in the fridge and two months in the freezer. I used commercially made azuki bean paste this time but they are a little too soft to handle. It is better to make my own azuki bean paste because you can control the texture thickness.
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Ingredients
- 240 g sweet red bean paste (An)
Taiyaki Batter
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 1/2 tbs sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Divide the An to 6 x 40g each and shape them into a 10cm long cylinder with cling wrap and set aside.
- Sift the flour and baking powder in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
- Mix all the wet ingredients together and pour it into the well of flour.
- Combine them but try not to overmix.
- Place some cling wrap over the bowl and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to rest the batter.
- Heat the taiyaki pan over low-medium heat and pour about 2 tbs batter on on side of the pan. Pour the batter from the top edge so that the batter will dribble down to the bottom of the pan.
- Place a roll of sweet red bean paste in the centre and pour more batter (about 2 tbs) over the paste.
- Press the pan and cook each side for 3-5 minutes over low heat.
- When both sides have cooked, remove the Taiyaki carefully.
- Repeat the above process for the remaining batter and An.
50 cups baking powder 😂😂😂
Hi Sam, what conversion are you trying?