Taiyaki Recipe Japanese Fish Shaped Pastry

Why This Recipe Works?

A 3:1 ratio of cake flour and glutinous rice flour creates a batter that’s light and crispy on the outside while it bakes up into a tender cake with just a hint of mochi-like chew. Adding baking soda raises the pH of the batter, allowing it to turn golden brown as it cooks. Cooking the Taiyaki in stages ensures you have just enough batter to fill out the Taiyaki mold while allowing room for a generous amount of filling.

Ingredients for Taiyaki

Cake flour - Cake flour keeps the batter light and airy, allowing it to crisp on the outside while retaining a cake-like texture on the inside. Pastry flour will work as a substitute, but I don’t recommend using all-purpose flour or bread flour because their higher gluten content will make the Taiyaki tough, especially after it cools. Shiratamako - This goes by various names, such as short-grain glutinous rice flour and mochi rice flour. Shiratamako is milled glutinous rice, which is used to make Japanese sweets such as dango and mochi. In thisTaiyaki recipe, it gives the fish-shaped pastry a slightly chewy texture. Mochiko is technically processed differently, but it will work if you use the weight measurement. Baking powder - Baking powder is a mixture of a base (usually baking soda) and acid (usually cream of tartar).When water is introduced, the acid and the base neutralize each other, creating carbon dioxide bubbles in the process. This is what helps leaven cakes and pastries. Baking soda—Since this recipe already includes baking powder, you might think that baking soda is redundant, but there’s a good reason for its addition. As baking powder activates, the two main ingredients neutralize each other. To get good browning on the outside of the Taiyaki, we want the batter to be alkaline. This is achieved by adding extra baking soda. Milk - Older recipes for Taiyaki were unlikely to use milk in the batter recipe because it wasn’t widely available around the time of the fish-shaped cake’s invention; however, most modern recipes call for whole milk because it adds flavor. Butter - Butter is not a traditional ingredient in Taiyaki batter, but adding it has two purposes. The first is that it adds a nutty buttery flavor that’s a beautiful compliment to the anko filling. The second is that the fat keeps the batter moist and tender while helping it release from the mold. I recommend using cultured unsalted butter, which has a naturally higher concentration of diacetyl, the compound responsible for the flavor of butter. Honey - My homemade anko recipe is relatively low in sugar, so I like to sweeten my taiyaki batter. You may want to cut back on the honey if you use a store-bought red bean paste. I use honey to sweeten the batter because I love the flavor it adds as it caramelizes in the crust. Sugar or other sweeteners will also work. Vanilla extract - A high-quality vanilla extract makes most sweets taste better, and Japanese Taiyaki is no different. If you want to get creative, try adding other flavorings, such as sakura, matcha, or yuzu. Anko - Anko or sweet red bean paste is a staple of Japanese sweets and it’s the most traditional Taiyaki filling. It’s made by cooking azuki beans until tender before cooking the mixture down to a paste with sugar. I have an easy recipe for making anko from scratch that cuts the total preparation time down to about 45 minutes, with only a few minutes of active time. I prefer using tsubuan (chunky anko) for this traditional treat, but some like the more refined texture of koshian (smooth anko). If you’re not into a red bean filling, add any filling you like, such as chocolate, Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate chips, or custard.

How to Make Taiyaki Batter

To make the batter for the Taiyaki, first sift the cake flour, shiratamako, baking powder, and baking soda together using a wire strainer, fine-mesh sieve, or sifter into a medium bowl. This prevents the batter from getting lumpy. Next, you want to heat the milk, butter, honey, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl in a microwave oven until the milk is warm enough to melt the butter partially. This took about 50 seconds at 600 watts in my microwave. You can also do this in a pan over medium-low heat. Just be careful not to let the mixture boil. Then, you can whisk the mixture together until the butter has fully dissolved. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk the Taiyaki batter together until it has a smooth consistency and is free of lumps.

How to Make Taiyaki

To make taiyaki, you’ll need a special pan and a gas stove. If you don’t have one, you can order the pan I used to make this recipe on my online kitchen tool store. The first thing you’ll want to do is roll a paper towel into a ball and soak it in two teaspoons of vegetable oil. You want the oil to soak thoroughly into the paper so it doesn’t leave trails of oil in the pan. Heat both sides of the Taiyaki pan to about 285°F (140°C) with the heat as low as your stove will go. Grease the mold’s interior surfaces using the vegetable oil-soaked paper towel. You want to get into all the nooks and crannies but don’t leave any oil bubbles behind in the pan, or your Taiyaki won’t brown evenly. Add a tablespoon of batter to the two sides of the bottom half of the mold. Then, use a heat-safe pastry brush to move the batter into the tail and fins and up the sides of the fish. Once the batter is no longer runny, turn the pan so the top half is over the heat and repeat with another tablespoon of batter on each side. Add a mounded tablespoon of anko into the middle of each Taiyaki and use a spoon to spread it out, leaving at least a ½-inch border on all sides. Cover the anko with another tablespoon of batter. Use the brush to spread it right to the edges of the fish on all sides. Close and lock the mold and then flip it over. Cook this side for 2 minutes. When the timer is up, flip the pan over again and cook for another 2 minutes. When the timer is up, open the pan to check the color of the Taiyaki. If it needs more browning, let it brown for longer on the side that needs it. Use a toothpick or skewer to release the Taiyaki from the pan, let it cool on a wire rack for a few moments, and serve it hot.