Taiyaki
Fish-shaped Japanese cakes of sweet batter cooked for 20 minutes in a hot mould and filled with melted chocolate or red bean paste.
Photograph credit: Taiyaki 003 by Ocdp · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Don't Make These Mistakes
Fill each cavity only two thirds so the batter does not overflow.
Keep the heat medium-low so the inside cooks before the outside colours.
Sweet red bean paste is the classic filling; use about 150 g in place of the chocolate.
Eat warm; the crisp outside softens as it cools.
How to Make Taiyaki
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Whisk the flour, baking powder and sugar. Whisk in the egg and milk to a smooth batter.
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Heat a taiyaki mould over a medium-low heat and brush both sides with oil.
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Fill each fish cavity two thirds with batter, add a few pieces of chocolate, and cover with a little more batter.
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Close the mould and cook for 3 minutes. Flip and cook for 3 minutes more until golden on both sides. Repeat to make 6.
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Lift out with chopsticks and eat warm.
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Why the Method Works
Fill the mould only two thirds full. That is the quick tip that matters, because the batter spreads and rises as it cooks, and an overfilled mould leaks batter, glues the fish together and gives a pale, soggy cake with the filling squashed to one side.
Taiyaki are fish-shaped batter cakes cooked in a double-sided iron mould, crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy within. The batter is a simple one of flour, baking powder, sugar, egg and milk, left thick enough to pour but not run. Oil the mould lightly each time so the cakes release cleanly. Patience with the heat helps.
Pour batter into one half of the hot mould, add a few pieces of chocolate, then cover with a little more batter and close the lid. Cook over a medium heat, flipping the mould halfway, until both sides are golden. Open carefully and lift the fish out with chopsticks. Eat warm, while the outside is crisp.
Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping
Best eaten warm. Keeps for 1 day; reheat in a hot oven for 5 minutes.
Good With
- Green tea
- Matcha
- Custard filling
- Vanilla ice cream
Taiyaki Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published .
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