If you’re fed up with crêpes (is that even possible?), here’s a new and somewhat surprising pancake recipe: they’re called “fluffy pancakes” or “Japanese pancakes” (their real name being “Hottokēki” in Japanese).
Their texture is very different from our traditional pancakes; they’re very thick but very airy, and sit halfway between a soufflé and a pancake. But you’ll need to be very patient to make them.
I found this recipe on the blog of Manon Suene Pradier.
How do you make Japanese pancakes?
Here we find the usual ingredients for making pancakes: eggs, milk, flour, baking powder and sugar. But in this Japanese pancake recipe, we separate the whites from the yolks. The yolks are mixed with the sugar, baking powder and salt, then the flour and milk. The whites (4 whites, whereas only 2 yolks are used) are whisked until stiff and then gently folded into the batter.
The cooking is also different, since these Japanese pancakes need to be cooked over a low heat and covered with a lid (or something else).
Why do you need to be patient?
I was telling you that the texture of the Japanese pancake is really very different from our traditional pancake. But there’s another big difference, and that’s the cooking. Don’t make this recipe if you want to eat pancakes within the next 15 minutes! The batter is quick to make, but here it’s a slow cook over a low heat, and it took me about 15 minutes to cook one pancake.
Well, rest assured, I didn’t cook them one at a time (otherwise I’d still be at it!). I used my crêpe pan and cooked them 3 at a time (I could perhaps have fitted 4). Even so, let’s be honest, I found it long… With this recipe, you can make about 12 pancakes. If you do the maths, at 3 pancakes per batch and 15 minutes of cooking, you need to allow 1h in total.
That said, I don’t regret discovering this recipe; it’s worth trying, but it’s true that it’s not the recipe I’ll be making every Sunday 😉
Ingredients & Method
2 components · Full recipe
Pancake batter
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 100 ml (3.4 fl oz) whole milk
- 130 g (4.6 oz) flour
- 40 g (1.4 oz) sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 sachet vanilla sugar)
- a pinch of salt
Method
1
In a bowl, combine 2 egg yolks with the sugar, vanilla extract (or vanilla sugar), baking powder and salt.
2
Whisk until the mixture becomes foamy.
3
Add the flour, then the milk, and whisk again until you have a smooth batter.
4
Whip all 4 egg whites to stiff peaks using a hand mixer.
5
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, being careful not to deflate them.
Cooking
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Prepare the rings or cutters by greasing them and cutting a strip of baking paper to line the inside of each ring (the strip can be taller than the ring).
2
Heat a non-stick pan over low to medium heat. Grease with a little oil if needed.
3
Pour the pancake batter to a height of about 2 cm (be careful not to overfill, as they will double in volume).
4
Drop a few drops of water around the rings to create steam, then cover with a lid (repeat during cooking).
5
Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Once the batter is no longer liquid on top, remove the ring carefully (watch out for burns) and flip the pancakes.
6
Continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.
7
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
8
Prepare the rings or cutters by greasing them and cutting a strip of baking paper to line the inside (the strip can be taller than the ring).
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