Recipe: Vegan Taiyaki Pancakes

They may look like pancakes, but these are stuffed with
red bean paste.

Earlier this year, I posted about making vegan anpan, delicious rolls filled with red bean paste. Well, I made way too much red bean paste, and I needed to find a way to use it up. I remembered another tasty Japanese recipe I'd tried in my "pregan" (pre-vegan) days, for something called Taiyaki. Taiyaki are essentially light cakes with filling, and I searched far and wide for a vegan recipe and came up empty-handed. After much debate, including whether or not to fork over the $40 and get a legitimate taiyaki pan (fish-shaped mold), I decided just to try a recipe in my usual pan, using my favorite pancake batter. They were actually rather tasty, if not quite as pretty as the molded version.

Recipes:

• Vegan anpan filling recipe (I used about 2 tbsp per cake)
• Your favorite vegan pancake recipe (I love the one from the Joy of Vegan Baking)

Instructions:

1. Pour out a pancake onto a heated pan.  Let cook for about 1 minute.
2. Add about 2 tbsp of bean paste or other filling.
3. When bubbles start to show in the pancake batter, pour another pancake out in the pan.
4. Flip the pancake over, trying to align it as closely as possible on top of the new pancake.

Notes:

• The method above may not be the prettiest, but it gives a similar texture and taste to taiyaki. If you enjoy them, an actual taiyaki pan will yield better results.
• Instructions will vary if you plan to use an actual taiyaki pan. For help using a taiyaki pan, there are plenty of tutorials such as this one and this one (but you will have to adapt the recipes if you want to make them vegan).
• If you have leftover bean paste, consider using it as an ice cream topping, on crepes, or even on top of oatmeal.

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