Dorayaki

Dorayaki (, ドラ焼き, 銅鑼焼き) is a type of Japanese confection. It consists of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet azuki bean paste.

The original dorayaki consisted of only one layer. Its current shape was invented in 1914 by Usagiya in the Ueno district of Tokyo.

In Japanese, dora means "gong" and the name reflects that the original dorayaki was baked (yaki) on a heated gong, the Kyoto-based confectionery Sasaya Iori states, claiming they invented dorayaki at the request of Toji Temple. There is a rumor that it is probably the origin of the name of the sweet. Legend has it that the first dorayaki were made when a samurai named Benkei forgot his gong (dora) upon leaving a farmer's home where he was hiding, and the farmer subsequently used the gong to fry the pancakes.

Azuki bean paste is normally used by itself, but chestnuts and rice cakes are sometimes added. There are also dorayaki with amanatto.

Other varieties include pudding dorayaki, with pudding used instead of azuki bean paste; fruit dorayaki, a dorayaki that uses fruit as the main ingredient; and parfait dorayaki, a hearty dorayaki that looks as if a parfait had been placed inside the dorayaki.

In popular culture

The Japanese manga and anime character Doraemon from namesake series loves dorayaki and so it is depicted as his favorite food (in the English dub, Nobita calls it "yummy buns" as an alternative), and it has been a plot device several times throughout the series. Doraemon is addicted to dorayaki and falls for any trap involving them.

In 2015 filmmaker Naomi Kawase released the film "An" ("Sweet Bean"), based on a novel, Sweet Bean Paste, by Durian Sukegawa, about an elderly woman who has a secret recipe for dorayaki anko.