Dorayaki

You might not recognize the name, but you’ve probably seen dorayaki around — and you’ve definitely seen it if you’ve been to Uwajimaya before. Dorayaki is a Japanese sweet that’s red bean paste (“azuki”) sandwiched between two miniature honey pancakes. If you’re in the Kansai region of Japan by Osaka or Kyoto, you might also hear these treats referred to as “mikasa.”

According to popular lore, the name of this ubiquitous confection comes from the word “dora,” or gong. Legend has it, a samurai left his dora at a farmer’s house, and the farmer then used it to fry the pancakes on top of. Who knows if that really happened, but it’s a fun origin story to match a fun treat.

While the standard traditional dorayaki has sweet red bean paste in the middle, there are variations that replace that filling with custard, matcha, or something else.

Dorayaki is also known in Japanese pop culture to be the favorite snack of the anime and manga character Doraemon. This cute little guy’s love of dorayaki was known to get him in trouble, which was a frequent plot point of his cartoons.

If you’re feeling a sweet tooth, Uwajimaya has dorayaki alongside our other baked goods in our deli department.