Wakaayu: Sweet Fish

Ayuyaki, also known as wakaayu, are sweets similar to dorayaki, but they contain gyuhi, a sweet glutinous rice paste, instead of azuki bean jam. This sweet treat is used in Japanese poetry to celebrate the arrival of summer; in fact, ayu is the name for adult fish, and waka-ayu means young ayu.

Let's put on our pastry chef uniforms and... let's cook!

What do you need?

Ingredients:

o 100g of soft wheat flour

o 50g of sugar

o 2 eggs

o 1 tablespoon mirin

o 1 tablespoon of honey

o 1/3 teaspoon baking soda

o gyuhi (sweet glutinous rice noodles)

Preparation

Now that all the ingredients are ready, let's see how to prepare ayuyaki

1. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add sugar, mirin and mix well.

2. Add the flour and baking soda and mix until the dough is smooth, then let it rest for half an hour.

Flour

Bicarbonate

3. We cut the gyuhi (sweet glutinous rice pastry) into thin, long strips

4. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and once hot, lower the heat and grease the pan with a drizzle of oil and a piece of kitchen paper.

5. We mix the dough adding a little water to make it softer

6. Using a spoon, pour the batter into the hot pan, forming an oval about 10x8cm. Cook over low heat until bubbles appear. Then, turn the batter over with a thin spatula and continue cooking for another 20-30 seconds, then turn it over again.

7. Place a small piece of gyuhi paste on the dough, fold the pancake in half, matching the edges, and press gently with the spatula to make it stick.

8. We remove our little fish from the pan and repeat the procedure until we finish the dough.

9. Using a heated metal skewer or a fork, draw the face, fins and tail on the cake one by one, to make it look like a little fish.

Here are our sweet treats ready for you to enjoy with friends and a nice cup of hot tea.