Recently, it came to my attention that there was a pancake trick making the rounds on Japanese Twitter. The secret to airier, fluffier, cakier pancakes? Mayo.
Weird, I know. But who am I to scoff? Rather, who are you to scoff? Who are any of us to scoff? So once I finished scoffing, I set out to give this recipe a try, following a translation of the original tweet.
According to SoraNews24, an online Japanese content aggregate, the recipe reads:
First mix one egg, 150 milliliters (2/3 cup) of carbonated water, and two tablespoons of mayonnaise together in a pot.
Add 150 grams of pancake mix, stir lightly, and heat over a low flame (option to add blueberries at this point).
Cook for about three minutes, flip, cook for about two more minutes on the other side, and you’re done.
Add butter, syrup, jam, or whatever toppings you’d like, and enjoy! The mayonnaise makes the pancakes fluffier, thicker, and juicier.
Sounds easy, right? Sure enough, it was. I ran out to the store for a can of seltzer and threw together all my mis-en-place. I assumed the original recipe called for Kewpie mayonnaise, but I opted for what I had at home instead: Hellmann's. I don’t own any pancake mix so I used a cup of flour and a teaspoon of baking soda in its place and threw in a half cup of sugar and a pinch of salt for good measure. Twitter users were using rice cookers to achieve these towering cakes, but I poured the whole bowl of batter into small pan, figuring the effect would be something similar.
The results were surprising. And by surprising, I mean it worked! What I pulled out of my pan was a spongy pancake about an inch in height. I transferred it to a plate, cut myself a slice, and drizzled some syrup over the top. I have to say, I liked the taste. It was a little tart (probably due to either the mayo or the seltzer?), but not too dense. The pancake took well to the syrup, absorbing its sweetness. I think, ultimately, the recipe is a good one, particularly for sharing—not to mention the potential for add-ins. Personally, I’d line the middle with slices of persimmons… but that’s just me.
Would you give this recipe a whirl? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Written by: Valerio Farris
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52 Comments
As for the seltzer, I have made pancakes with lemon-lime soda and they were lovely and light. This is due to the carbonation of course. In vegan baking you can add seltzer or soda instead of eggs along with the baking powder/baking soda to help it rise.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-tasting-kewpie-made-in-usa-mayo-20170609-story.html
Or maybe I'm the only one that thought this looked good? Maybe because I don't actually like real pancakes... I will admit though, the photo in my email was a little misleading to what the recipe outcome actually looks like. We use seltzer in our fish and chips batter for fluffiness too, but I honestly never heard about adding it to pancakes (probably once again because I'm not a big pancake fan). I'm adding it to the try list (although I'm getting kewpie mayo for sure)!
That aside, you actually added 1 cup of sugar to such a small amount of ingredients?
Wow
Right now pancakes are really popular in Japan. I mean they always have been popular, we have pancake mix boxes in the supermarkets. But there are a couple of coffee shops that make really thick pancakes the take over an hour to cook. So I think people are trying to re-create these things.
The box cake culture has never taken off here. They make too much cake for the average household. When Japanese housewives make a cake, they want the size to be something that they can serve their family and that they will generally eat up completely in one setting. They DON’T want leftovers. So a very small cake is what they want to make.
;-)
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