Taiyaki - Japanese Fish Shape Pancake

In my last post, I mentioned that I bought a number of baking/cooking stuff from Tokyo. I couldn't wait to try them out and was surfing around for recipes to try. As last weekend was a long weekend in Singapore with the Hari Raya Haji festival, I got a chance to try out the Taiyaki pan when my friend, B dropped by on Sunday. I got the recipe from here and decided to make both red bean and cream cheese versions.

B is new at baking and cooking. Last Sunday I decided to let her try making a few recipes on her own, I only gave her some guidance by the side. We made Taiyaki, Sushi and Carrot Cake. B felt very accomplished by end of Sunday afternoon as the 3 items come out successful. Here are the pictures from our fruitful Sunday:

Taiyaki (8-10 pieces)

150g Cake flour
2/3 tbsp baking powder
1 egg (beaten)
180ml milk
40g sugar
1 can Japanese red bean (available from NTUC Finest) or Cowhead cream cheese
1 tbsp cooking oil (to grease the Taiyaki pan)

1) Sieve the cake flour and baking powder together
2) Add in the sugar and mix well
3) Add in beaten egg and milk and mix well
4) Transfer the batter into a measuring cup or jug
5) Heat the Taiyaki pan over the stove on low fire

5) Brush cooking oil over both sides of the pan
6) Fill half the mould with batter
7) Add in 1 tsp of red bean or 1/2 cream cheese wedge

8) Cover the filling and the mould with batter
9) Close the pan and cook on low heat. Flip the pan over after 2-3 minutes until both sides are golden brown.
10) Remove from Taiyaki pan with a wooden skewer

B and I like the Taiyaki very much and ate 2 each!  I brought them to my parents' place and they were well received by my father and bro-in-law. Another friend's daughter finished 3 of the Taiyaki in a day!

How do you like my pretty plates from Tokyo? When I posted photos of the Taiyaki on FB, a friend messaged me to ask how many of the plates I lugged back from Japan? I got them from a shop in Tsukiji Fish Market. Wanted to buy more but I managed to control myself :P