Taiyaki is a popular Japanese sweet dessert that typically consists of a sea bream-shaped jaffle made from pancake or waffle batter. It is usually filled with red bean paste, although many other sweet fillings are also popular.
Taiyaki is a popular Japanese sweet dessert that typically consists of a sea bream-shaped jaffle made from pancake or waffle batter. It is usually filled with red bean paste, although many other sweet fillings are also popular.
Taiyaki originated in Tokyo in the early 1900s. As with many Japanese dishes, the “yaki” in its name means “to grill.” It is cooked in a fish-shaped waffle iron: the batter is poured in first, followed by the filling, and then the iron is closed to grill the taiyaki and seal in its tasty centre. The “tai” part of the name comes from the Japanese word for sea bream. Sea bream are considered a symbol of good fortune in Japan—hence the reason for wanting a dessert shaped like a fish.
The dish is likely derived from Imagawayaki, a similar dessert dating back to the late 1700s. Imagawayaki uses a comparable batter and red bean paste filling, but it is round in shape. The red bean paste, made from sweetened azuki beans, remains the traditional filling in taiyaki.
As taiyaki grew in popularity, shops began to pop up all over Japan. These days, fillings range from sweet flavours like chocolate, custard, or apple, to savoury ones like Italian, German potato and bacon, or even cheeseburger.
Taiyaki waffle irons are available in kitchenware districts such as Osaka’s Doguya-suji and Tokyo’s Kappabashi-dori. If you want to try taiyaki outside of Japan, check your local Asian supermarket—you might find the Korean version: fish-shaped ice cream based on bungeoppang. Bungeoppang was introduced to Korea during the 1930s Japanese occupation and was directly inspired by taiyaki.
