Dorayaki and Anko: The Red Bean Paste Behind Japan's Favorite Pancake

Two soft, golden pancakes, a generous layer of dark red paste between them, and a cup of green tea alongside: that is dorayaki, one of the most recognizable sweets in Japan. It is a snack for children after school, a gift box at the office, and, for millions of fans around the world, the favorite food of a blue robotic cat from the future.

Inside nearly every dorayaki is anko, the sweet red bean paste that anchors Japanese confectionery. This guide explains what anko is, how it is made and varied, where dorayaki comes from and how the Doraemon connection fits in, and how to find and enjoy these sweets on a trip to Japan.

What Is Anko?

Anko is a paste made from azuki beans, small red beans that have been grown in East Asia for centuries. The beans are boiled until soft, then sweetened with sugar and mashed or sieved to the desired texture. The result is dense, earthy and gently sweet, with a flavor that is hard to compare to anything in Western baking. In Japanese, the word an can refer to any sweet paste, while azukian means red bean paste in particular.

The color red has long carried a festive meaning in Japan, and azuki beans have traditionally appeared in celebrations. Sekihan, rice steamed with azuki to turn it pink, is served on happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings. In sweets, anko works as both a flavor and a texture, a smooth or chunky counterpoint to soft rice cakes, crisp wafers and fluffy pancakes.

Types of Red Bean Paste

Anko comes in several styles. Tsubuan keeps the beans whole or mostly intact, giving a rustic texture and a visible bean skin. Koshian is made by passing the cooked beans through a sieve to remove the skins, producing a smooth, silky paste. Tsubushian lies in the middle, with beans mashed but not strained. Ogura-an, a blend of koshian and whole beans, is named after Mount Ogura in Kyoto.

Which type is better is a matter of personal taste, and fans have strong opinions. Smooth koshian tends to appear in more refined confections, while tsubuan shows up in homestyle sweets. Some shops offer both versions of the same item so you can compare. There are also white bean pastes, used in elegant seasonal sweets, and chestnut pastes that join anko in autumn treats.

Anko in Wagashi

Wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionery) relies on anko for much of its charm. Daifuku is soft mochi (pounded rice cake) wrapped around a ball of paste, sometimes with a strawberry hidden inside in spring. Monaka sandwiches anko between two crisp wafers made of rice. Ohagi and botamochi are rice balls coated in paste, associated with the equinox seasons. Yokan is a firm block of sweetened paste set with agar, cut into slices and enjoyed with tea.

The history of these sweets is closely tied to tea. Monks brought tea culture back from China in the Kamakura period (1185 to 1333), and small sweets became a natural companion. As the tea ceremony developed, so did refined confections, including nerikiri, an elegant sweet molded from white bean paste into flowers and leaves that follow the seasons. Over time sugar became easier to obtain in the Edo period (1603 to 1868), and sweet pastes became ever more popular.

The Story of Dorayaki

Dorayaki consists of two small patties made from a castella-style batter, a sponge-like mixture of eggs, sugar and flour, sandwiched around anko. The name comes from dora, the Japanese word for a gong. One legend says the samurai Benkei left a gong at a farmer's home, and the farmer used it as a griddle to cook the pancakes. Another story says a Kyoto confectioner first made them at the request of a temple. Neither is firmly documented, but both are charming.

The modern shape is generally credited to Usagiya, a confectionery in Tokyo's Ueno district, which began making the two-layer version in 1914. In the Kansai region, the sweet is often called mikasa, because its round form resembles the moon over Mount Mikasa, a place mentioned in a famous poem by the courtier Abe no Nakamaro in the Hyakunin Isshu, a classical anthology.

How Dorayaki Is Made

The batter is mixed from eggs, sugar, flour and often honey, left to rest briefly, and then poured onto a hot, lightly oiled griddle in small circles. Cooks wait for tiny bubbles to appear, flip the cakes, and brown the second side lightly so that the surface stays smooth and even. The cakes are cooled and then paired with a scoop of paste.

The best dorayaki have a soft, springy crumb that is moist but not wet, a gently sweet flavor from honey, and a flat, evenly colored top. Seasonal variations include chestnut anko in autumn and, increasingly, fillings like custard cream, whipped cream and fruit. Dorayaki is usually served at room temperature, and it keeps for only a short time and is best eaten soon after it is made.

Anko Beyond Traditional Sweets

Red bean paste has crossed into other food categories too. Anpan, a soft sweet bun filled with anko, was created in the Meiji era by Yasubei Kimura, a former samurai who opened a bakery that became Kimuraya in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1874. He adapted bread to Japanese tastes by making a softer dough filled with sweet bean paste, and in April 1875 the buns were presented to Emperor Meiji, topped with a salt-pickled cherry blossom. The bakery's anpan is still a familiar sight in Japan.

Today anko turns up in many forms: in taiyaki and imagawayaki, in shaved ice with a scoop of paste, in warm oshiruko or zenzai (sweet red bean soup with small rice cakes) served in winter, and in ice cream and cakes. Its flavor, mellow and sweet with a slight saltiness, also pairs well with butter, cheese and cream in modern cafe creations.

The Doraemon Connection

Dorayaki is the favorite food of Doraemon, the robot cat from the manga and anime series created by Fujiko F. Fujio, which first appeared in 1969. In the story, Doraemon is the one character who falls for any trick involving a plate of dorayaki, and the snack appears regularly in episodes. The connection helped make the sweet an icon of Japanese popular culture and a beloved item for children and families.

Many bakeries and souvenir shops now sell dorayaki decorated with Doraemon's face or packaged in Doraemon boxes, though the character does not change the basic recipe. The link also shows how deeply sweets are woven into storytelling in Japan. For an adult audience, the 2015 film Sweet Bean (called An in Japanese) by director Naomi Kawase, based on a novel by Durian Sukegawa, follows an elderly woman who teaches a dorayaki shop owner her secret recipe for red bean paste.

Plan Your Visit

Dorayaki is easy to find. Look in wagashi shops, department store food halls (depachika), station shops and convenience stores, where a packaged version is a handy snack. For a special treat, visit a shop that makes its own anko. Tokyo's Ueno area, long associated with the sweet, is a good place to start.

Prices and hours differ, so check shops' official pages. Many wagashi shops close one day a week and sell out early. If you are buying as a gift, ask for a box, and tell the staff how long you plan to keep it, since the shelf life is short. Allergens include egg and wheat. Pair your sweet with sencha (green tea) or hojicha (roasted tea), and savor it slowly, as the Japanese tradition suggests.