637875 Mon Jul 20 04:00:04 -0700 2009 43 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 4873230 I recently purchased a pancake mix from an asian supermarket because the photo on the box looked so much...cuter than any I've ever come across. Each pancake really looked like....well, a mini cake. (photo attached below - or go to this link: http://www.japancentre.com/images/items/250px/DE_OT_pancakemix.jpg) Now, I've had pancakes in diners, in homes, and made them myself from scratch. I've tried various mixes available in supermarkets. They generally taste the same to me...a little bland without syrup, and sometime a little too dense or even dry. The thing is, I've always been pretty indifferent to this breakfast food (I eat it mostly for the syrup), but it's so simple to make that it's something I've always had on a regular basis for sudden hunger emergencies. Last night, I opened the japanese pancake mix and stirred up a batch - I didn't have milk, so i used water instead and the last egg I had in the fridge. I used a swipe of butter to grease the pan, as per usual. Okay, chowhounds, this is where you come in: Can you please explain how, HOW in the world this particular pancake mix (brand: Morinaga) produced the most magically delicious batch of pancakes I have EVER encountered in my 22 years of pancake eating? That photo, which i thought to be photoshopped or something for marketing purposes, is EXACTLY how the pancakes came out. THAT thick, and yet not disgustingly dense like many diner pancakes I've had. The texture was smooth and the flavor was a bit sweeter than most mixes. Does it have to do with Morinaga itself as a company? Do they make particularly sweet, fluffy, and fabulous mixes than Bisquick or Aunt Jemima or something? Is there ground hello kitty in there for extra awesome?? WHAT IS IT? I'm almost afraid to use the milk that the mix calls for....if it's any tastier than the batch I made last night, I fear I will lose control and eat pancakes day in and day out for the next month. Mon Jul 20 04:00:06 -0700 2009 1095091 tokoyoko 1 4873541 Look at the ingredients on the box. I'll bet there's Rice Flour in there, which would make them nice & fluffy and not dense.. Perhaps other non-wheat flours as well - soy flour comes to mind. Mon Jul 20 07:10:43 -0700 2009 4873230 225234 KiltedCook 2 4874191 of course! you might be right - asian products tend to alter little things like that to suit the asian palate. i wish i could read the ingredients ;____; it's in japanese!!! Mon Jul 20 10:31:05 -0700 2009 4873541 1095091 tokoyoko 3 4874297 What about the directions? Were they in Japanese also? Mon Jul 20 10:59:25 -0700 2009 4874191 11389 Plano Rose 4 4874785 that they were! but luckily, i was able to find someone who scanned the backof the bag (with its elaborate instructions) and translated it for the sake of humour. http://altjapan.typepad.com/photos/test/moripankeeki.jpg that gave me the needed info ;) Mon Jul 20 13:09:07 -0700 2009 4874297 1095091 tokoyoko 5 4877335 This is wonderful, so cute!!! Tue Jul 21 09:49:03 -0700 2009 4874785 13709 buttertart 5 4878977 "and translated it for the sake of humour." Did you mean the saké of humour? ;) adam Tue Jul 21 18:07:56 -0700 2009 4874785 154787 adamshoe 6 4879123 oooooooooohhhhh the puniness of it all! Tue Jul 21 19:04:28 -0700 2009 4878977 1095091 tokoyoko 5 4886379 "Don't tell mommy and daddy" "Slit the pancake mix's throat" "The pan demands sacrifice" "Press it's face into the hot skillet" A wee bit too sneaky, barbaric, and S&M for my table....thank you very much! Step #3 doesn't make any sense at all...to me. I must be out of touch with my japanese comic humor. Fri Jul 24 04:39:32 -0700 2009 4874785 284940 kkjensen 1 4873730 Wow - thanks for posting this - I LOVE pancakes and will have to seek these out! Cheers Mon Jul 20 08:15:32 -0700 2009 4873230 174753 NellyNel 2 4873820 Thanks you! I'll be looking for these! Mon Jul 20 08:37:50 -0700 2009 4873730 256479 Cloudjuice 1 4878168 nice share! hope it's sold near me. idea for your new crackcake addiction, I usually add a few drops of vanilla and a bit less drops of lemon juice in my pancakes, very tasty Tue Jul 21 13:29:41 -0700 2009 4873230 1094054 foodlvrzen 2 4879128 vanilla! brilliant :) i'll try this next time. Tue Jul 21 19:05:40 -0700 2009 4878168 1095091 tokoyoko 3 4882727 I see your vanilla and raise you maple extract. That's right. I put maple extract in my pancakes! The good stuff, Cook's Pure Maple Flavor Extract, not the artificially flavored stuff. I also whip the egg whites separately until stiff peaks form and use cake flour, but that's another story. Wed Jul 22 19:42:57 -0700 2009 4879128 10936 kathryn 4 4884283 I was about to say, whipped egg whites and a full Tbs. of fresh baking powder has the same effect for me when making from scratch. I find the bellicose package instructions amusing - "slaughter eggs, slit the throat of the bag, hail the new flesh." I guess old Samurai never die. They just reincarnate as Mutant Ninja Hello Kiddie Pancake Flipping Chefs. Thu Jul 23 11:00:38 -0700 2009 4882727 138009 Chefpaulo 5 4884347 chuckle...nice Chefp; brilliant packaging, need a whole line of those kathryn, do you live in Vegas near me? well as charlie daniels said, "I'll take that bet and you're gonna regret..." ok now, I have to try your secret recipe and compare...but don't get all bumptious, already love maple from doing the maple sap harvesting, yep, along with candle making (gah!) as a youngster in the northeast mmm mmm Vermont maple Thu Jul 23 11:20:24 -0700 2009 4884283 1094054 foodlvrzen 6 4884557 I live in NYC! Definitely try it and report back. :) Thu Jul 23 12:13:11 -0700 2009 4884347 10936 kathryn 5 4907505 Sounds like the brand should be "Morituri", not Morinaga! Fri Jul 31 15:14:21 -0700 2009 4884283 159317 greygarious 6 4913234 Te salutamo. Mon Aug 03 09:51:25 -0700 2009 4907505 13709 buttertart 1 4878336 Interesting. I'm going to have to look for them. If anyone can read Japanese, he/she might be able to help: http://www.globalpackagegallery.com/main.php/v/food/breakfast/pancakemix/back.jpg.html But, look at cute this is: http://pancakedays.jp/index.html Tue Jul 21 14:14:13 -0700 2009 4873230 39874 chowser 2 4879129 only in japan can you find household object magically transformed into useful advice-giving pals! Tue Jul 21 19:06:19 -0700 2009 4878336 1095091 tokoyoko 3 4879647 bet there is ground hello kitty too :-p Tue Jul 21 23:34:34 -0700 2009 4879129 1094054 foodlvrzen 2 4892349 Those pancakedays butter pats are terminally cutie and very, very happy.. Sun Jul 26 16:55:04 -0700 2009 4878336 110426 Boccone Dolce 1 4886362 Ok. I'm a native Japanese and am a food writer and a baker in NY. I just looked at the label. There is no rice flour. There are many ingredients you can't get here. In fact, there are some chemical ingredients the might make fluffy. However, I've eaten this what we call hot cake(We don't call this pancake.), in my opinion, is not the fluffiest pancake ever. Pancakes are not that great in Japan. Fri Jul 24 04:22:28 -0700 2009 4873230 258599 thebirdie 2 4892286 true...the japanese don't use the word pancake - but hotcake, flapjack, pancakes all tend to mean the same thing. Sun Jul 26 16:26:34 -0700 2009 4886362 1095091 tokoyoko 1 4886367 MMMMMMM pancake talk! I agree with chefpaulo re: whipped egg whites/baking powder for from scratch pancakes, but I sure would love to try these with medium to dark amber pure maple syrup of course. Fri Jul 24 04:28:13 -0700 2009 4873230 1082166 jackie2830 1 4890007 I wish I had seen this thread last week when I tried to make them using my limited knowledge of the Japanese language. I managed to decipher most of the process up until step where you put the hot pan on a towel for some reason, and then the last step confused me too. Any tips? PS the hot cakes were tasty, but not perfectly round because the batter wound up really dense for some reason and didn't really pour all that well. maybe i need one of those fancy gravy spoons. PPS The syrup that comes in the box is so tasty its like the semen of Zeus. I dont think theres anything that wouldnt be enhanced by a drizzle of this sacred elixir. Sat Jul 25 12:46:18 -0700 2009 4873230 283555 TDFlynn 2 4890199 Greetings all, I'm now the proud owner of this mix. As soon as I figure the equivalent of 100CC of milk, into ounces, I'm good to go! Admittedly I am obsessing over the hot pan on a wet towel, and then cooking on a lower flame direction. The Japanese grocer tried to explain this to me. Has anyone ever had success just making the mix, and dolloping the batter onto a moderately hot electric griddle??? Any help would be welcome. Have a great weekend Cheers, Jeff Sat Jul 25 14:42:42 -0700 2009 4890007 11598 JeffW 3 4890206 JeffW - 30 cc = 1 oz. [retired nurse] it should be on a Pyrex glass measuring cup TDFlynn - don't worry about the thickness of the batter. I make the very famous Clinton St. Bakery pancakes & you could turn the spoon upside down almost without losing a drop.....but they are the lightest pancakes in the world. BTW.......semen of Zeus????? Sure isn't NYS pure maple! Sat Jul 25 14:49:28 -0700 2009 4890199 1082166 jackie2830 4 4890593 Hee, hee---I giggled too regarding semen of Zeus! Actually quite clever. Thanks for the "CC" conversion. The package calls for 100 CC....difficult to imagine a mere 3 1/3 oz of milk for the 150 g. packet of mix----but if you say that the thick batter will still yield a light pancake, I'm game to give it a try. Thinking that I should have some donuts as "backup", should the Morinaga experiment fail :) Cheers and thanx, Jeff Sat Jul 25 18:27:35 -0700 2009 4890206 11598 JeffW 2 4891213 Semen of Zeus is my nominee for best CH food description of the month, perhaps the year. Sun Jul 26 07:05:58 -0700 2009 4890007 13709 buttertart 3 4891275 Yep, admittedly I'll probably borrow this "term of endearment" when I describe foods as well. Sun Jul 26 07:39:27 -0700 2009 4891213 11598 JeffW 4 4905680 My husband did a chuckle as well on the Zeus "term of endearment'.........must be a guy thing.........not sure most females would use that metaphor to describe something that's yummy. Fri Jul 31 04:29:09 -0700 2009 4891275 1082166 jackie2830 5 4906480 I (F of course) might not use it myself, but it's a great turn of phrase. Fri Jul 31 09:46:54 -0700 2009 4905680 13709 buttertart 6 4910291 Agreed ;) Sun Aug 02 06:11:34 -0700 2009 4906480 1082166 jackie2830 1 4890758 There is actually a cool video showing how to make the pancakes(its in Japanese). http://www.morinaga.co.jp/hotcake/ When you get to the site just click on the area that says click and your windows media player will pop up and a cool video detailing on how to make the pancakes will pop up. Sat Jul 25 20:10:22 -0700 2009 4873230 186444 mnms710 2 4891271 Nice tip, mnms710 ! Still not sure what the "wet towel" aspect is all about though. In the video, they show a couple of the pancakes which had risen VERY high, right next to a couple that were thin, and if I understood Japanese, well I guess I would be able to see what made them so different. In any event, I'm going to use my electric Farberware griddle at a slightly lower temp than my usual 350º setting that I use for pancakes, and hope for the best. Cheers, Jeff Sun Jul 26 07:38:24 -0700 2009 4890758 11598 JeffW 1 4906164 Oh my gosh I have to find these. What was the name of the store you went to? Takat Writing away about my latest 3 week adventure through China at http://katacomb.blogspot.com Fri Jul 31 08:17:37 -0700 2009 4873230 1098138 Takat 1 4911505 these are the pancakes i grew up with. my mom would rarely let us have them as she said they didn't have anything good in them. imagine the disappointment I encountered when I moved to the states and had US pancakes. you can also make doughnuts with the mix. Sun Aug 02 16:19:24 -0700 2009 4873230 17438 trolley 2 4917880 trolley, check this out..........http://altjapan.typepad.com/photos/te........it's some homeland humor especially for you from some real U.S. pancake lovers! Tue Aug 04 17:46:05 -0700 2009 4911505 1082166 jackie2830 3 4918121 link broken Tue Aug 04 19:08:38 -0700 2009 4917880 159317 greygarious 1 5144823 I found a box of this at Hmart in Burlington and decided to try them based on this thread that I had read before. I looked at all the links and I agree - not sure what the deal is with the wet towel and the pan then returning to the stove, I suspect it is the Japanese way of testing if things are the right temp. After a couple of trial runs I figured that with my gas stove on med low flame and 3/4 cup batter in a nonstick pan, flip once then cover the pan with a lid (not smash the face of the pancake like the humor link) yielded a very, very high light and fluffy pancake. Almost unnaturally so. No one has posted what is supposedly in these so on my box there was an english translation of ingredients that were as follows: wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, wheat starch, salt, corn syrup, baking powder, (corn starch, calcium sulfate, calcium acid sulfate) as emulsifier (soybean origin), sodium caseinate, artificial flavor, riboflavin. That is verbatim. There are also packets of syrup that amount to glucose/sugar/cornsyrup and caramel coloring that I didn't try. These are very weird but very delicious and I've decided I don't know what magic/chemicals make them this way but I want more! Sat Oct 31 07:14:23 -0700 2009 4873230 1099849 kayowinter 2 5146373 Japanese food processors are remarkably skillful at doing these kind of products. What they are particularly good at is making products like this come out perfectly under a wide range of preparation conditions. That said, try something like Bisquick and see how it compares with Morinaga. Sun Nov 01 05:03:22 -0800 2009 5144823 11938 Tripeler 3 5147075 growing up Bisquick was my mom's go to for pancakes - Morinaga is nothing like a Bisquick 'cake. The irony is...my mom is japanese! Sun Nov 01 11:34:27 -0800 2009 5146373 1099849 kayowinter