[Anime Culture Monday] Anime Recipes: Fluffy Pancakes from Flying Witch

Most people will remember Flying Witch as that anime that you could watch and relax to. No really, this was the anime that was so calming, many an anime fan fell asleep or was ready to sleep after an episode due to how relaxing it was. Most may not remember, but Flying Witch actually produced a lot of different food dishes. Funny fact about Aomori, where the anime takes place, is that many people do not dine out. Rather, they tend to cook at home. This could be due to the brutally long winters in northern Japan, but regardless this is why we saw so many dishes in the series!

They had made many things such as seasoned ferns, and bakke tempura, which is another vegetable dish. Bakke is just tempura fried. Steak hamburg was featured, and then finally, hotcakes or pancakes as we know them!


Fluffy Pancakes from Flying Witch!

As westerners, at least those who are reading this who are not in the Americas, we tend to view pancakes as a breakfast food. Coupled with eggs, sausage, ham, hashbrowns, and more, we chow down on these covered in butter, maple syrup, or honey. Sometimes, maybe for dinner, when you are being lazy, let’s be honest here, you may have pancakes or chocolate chip pancakes, but traditionally, pancakes are consumed with breakfast. They can be plain, fruity, sweet, thin, thick, and the list of characteristics goes on and on. However, in Asia, and more specifically in Japan, they have taken on a unique set up. Much like how waffles, yes, another western breakfast food, are treated, pancakes are actually something that is not viewed as a meal or acceptable as a substitute for a meal. So then when and with what are they consumed?

Traditionally, pancakes, or hotcakes if you are that sort of person, are viewed as an afternoon snack. Or midmorning. Always with tea or coffee, pancakes are supposed to be light and fluffy with a nice dollop of butter on top. You have a small few, that’s right no plate sized ones, with a cup of tea or coffee to either hold you over for a slightly later lunch, or to chat with friends. Cafes and a certain coffee chain that everyone knows, sell pancakes all throughout the day in Japan and they tend to be marketed towards women. However, fear not men! Anyone can enjoy them and if someone tells you otherwise, they probably have poor taste. That is what we will be making today in this edition. Now, while you can simply cut corners and use pancake mix for much of the recipe, this will show you how to make it from scratch. Believe it or not too, it is rather simple. Let’s go!

Why not cut corners with a frying pan made for them or a mold? They are rather cheap.

What you will need:

All-purpose flour
190g

Milk
½ cup

Sugar
2 tbsp

Baking powder (~10g)
2 tsp

egg
1

yogurt
3 tbsp

Optional Notes:

This is not a complicated recipe. This will produce standard pancakes. You can feel free to add fruit such as bananas, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. Nuts, such as walnuts, also go well with this as long as they are finely chopped. Also, chocolate chips do well here. The kind of pancake you want to make is up to you as is the pouring. If you have an egg mold or a pan like the one above, you really have your work cut out for you! You can add vanilla extract as well if you would like!



How to Cook It:

  1. 1

    In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, egg and about ½ of the milk with a whisk. Once this has all been mixed in, add in your yogurt.
  2. 2

    For the yogurt try to go with plain yogurt that does not have too strong of an aroma. Greek yogurt works best to make sure that the batter sticks together and does not become too thin, but of course, you are free to use whatever you would like.
  3. 3

    With the remaining milk, add it in if you feel that you need more moisture. But add it in bit by bit. Otherwise you will flood the batter and need to add in more flour which is not fun as you play catch up.
  4. 4

    Next, heat up a frying pan on medium to high heat. You can do medium if you are not confident in your eyeballing skills for the heat.
  5. 5

    Put some nonstick oil or butter in to grease it up and then pour the batter either into your mold in the pan or directly into the pan.
  6. 6

    Cook until little bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Once they do, flip it and only cook it for about 30 seconds. Then it will be done!
  7. 7

    Repeat until the batter is gone.
  8. 8

    Dig in.

(Note: Steam can burn you. Be sure to be careful and not get hurt. Use oven mittens as you see if and NEVER grab the mug with your bare hands after you heat it up. )

Yum!

Final Thought

As you can see above, Japanese people really do love to go all out when it comes to their pancakes. Chocolate sauce, strawberries, preserves, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, butter, a flood of syrup, and more are what they put on their pancakes. Of course, you can put whatever you want on top but pancakes are delicious and now you have a totally legit, non-mealtime time that you can eat pancakes at. Invite your friends over. Have a pancake party. Start a food revolution. Or just, enjoy the food. The choice is yours. We hope you enjoyed this one and look forward to more in the near future!
Anime-Recipes-Fluffy-Pancakes-from-Flying-Witch-1-560x380 [Anime Culture Monday] Anime Recipes: Fluffy Pancakes from Flying Witch

Editor/Translator

Author: Nagareboshi

American by birth; international by choice. I am trying to bring attention to one of my favorite causes; me. I translate by day and write by night. Aspiring polyglot. My dream would be to be the personal translator for Amuro Namie. Other than that, my hobbies include languages, weightlifting, sleeping, karaoke, GOOD coffee and music. When I’m not doing any of the above, I am most likely laughing hysterically at Willam Belli videos or EV farming. I ain’t gunna Rupologize for it neither. Waifu are Shirai Kuroko & Euaerin.

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