I adore Japanese hotcakes (Japanese style pancakes).  They are sweeter and fluffier than the regular American style pancakes I grew up on.  In Japan there is an uber popular hotcake mix made by Morinaga that makes perfect fluffy hotcakes every time, and seems to be the way most people in Japan make hotcakes at home.  There are even lots of books that use hotcake mix as an ingredient.  When we moved back to the US, after living in Japan, I searched for a recipe for hotcakes so that I could make them from scratch, trying many over the years, but always being disappointed.  Then a couple of years ago my friend Noriko sent me her recipe for hotcakes, thereby ending my hunt for the perfect hotcake recipe.  The recipe is perfect.  I’ve fiddled with techniques since she sent me the recipe and have finally settled on my favorite.

Japanese Hotcakes (ホットケーキ)

Adapted from my friend Noriko’s recipe

*Recipe Notes: The best way to make the batter for these hotcakes is by using a kitchen scale.  I’ve experimented with using cup measurements, and I’ve had very mixed results, since the weight of a cup of flour, for example, can be drastically different depending on how you measure it.  If you stick the measuring cup into your flour bin and scoop out your flour, your going to end up with a lot more flour in that cup than if you were to spoon your flour into the cup.  The weight measurement helps reduce the margin of error.

Please continue to Next Page (>) for the full list of ingredients and complete cooking instructions.