Taiyaki Fish-Shaped Pastry Recipe たい焼き

For desert tonight, I made taiyaki, which is a Japanese fish-shaped cake.


The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Taiyaki is made using a pancake or waffle batter.


The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold then filled with the red bean paste and then topped with more batter. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown.


The recipe that I used is as follows:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup vegetable oil

Since the above mixture seems to have a lot of oil, I added 1 cup of pancake mix (complete) with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water.



In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter and milk. Slowly blend the wet ingredients into the dry and mix lightly. Do not over mix.

This is where I added the extra pancake mix and water.


Heat both sides of a taiyaki mold pan over medium flame. Lightly oil with a paper towel dampened with vegetable oil.


Pour about ¼ cup of batter into the bottom half of a taiyaki mold. Place about 2 tablespoons of red bean paste in the center and then top with additional batter.


Let this side cook for a few minutes and then flip to cook the reverse side.


Cooking time will vary depending on how hot the taiyaki pan is and how thick the batter.


The taiyaki is done when it is golden brown.


Instead of the red bean paste, I recently substituted slices of banana. It tasted really good--especially when it was freshly baked.

Garage Door Project

The project for this week was to fix the garage door. Several of the lower wooden panels were rotted. 

I found some videos on YouTube that gave me some good ideas on how to fix the garage door--How to Remove and Install a Garage Door Wood Panel Replacement and Garage Door Repair Slideshow. 

As you can see, there was enough of a gap that mice were able to get into the garage.

The first thing that I did was to detach the lower section of the garage door. 

From there, I could remove the two rotted panels and sand/clean the remaining wood. 

I traced copies of the panels and cut out new ones. 

With some wood glue, I replaced the panels and reassembled the wooden frame.











I needed a little help when attaching the frame back onto the rest of the garage door because I had to pull and attach the cable back onto the bottom of the frame.

After the cable was attached, I could now operate the garage door. The first place to get painted was the bottom.

After the bottom of the garage door was painted, I nailed some new weather stripping on the bottom.

Finally, I gave the entire door and frame at least two coats of paint.

1970s Garage Band

Back in high school in the mid to late 1970s, I started a garage band. I recruited two neighborhood friends and by Christmas time we had our instruments and a band. The name of the band was TEA. The name was based on a tin of tea because it also had the Chinese symbol.

One of our first projects was making a Super 8 mm movie based on a story by our bass player. We had fun making the movie and building a stage set for the concert scene at the end of it.

The most important thing about the band wasn’t the actual playing of music but was to have fun and feel like a rock star. Also, it was fun to learn about electronics. I remember taking apart an Electro Harmonix LPB-1 Linear Power Booster Pedal and rebuilding it with parts from Radio Shack. I still have this interest in electronics and music.

I’m glad that we took a lot of pictures because they bring back memories of when we were young, had fun, and were rock stars. I still have all my instruments and musical gear from that time (except the acoustic guitar that was smashed during the filming of our movie).

Pennsylvania-Ohio Border

This past weekend, we traveled to Western Pennsylvania along Interstate 80. After a long road trip from New Jersey, we stopped in Hermitage, PA and picked some pears and pumpkins.

While in Hermitage, we stopped at Kraynak's Flower Boutique. Don’t let the name fool you--it’s filled with all kinds of cool toys and stuff. There's all kinds of retro games, toys, and model trains. It is also home of Santa's Christmasland, which opens in just a few days.

Heading west, we stopped at Daffin’s in Sharon, PA. The Chocolate Kingdom is a realm that is inhabited by a 400-pound chocolate turtle, a 125-pound chocolate reindeer and 75-pound chocolate frog. There are also chocolate castles, a train, a village, and a Ferris wheel which brings this whimsical land to life.

After traveling almost the entire width of Pennsylvania (310 miles), we might as well visit Ohio. 

On the Penn-Ohio border, we stopped at the Penn Ohio Lottery and Deli. Most of the store is in Pennsylvania, but a corner of the store is located in Ohio.

A little further in Ohio, we had brunch at the Brookfield Family Diner.

Antique Stores, Thrift Stores, and Yard Sales

Now that the weather is (finally) getting warmer, it’s time to hit the antique stores, thrift stores, and yard sales. Here’s a collection of pictures that I took last month while strolling around antique and thrift stores. It’s exciting to find something that you remember from your youth—especially if you’ve forgotten all about it.

February 2013 Snow Storm--East Coast

Last week (February 8, 2013), North Jersey and New York received at least 12 inches of snow--Eastern Long Island and New England got a lot more, however. I took some pictures while the snow was falling on Friday and then some more pictures on Saturday.

On Sunday, I visited The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY (just north of Poughkeepsie). The pictures that I took there are of the Hudson River, which is behind the school.

The Rhythm of the East

On Saturday evening (February 2, 2012), I attended the opening reception of an art exhibition—The Rhythm of the East—by Mr. Zhiyuan Cong at the Riverside Gallery in Hackensack, NJ. The ink paintings exhibition runs from January 29 to February 18, 2013. The closing reception will be held on February 15, 2013.

Zhiyuan Cong has taught at William Paterson University since 1994. Professor Cong earned an MFA in printmaking from Indiana University in 1994. In the United States, a Master of Fine Arts is considered to be the highest degree in its field. Prior to his arrival in the United States, he earned a BFA (1980) and MFA (1986) in Chinese Painting from the Nanjing Arts Institute, China.