[Picture Books & Baking] "The Quintuplet Rabbits and the Snowy Forest" and Kaitenyaki
The Quintuplet Rabbits and the Snowy Forest
Synopsis
A rather unusual truck is parked on the side of the road.
It is a dark winter morning, but there is a light on inside the vehicle.
When you peek inside, you see five little rabbits eating a warm stew for breakfast.
Once they are ready, it is time to set off!
After passing through a long, long tunnel, they find themselves surrounded by snow! Time to play in the snow!
Building snowmen and sledding.
When they follow a path that May found, they come across a large lake...
Review
A series that both my son and I love, the "Quintuplet Rabbits series".
The third installment is set in a snowy forest.
Once again, the quintuplet rabbits help others while serving up delicious food.
Rikako Matsuo's picture books are so cute and soothing, both the art and the stories! ♡
The first book was spring, the second was summer, and this one is winter, so I wonder if an autumn story is coming next? I'm looking forward to the fourth book too!
I tried making "Quintuplet Rabbit Yaki" (Kaitenyaki)
In this story, a snack called "Quintuplet Rabbit Yaki" appears.
It is a rabbit-shaped snack, similar to a kaitenyaki (wheel cake).
Another snack in the book, "Meringue Cake," looks difficult, but the "Quintuplet Rabbit Yaki" seemed easy, so I decided to try making it with my son.
The recipe says to use a milk carton to make a rabbit-shaped mold, but...
A milk carton...?
Make a rabbit...?
That's impossible for someone as clumsy as me!
So, I relied on a silicone pancake mold from a 100-yen shop.
***
Since it is a recipe from a picture book, I cannot write the details, but the ingredients and measurements for the batter are almost the same as for pancakes.
Make the batter and pour it into the mold to a depth of about 1 cm.
Please refer to the images below from here on.
1. Place in a frying pan, cover, and heat over low heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Put red bean paste in the center,
3. Pour batter on top and heat over low heat for about 5 minutes.
4. If the surface of the batter is cooked, grease the frying pan and flip the silicone mold. Heat over low heat for about 5 to 8 minutes.
It makes you want to mutter that.
(Oops, that's a different picture book...)
Here is the finished result.
It's no longer "Five Little Rabbit Cakes," but just plain Kaitenyaki.
But even using pancake mix, it tasted just like real Kaitenyaki and was delicious.
It was quite filling, but my son and husband gobbled it all up.
Kaitenyaki? Imagawayaki? Obanyaki?
By the way, this snack I call "Kaitenyaki."
I know it's also called "Imagawayaki."
I wonder if there's a difference?
Thinking that, I looked it up and ended up on this site.
It seems that "Imagawayaki," which originated in the Edo period, spread throughout Japan and came to be called "Obanyaki" or "Kaitenyaki" in different regions. (This is according to Wikipedia.)
And according to the site above, the regional names can be broadly categorized as follows.
Hokkaido/Northern Tohoku... "Oyaki"
Southern Tohoku/Ibaraki... "Obanyaki"
Tokyo Metropolitan Area... "Imagawayaki"
Tokai... "Obanyaki"
Kansai (excluding Shiga and Hyogo)... "Kaitenyaki"
Hyogo... "Gozasoro"
Hiroshima... "Nijuuyaki"
Chugoku/Shikoku regions... "Obanyaki"
Kyushu... "Kaitenyaki"
Hyogo "Gozasoro"
Gozasoro!?
It has such an Edo period vibe! How cool!
So, it seems they were all originally Imagawayaki.
Sorry for ending on a topic unrelated to the "Five Little Rabbits."
This became a long post, but thank you for reading until the end.
Bibliographic Information
"The Five Little Rabbits and the Snowy Forest"
Author: Rikako Matsuori
Publisher: Iwasaki Shoten
Year of Publication: 2022
Article introducing Rikako Matsuori's picture books
▽ Introducing "The Five Little Rabbits and the Sea Jewels"