Japanese Soufflé Pancakes
Tall, wobbling pancakes made by folding a stiff meringue into a light yolk batter, then cooking them low and slow under a lid with a splash of water for steam.
Just One Cookbook's Namiko Hirasawa Chen calls soufflé pancakes a Japanese café staple known for their height and cloudlike texture, a street-food trend in Japan in the 2010s that then spread to cafés worldwide; the height comes from folded meringue, not from leavening alone. Wikipedia's pancake article calls the Japanese soufflé pancake taller and fluffier than the American pancakes it is inspired by.
Where they started is DISPUTED. SBS Food (Yumi Oba, July 30, 2024) traces the origin to Cream Pot, a Honolulu brunch café that opened in 2008 and added pancakes for its mostly Japanese customers by combining them with a soufflé, citing Frolic Hawaii and Japanese travel books. The same article says the Australian café Bills, which opened its first overseas branch in Shichirigahama, Kanagawa, in 2008, is widely recognized as starting Japan's pancake craze, and that Gram, founded in Osaka in 2014, was one of the chains that took soufflé pancakes abroad. If the Honolulu story is right, America's pancake went to Japan by way of Hawaii and came back three times taller.
Why it works the kitchen science
Meringue does the lifting
Thousands of tiny air bubbles in the stiff whites expand in the heat and hold the pancake up, which is why Just One Cookbook calls folding the key step and warns against overmixing.
Low heat, a lid and a little water
The steam cooks the tall middle through before the bottom can burn, so the pancake sets instead of collapsing.
Step by step
- Step 1
Work in two batches, using half of every ingredient for each. Separate 2 eggs, putting the whites in a clean metal bowl, and freeze the whites 15 minutes, until icy at the edges.
- Step 2
Whisk the 2 yolks with half the milk and vanilla until pale and frothy. Sift in half the cake flour and baking powder and whisk just until smooth.
- Step 3
Set an 11- to 12-inch nonstick pan with a tight lid over the lowest heat so it settles at about 300°F (an infrared thermometer helps). Brush it lightly with oil and blot off the excess.
- Step 4
Beat the half-frozen whites on low until foamy, then on medium, adding half the sugar in three parts. Beat on medium-high about 2 minutes, to stiff, glossy peaks.
- Step 5
Whisk one third of the meringue into the yolk batter, fold in half of what is left, then pour the yolk mixture into the remaining meringue and fold gently just until no white streaks remain.
- Step 6
Scoop 3 tall mounds into the pan. When the tops look slightly dry, add a second scoop on each. Pour 1 tbsp water into the empty spaces in the pan (not on the pancakes), cover and cook 6 to 7 minutes on low; at the 2-minute mark, quickly add a last scoop to each and cover again.
- Step 7
Loosen each pancake with an offset spatula and gently roll it over. Add 1 tbsp water to the pan, cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes more on the lowest heat, until golden underneath and the sides spring back. The center should read 160°F; if not, cover and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Step 8
Plate right away, dust with powdered sugar, add berries and drizzle with maple syrup. Make the second batch the same way.
Japanese Soufflé Pancakes
Serves 2 · 6 tall pancakes (cooked as two batches of 3) · 1 hr total
Yolk batter
- 4 large eggs, cold
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (60 g) cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Meringue
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
For the pan
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- About 1/4 cup water, for steaming
To serve
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 cup sliced strawberries or mixed berries
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Method
- Work in two batches, using half of every ingredient for each. Separate 2 eggs, putting the whites in a clean metal bowl, and freeze the whites 15 minutes, until icy at the edges.
- Whisk the 2 yolks with half the milk and vanilla until pale and frothy. Sift in half the cake flour and baking powder and whisk just until smooth.
- Set an 11- to 12-inch nonstick pan with a tight lid over the lowest heat so it settles at about 300°F (an infrared thermometer helps). Brush it lightly with oil and blot off the excess.
- Beat the half-frozen whites on low until foamy, then on medium, adding half the sugar in three parts. Beat on medium-high about 2 minutes, to stiff, glossy peaks.
- Whisk one third of the meringue into the yolk batter, fold in half of what is left, then pour the yolk mixture into the remaining meringue and fold gently just until no white streaks remain.
- Scoop 3 tall mounds into the pan. When the tops look slightly dry, add a second scoop on each. Pour 1 tbsp water into the empty spaces in the pan (not on the pancakes), cover and cook 6 to 7 minutes on low; at the 2-minute mark, quickly add a last scoop to each and cover again.
- Loosen each pancake with an offset spatula and gently roll it over. Add 1 tbsp water to the pan, cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes more on the lowest heat, until golden underneath and the sides spring back. The center should read 160°F; if not, cover and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Plate right away, dust with powdered sugar, add berries and drizzle with maple syrup. Make the second batch the same way.
Adapted from Namiko Hirasawa Chen, "Fluffy Japanese Soufflé Pancakes", Just One Cookbook (first posted May 12, 2018; updated September 28, 2026). Just One Cookbook's recipe makes 3 pancakes for 1 serving; we doubled it to 2 servings and cook it as two batches, because the meringue can't wait. Pan temperature, steaming and timings are Just One Cookbook's. The 160°F center check is ours (FoodSafety.gov, egg dishes). Its optional whipped cream (1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 1/2 tbsp sugar per serving) is left out of the ingredients and calories. Just One Cookbook. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Keep every trace of yolk out of the whites; Just One Cookbook says a brief freeze stabilizes the meringue without cream of tartar.
- No cake flour? Just One Cookbook's swap: for each cup of all-purpose flour, take out 2 tbsp and replace them with cornstarch, then sift several times.
- They deflate fast. Have plates and toppings ready before you flip.
- Causes of flat pancakes, per Just One Cookbook: underwhipped whites, overmixing, high heat or undercooking.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Soufflé pancakes were invented in Japan. Disputed: Just One Cookbook calls them a Japanese café staple; SBS traces them to Cream Pot in Honolulu, 2008.
- Bills started Japan's pancake boom in 2008. Disputed: SBS says Bills is widely recognized as the instigator; other accounts credit Eggs 'n Things, which opened in Japan in 2010 (search summaries only).
- Gram dates to 2014. Disputed: SBS says Gram was established in Osaka in 2014; other sources say 2015 (search summaries only).
- You need cream of tartar. Folklore: Just One Cookbook uses briefly frozen whites instead.
- Cook them at 300°F, low and slow. Documented (Just One Cookbook).
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