Take our user survey and make your voice heard.
If I was to suggest that there was a difference between “pancakes” and “hotcakes” you’d probably say, “You’re crazy. Get off my Internet!”
And yet if you go into a supermarket in Japan, you will find two products made by the same company distinctly classified as “Hotcake Mix” (hottoke-ki mikkusu) and “Pancake Mix” (panke-ki mikkusu).
Either this is some clever ruse concocted by the pancake cartels of Japan or maybe they tapped into something we always knew subconsciously but never fully realized.
■ In English
First, English speakers can all pretty much agree that “pancake” is the most popular name for the quick-fried-cake that’s a favorite for breakfast. Really the only time I recall seeing “hotcake” was at McDonald’s. Using Google’s Ngram Viewer it would seem the word “pancake” has a longstanding and growing popularity over “hotcake.”
Even when they were first introduced to Japan during the Meiji Era, the term pancake was the definitive name.
■ In Japanese
To get a better understanding of the difference between the words, Excite News went to a top pancake (hotcake?) mix producer in Japan, Morinaga. When asked if there is a difference between a hotcake and a pancake they said “well… no not really.”
So what gives?
“When surveyed, we discovered that customers see pancakes as not so sweet and used for a meal, whereas hotcakes were considered a sweet treat.” Morigawa explained.
■ The Difference in Japan
Morinaga describes their Pancake Mix as only lightly sweetened cooked using water for and overall heavier and heartier cake that would be suitable for a meal.
On the other hand Hotcake Mix uses more sugar and is cooked with milk. The end result is a fluffier and sweeter cake that you might eat as a snack.
If you look on the back of each package for most companies’ mixes, you’ll find that hotcake mix usually has suggestions to make donuts or cupcakes. Pancake mixes usually offer suggestions on how to make a ham and lettuce sandwich with their product.
■ Conclusion
We may have never really realized it but the more you think about it, there does seem to be a distinction. In English, if you said “something is selling like pancakes” it just doesn’t sound as good as “selling like hotcakes.” Changing Pancake Tuesday to Hotcake Tuesday conversely causes the original to lose some gravitas.
Applying this logic, if you were to coat a sausage in batter, you would have a pancake. However if you were making cute egg cakes, you should then use hotcake mix. Glad we got that sorted out. Now what’s the difference between ketchup and catsup?
Source: Excite News (Japanese) Morinaga: Hotcake Page, Pancake Page (Japanese)
© RocketNews24
10 Comments
Login to comment
Frungy
... no, they wouldn't. The Japanese definition is correct. A hotcake is slightly thicker and more fluffy, a pancake is thinner and less fluffy, and a crepe is thin and decidedly unfluffy.
Hint to the author: Next time don't go and survery 3 of your friends and make conclusions about all English speakers. Ask a chef, or someone who knows a bit about cooking.
Probie
I always thought that pancakes were thin; hotcakes were thick.
Azzprin
The only pancake mix i have seen needing water is one you can buy in a shop.
Containing Flour, milk powder and i am not sure if you add an egg or it is already in it in dried form.
Add water to mixture bottle and shake.
Tried once and never again.
The pancake is a mixture of Flour, Egg and Milk. and cooked in a pan with a small amount of butter. (You can cook it without the butter.)
That is the recipe i have been using for over 35 years and it came from my mother and grandmother.
By adding more flour, it makes the pancakes thicker. Less flour thinner pancakes.
And for sweetness, i use maple syrup to sweeten my pancakes. :)
..........
SamuraiBlue
Azzprin
Your recipe is missing an ingredient to fluff the cake. Somthing like baking soda.
Azzprin
The "Fluffy american pancakes" at www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fluffyamericanpancak_74828 uses baking soda,
The UK "basic pancake" at www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/basicpancakeswithsuga_66226 and www.projectbritain.com/pancakeday/recipe.html do not.
So in the UK it is not missing anything.
But in the USA it would be.
And there is other varations where other things are included
Some fry in oil instead of butter.
........
cleo
A pancake is a flat, unsweetened round that you toss, sprinkle with sugar and lemon, roll up and eat on Pancake Tuesday.
What the Japanese call hot cakes are what I used to call American pancakes - smaller in diameter than a pancake, thicker, heavier and sweet, served with maple syrup or honey if haven't got any maple. My local Coop does a great bean-and-grains hotcake mix that is way tastier than the ordinary white-flour-and-sugar type.
I always thought a crepe was a posh French pancake that can be sweet or savoury.
The idea of using a pancake mix is as weird and corner-cutting as using a shortcrust pastry mix.
bass4funk
A pancake is something that you put butter and maple syrup over! Hmmm...
bass4funk
I feel like whipping up some Aunt Jemima right about now.