Japanese Red Bean Waffles

Now before anyone  jumps down my throat to tell me that this is not what they are called… I know.  What I don’t know is what they are called.  These guys are available at festivals all over Japan and I expect to bump into another crowd of them this weekend at the University of Tsukuba Festival, but I don’t know what to call them.  Last week I even bought a box of ice creams that were designed to look like them but made with red beans, ice cream and ice cream cone material, but I still don’t know what to call them.

They are made in a hot iron mould like a waffle and have a blob of either red bean paste, custard or even chocolate sealed inside.  The outside becomes crisp and sweet while the inside is perilously hot and drippy.  So what are they called? 

They go down great on a cold day with a cup of coffee or a hot chocolate, but I have no recipe or motivation to cook them myself.  The main reason being that the professionals have such a nice mould for them in various designs – usually fish – but in this case unlicensed cartoon characters.  To make them at home, would probably mean experimenting with a toasted sandwich maker or something and ending up with waffle road kill.  This isn’t nearly so attractive so I think I will stick to whatever I can buy at the Matsuri.  No matter what they are called.

Now for those of you who know these sort of things I encourage you to drop a comment below telling us the proper name for these red bean waffles.  The reward for your efforts will be the smug realisation that you know more about Japanese food than I do.  You are welcome to this feeling as I have to go off now and eat something because just writing about this has made me extremely hungry.