Taiyaki

lit. 'baked sea bream' (鯛焼き) is a Japanese fish-shaped cake, commonly sold as street food. It imitates the shape of red sea bream (鯛), which it is named after. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened adzuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, cheese, or sweet potato. Some shops even sell with, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside. Smaller, differently shaped versions called lit. 'baked goldfish' (金魚焼き) are also available and often sold in bags of five, ten, or more.

are similar to, which are thick round cakes also filled with sweet adzuki bean paste or custard.

Ingredients
is made using regular pancake or waffle batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown.

History
was first sold in Japan in 1909. It is essentially a reshaped form of, an already popular snack made by wrapping bean paste in flour skin.

Seijirō Kobe, founder of the store Naniwaya Sōhonten (浪花家総本店), was having trouble selling his, so he decided to bake the cakes into fish shapes resembling , or red sea bream. are considered a symbol of luck and fortune in Japan, and were an expensive fish only affordable by the higher classes or on special occasions. Masamori Kobe, the fourth owner of the store, stated that Seijirō wanted to give the ordinary people a taste of the expensive fish at low prices.

Since its creation, has evolved into many variations, with different ingredients being used for filling and batter, as well as variations in shapes and sizes.

was introduced to Korea during the Japanese colonial period, where it is known as.

During the postwar period, spread to other Asian countries, as well as the rest of the world.