Recently I cooked with Friend and Author Harry from Fire to Fork. We decided it was a good time to make Okinomiyaki watch the full episode in the link below.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2–4
One evening during my first year in Tokyo, I was wandering the streets looking for a good meal when I stumbled across a tiny shop run by a little old lady serving okonomiyaki and gyoza.
A U-shaped grill smoked away in front of her as she flipped savoury pancakes, while patrons sat around gulping massive handles of beer. I pulled up a seat, ordered one, and that was the beginning of my love affair with okonomiyaki.
Traditionally, okonomiyaki—which loosely translates to “what you like, grilled”—is often made with pork belly, but this is my version. Feel free to load yours up with whatever proteins you like. Squid and prawns are especially good.
Ingredients
-
1 medium head white cabbage, finely chopped (about 300g)
-
100g spring onions, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
-
Salt
-
200g okonomiyaki flour
-
2 eggs
-
1½ cups water
-
300g Pork Belly or Bacon
-
¼ cup olive oil, for cooking
-
Dried bonito flakes, to serve
-
Kewpie mayonnaise, to serve
-
Okonomiyaki sauce, to serve
Method
Prepare a bed of coals away from your main fire and place a grate above it. You want a medium heat—hot enough that you can hold your hand about 10cm above the cooking surface for 6–8 seconds. If your grate has a hotplate, use it. Otherwise, heat your biggest skillet.
Combine the cabbage and spring onions in a large bowl, reserving about 2 tablespoons of spring onion for serving. Season with a little salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the okonomiyaki flour, eggs and water until you have a smooth, pancake-like batter. Add the cabbage and spring onion and stir until everything is well coated.
Lightly oil your cooking surface. Spoon the mixture onto the hotplate or skillet, forming rough circles about as wide as your bacon rashers and around 2cm (1 inch) thick. Lay two slices of bacon over the top of each pancake.
Cover with a metal bowl or lid and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown. Carefully flip each pancake so the bacon is now against the cooking surface. Cover again and cook for another 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to render and crisp.
Flip once more and cook uncovered for another 2 minutes, or until cooked through and beautifully golden. Transfer to plates.
Now for the best part—the toppings. Generously spoon over the okonomiyaki sauce and spread it right to the edges. Criss-cross Kewpie mayonnaise over the top, then finish with bonito flakes and the reserved finely chopped spring onions.
Serve immediately.
Notes
Okonomiyaki flour: This is ideal and can be found in most Asian supermarkets. If you can’t find it, tempura flour is a good substitute.
Okonomiyaki sauce: Otafuku is my pick and is widely available in Asian supermarkets. If you can’t find it, make a quick version by mixing:
-
3 teaspoons tomato sauce
-
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
-
1 teaspoon soy sauce