How to make Okonomiyaki

Oknomiyaki is one of our favorite Japanese dishes. When we lived in Japan it was a pleasure to find a restaurant that made it-which is surprising because it’s surprisingly simple to make Okonomiyaki, it just takes a little more than average time. First off, Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake with cabbage and seafood. Its technical written description doesn’t sound all that appetizing, but when you combine everything and watch those fish flakes shimmy it’s probable that it will show you that there are lots of food options past sushi when it comes to Japanese food.

I often refer to Okonomiyaki as a ‘meat pancake’. It’s the distant cousin to the omelette in shape only as the taste, texture and enjoyment that you’ll get from this is one that far surpasses its morning relative.  Don’t get freaked out about making Japanese food. It’s quite simple to make Okonomiyaki, but the prep time might put some folks off who are looking for a super quick meal.

Ingredients

2 cups of flour (use 1 cup for 2 people with no leftovers)

1 and a half cups of chicken stock (use ¾ of a cup for 2 people)

8 cups of cabbage (use 4 cup for 2 people)

2 stalks of green onions (use 1 stalk for 2 people)

4 eggs (use 2 eggs for 2 people)

2 cups of raw shrimp (1 cup for 2 people)

Sesame seeds

Fish flakes

Olive or vegetable oil

 

Optional ingredients

Bacon! (Optional yes, delicious-YES)

A couple of cut mushrooms

Carrots (thinly sliced)

Any other veggies that you like, as long as they are thinly sliced

Thinly slice and chop the cabbage, put it in a bowl. In a larger bowl mix together the flour, chicken stock and eggs-stir all of that together very well. Peel and chop up the shrimp into small pieces, season with salt if you want to. Ditto the green onions, thinly slice them up. Now, combine everything in the largest bowl with the flour mixture. Turn it thoroughly so that the cabbage is mixed with the liquid.

Side note: cutting up the ingredients is the majority of time needed for the recipe. After this previous step you’re about 10 minutes away from eating Okonomiyaki

Heat up a large frying pan with the olive oil in it. This is where you can use bacon. We say *can use bacon because the bacon here is only used for flavor and isn’t really cooked. If you’re using bacon, lay it even, across the pan for a moment and then use a spatula to put a large dollop of the Okonomiyaki mixture onto the pan.

If you’re using bacon then fold it onto the opposite side of your Okonomiyaki dollop. Set the timer for 4 minutes on a high temperature.  At the end of 5 minutes turn it over for another 5 minutes and after that you’re all but ready to eat.

Once it’s done from the stove top, sprinkle some fish flakes on top, followed by sesame seeds.

If you’re lucky enough to find some Okonomiyaki Sauce then put that on top of your dish. If not, you can make some Kontatsu Sauce easily using some Dijon mustard, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, catsup and soy sauce to create it.

Watch the fish flakes wave as they simulate their underwater home. In reality it’s the heat of the Okonomiyaki making them go back and forth, but just keep singing Under The Sea. It’s simple to make Okonomiyaki and quite the treat for those that like Japanese food, but are looking for something just outside of their radar.