Hey everyone! Here we will (hopefully) be giving you all the knowledge you need to know to make your own okonomiyaki!
If you're unfamiliar with okonomiyaki it is also known as "cabbage pancakes" in laymen JSA terms.
Let's get started!
Ingredients
[Makes 4]
2 Cups of flour
1 cup of dashi
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 Whole cabbage
4 eggs
1/4 cup sesame oil (for flavor; it can be substituted with normal oil)
Meat! (Can be bacon strips or pork belly strips if you're feeling fancy)
* Optional (but kinda necessary), 1 nagaimo
Prep
Cook on a skillet or a hot plate (can be made on the stove but where's the authenticity?)
Make dashi by adding 1 hondashi packet (dried) into about a cup of water.
Alternatively, you can add more or less to taste, or, use pre-made dashi.
(Yes, I realize this is a specialty ingredient that is hard to find in SLO. Try asking around JSA and maybe someone has extra?)
Cabbage is minced, cut into small strips and then cut into smaller pieces.
Also, try pressing the cabbage with a paper towel to ge any extra moisture out of the vegetable.
Nagaimo is grated into a paste. You only need to make about 1/2 cups worth but feel free to use more.
Steps
1. Gather your dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, salt, baking powder, sugar)
2. Whisk in the cabbage little by little until it is fully combined with the dry ingredients
3. Whisk in the eggs until well blended
4. Preheat your skillet (or pan) to a medium heat. Lightly drizzle pan with oil, just enough to lightly coat the cooking surface.
5. Ladle a large scoop of the batter onto the hot surface. Make sure to stir the batter to get a consistent amount of cabbage in each scoop!
A good size okonomiyaki is 1 1/2 scoops but 1 scoop is just fine!
6. When the batter has settled and is beginning to cook, you can add strips of bacon or other meats to the bottoms of your okonomiyaki!
This is entirely optional and depends on the regional style you are making.
If you are planning on putting a bacon weave like shown below, it is recommended that you cut the bacon into shorter strips and pre-make the weave on the cutting board before placing on the oknomiyaki.
7. Cook on each side about 3 minutes or until the batter turns a light brown color. If there is meat on a side, cook that side until the meat is cooked to your liking.
8. Once both sides are a light brown color and appear to be lightly steaming, remove from the skillet/ pan and let it cool for 10 whole seconds on a plate.
10. After waiting 10 whole seconds, you can begin adding your garnishes. Typically we would add a mixture of okonomiyaki sauce and Kewpie mayo by squeeze bottle (see pic below for example). Again, your toppings are your choice and can be different depending on the style.
11. Serve and enjoy! It's best when eaten right off the grill so start right away!
*Disclaimer: There are many, many styles of making okonomiyaki and this one is my alteration of another recipe that follows the Kansai style. If you're interested, feel free to browse around the internet for other kinds of recipes, This is the recipe that I like the most and is probably easiest to make if you can't buy the pre-made mix or you want to try something new!
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