A Japanese savory pancake dish consisting of a flour batter and cabbage that’s cooked on a teppan (flat griddle). This recipe booklet will explore the three most popular styles of this dish. They’re separated and recognized by the region of Japan where they were originated and still enjoyed today. Kansai, Osaka and one in Hiroshima. Another variety is hirayachi, a thin and simple type made in Okinawa. All of these can be cooked in an iron skillet or your favorite non-stick pan.
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Japanese style Pizza
is a Japanese savory pancake with cabbage, bean sprout, noodles, sliced pork belly, and a fried egg, topped with savory sauce and Japanese mayo.
Ingredients:
⅔ cup water (measure ⅔ cup and remove 2 tsp to be precise)
▢ 1 tsp mirin
▢ ¾ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) (¾ cup + 1 ½ Tbsp to be precise; if you have cake flour, definitely use that; otherwise AP flour is okay.) for a Gluten-free option substitute wheat flour for AP gluten-free flour.
▢ 8.5 oz cabbage (about 3 large cabbage leaves)
▢ 1 green onion/scallion
▢ 2 Tbsp katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
▢ 4 Tbsp tenkasu/agedama (tempura scraps)
▢ 2.1 g bean sprouts (about a handful)
▢ 2 Tbsp tororo kombu (optional; you can buy online)
▢ 6 slices sliced pork belly (optional)
▢ 2 servings yakisoba noodles
▢ 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
Toppings
▢ okonomi sauce (you can also make my homemade okonomiyaki sauce recipe)
▢ Japanese mayonnaise
▢ aonori (dried green seaweed)
▢ pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga) (optional garnish)
Instructions:
- Begin by chopping your green onion and cabbage. Try to chop your cabbage as finely as possible.
- Grab a bowl and mix the okonomiyaki flour with the water and 1 egg until you have a smooth batter with no lumps.
- Now the fun part, take a frying pan or hot plate and grease with a splash of vegetable oil and place on a medium heat. Make sure the pan is evenly heated before the next step or the okonomiyaki will have trouble taking shape.
- Add just under half the batter to the pan in a nice even circle, remember not to make the circle too wide or it won’t be able to keep its shape. Next, add half the cabbage and half the bean sprouts on top of the batter, before adding a layer of 3 rashes of bacon.
- Pour 1 tbsp of the batter on the top of the mix to hold everything together and let the okonomiyaki cook for about 7 to 10 minutes before flipping it over with a spatula to cook on the other side.
- Whilst the other side of the okonomiyaki is cooking for 7 to 10 minutes, grab another pan and cook 1 serving of yakisoba with a bit of vegetable oil and the sauce provided in the packet.
- Once the yakisoba are cooked, with a spatula move the okonomiyaki on top of the noodles. Crack an egg in a bowl and break the yolk before pouring in the first pan to the side of the okonomiyaki.
- Place the okonomiyaki (with the noodles underneath) over the egg and leave to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Once done, flip the completed okonomiyaki over onto a plate and smother in a criss-cross pattern with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise. The final touch is to sprinkle the spring onion, aonori seaweed, katsuobushi and pickled ginger on the top. Repeat the whole process again for the second okonomiyaki and you’re done.
Osaka-Style Okonomiyaki
is made of batter, which includes flour and water or dashi, shredded cabbage, egg, and green onion along with the protein of your choice, such as pork belly slices or seafood.
Ingredients
Batter
1 cup all-purpose flour 120 g
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 inches Nagaimo 170 g, Note 1
3/4 cup dashi
1 large cabbage 760 grams, or 1 & 2/3 lbs
4 large eggs
½ cup Tenkasu tempura scraps, optional
2 tbsp Beni-shoga pickled red ginger, optional
1/2 – 1 lb seafood cubed (optional)
Pork belly slices halved (optional)
Okonomi Sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
4 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Toppings
Okonomi sauce
Kewpie mayonnaise
Bonito flakes
Aonori dried seaweed
Scallions chopped
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Peel and grate the nagaimo. Add the grated nagaimo and dashi into the bowl, and mix to combine.
Core and roughly chop the cabbage.
Add the cabbage and the rest of the batter ingredients (expect the optional pork belly) into the bowl and mix.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add some batter into the pan and shape it into a circle.
Place a few slices of pork belly on top, if using, and add some more batter on top to help the pork to stick.
Cook the pancake until browned on the bottom. Flip and cook until the other side is also browned.
Mix all sauce ingredients together.
Add the okonomi sauce and your desired toppings to the okonomiyaki and serve.
Okinawa Style Okonomiyaki
Okinawa or
Hirayachi (Okinawan: ヒラヤーチー hirayaachii) is a thin, very simple Okinawan pancake-like dish similar to buchimgae. It is basically "a savory Okinawan crepe with leeks",[29] and is sometimes called "Okinawan style okonomiyaki". The name means "fry flat" in the Okinawan language.[30]
People cook it at home, so there are few okonomiyaki restaurants in Okinawa, with none of them serving hirayachi.[31] The ingredients consist of eggs, flour, salt, black pepper and green onions, fried with a little oil in a pan.[
Ingredients
3.5 ounces okonomiyaki flour
3.5 ounces water
1/4 cabbage
1 spring onion
2 strips bacon
Okonomiyaki toppings recipe
Mayonnaise
Okonomiyaki sauce
Bonito flakes
Aonori seaweed for that extra crunch
Some pickled ginger
Tenkasu (which are the ready-made tempura flakes)
Instructions
- Pour the specially-made okonomiyaki flour into a medium-size bowl, add the water and mix thoroughly. Set it aside for later use.
- Start chopping your green onions and cabbage into small slices and pour it into the bowl where the batter mix is.
- Toss in the egg to the bowl together with the batter mix. Try not to mix too much as you may not get the desired result for your batter.
- Heat up the skillet or teppanyaki and pour some vegetable oil over it, set to high heat. Now pour the okonimiyaki batter mix into the teppanyaki and use the hera to form a circular shape from it just like how you would make a regular pancake. Allow it to cook for about 3 – 4 minutes and see if the bottom becomes brown color.
- Now you may add the bacon strips (or other toppings of your choice bacon, shrimp, or squid would be good) before you flip the pancake over. Let the other side of it cook for another 3 – 4 minutes until it also becomes brown color. In order to keep the pancake light and fluffy just let it cook on its own and do not try to press it down with the spatula.
- Once cooked, transfer it to a large plate and then add the condiments such as the okonomiyaki sauce, aonori seaweed, bonito flakes, pickled ginger and tenkasu tempura flakes.
Credits:
Sources: www.healthline.com https://www.assortedeats.com/osaka-okonomiyaki/#recipe https://www.justonecookbook.com/hiroshima-okonomiyaki/ https://www.bitemybun.com/how-can-i-get-me-some-of-that-monjayaki-and-okonomiyaki/