Sunday, 6 January 2013

Okonomiyaki

This food is popular in Japan and has spread outside of the country to be known as Japanese Pizza or Japanese Pancake. Variations exist all throughout Japan, with some regions such as Hiroshima using layered noodles, and Osaka versions being made like a pancake.
The recipe I am using here is from my friend Itsuda-San's mother from Hakata. It is made in the Kansai tradition or mixing all of the ingredients together before frying. The basic recipe is

100g flour (I'm using 95g regular flour and 5g corn flour)
160ml water
2 eggs
300g cabbage chopped finely

To this I'm adding some strips of turkey (classic recipes call for pork belly). You can add whichever meat you want to this recipe, In fact, the name of the food itself 'okonomi' translates to 'what you like', and this dish allows for almost any ingredients, from seafood to cheese!

Directions
  1. Whisk together the flour and water until smooth
  2. Add eggs, cabbage, spring onions, meat but don't over mix
  3. Lightly oil a griddle pan and wait until it is hot
  4. Using a ladle add the mixture to the pan
  5. Fry for 4 minutes on one side
  6. Flip and fry for 3 minutes on the other side
  7. Keep on turning the okonomiyaki until browned nicely
The quantities listed above are suitable to make 2 12" pancakes or 6 smaller ones.

You should add okonomiyaki sauce to the top, but I don't have any so you can use the following recipe to make your own:

3 tbs ketchup
1 tbs Worcester sauce
1 tbs soy sauce

Mix all together and apply liberally to the top of the okonomiyaki.