Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake. Okonomi means 'how you like' which goes to show that it can be served with a variety of ingredients. One thing that's always there is cabbage. Two other elements that to my mind are indispensable to making okonoiyaki are Japanese mayonaisse (kewpie) and brown sauce that bring all the other ingredients together. Typically, it would also have dancing bonito flakes on top and powdered nori. The rest is left to the imagination of the cook, it can be meat, veggies or seafood. Just as the English do on pancake day, Okonomiyaki is good for dealing with leftover food. Hiroshima style it would also include noodles in the pancake base, but today I'm doing it Osaka style, with a prawn filling. It would be easier to prepare on a grill, but it can be done in home conditions on a pan as well.
You'll need:
250gr flour
water
1 egg
4 napa cabbage leaves, finely shredded
3 spring onions
prawn tails
ginger
red peppercorns, crushed
Japanese 7 spice mix
Kewpie mayo
brown sauce
Bonito flakes
nori powder
some oil for frying
1. Prepare the pancake batter. It should be the same consistency as for the European pancakes, i.e. the batter should not float out immediately from a spoon. Add salt. I also add some red pepper to it, to add a bit of spice, but this is optional.
2. Add cabbage and finely grated ginger to the mixture.
3. On a grill, the prawns would easily cook together with the pancake, but this can be more difficult to achieve on the pan, when turning a layered pancake becomes more difficult, so I fry the prawns first, seasoned in Japanese seven spice mix. I will later make the pancakes on the same pan, allowing the flavours to mix.
4. pour the pancake batter into the pan. Once it turn golden, turn it to the other side.
5. Add spring onions and prawns on top.
6. Pour kewpie and brown sauce on the pancake and then sprinkle nori powder and bonito flakes on top. These ingredients are not so widely available and might require a trip to a japanese or Asian store, but they do make all the difference to the dish.
Itadakimasu!
