With more time spent at home, I’ve been gradually making my way through a long and continually growing list of things to cook or bake. On said list was okonomiyaki, and I ticked this one off a few weeks ago. I decided to stick with a fairly basic blend of ingredients (potato and cabbage) for my first go, and figured that if all went well then I could revisit the recipe and throw in some extra bells and whistles at some point. Shrimp, egg, pork belly… whatever floats my boat. It is a pancake after all. And as it turns out, the Japanese folks have the same thought; ‘okonomi’ translates to whatever you like.

Happy to report that my first attempt was a success, and went down a treat. It was also quite straight forward to make… the hardest part of the recipe was probably chopping the cabbage neatly. I had bits of cabbage flying off the board left, right and centre! A messy prep to say the least. But well worth the effort. I’m told buying a softer type of cabbage can help here.

Expect to see more okonomiyaki variations on this blog in future.

OSAKA-STYLE OKONOMIYAKI

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup plain flour, sifted

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 potato, grated

• 1/2 cup chicken stock

• 2 eggs

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1/2 cabbage head, chopped (approximately 900g)

• 1 spring onion, chopped, plus extra to serve

• Vegetable or canola oil for pan frying

  To serve:

• Okonomi sauce

• Kewpie mayonnaise

• Bonito flakes

• Extra spring onion

METHODS

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, before adding the stock and grated potato. Whisk to combine and remove any lumps. Cover the batter and place in the fridge to rest for two hours.

2. After resting, add to the batter the eggs, soy sauce and sesame oil, cabbage (gradually add the cabbage) and spring onion, and stir to combine.

3. Heat vegetable/canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Transfer approximately 2 ladles of the okonomiyaki mixture to the pan, and use the spatula to consolidate and press down the mixture into a compact, circular shape. Cover the pan, and leave to cook for 3-5 minutes or until golden on the bottom.

4. Carefully flip the okonomiyaki, cover the pan and cook for another 3-5 minutes on this side or until golden. Remove from heat and repeat with the remainder of the mixture. (NOTE: I ended up with 5 okonomiyaki servings from the batter)

5. Serve immediately with the Okonomi sauce, Kewpie mayo, bonito flakes and spring onions.

Enjoy! Or rather, itadakimasu!