Okonomiyaki
Here is an easy Okonomiyaki recipe. It's one of the best Traditional Japanese Foods. Eat it at Tokyo restaurants and food stalls
or try it at home.
Okonomiyaki is a simple warming comfort food, eaten in restaurants or better even - at food stalls in festivals.It is basically made from flour, eggs and cabbage. The toppings can be meat, seafood, wasabi or cheese. The toppings change according to the region.
The name comes from a combination of the words Okonomi which means - "what you like" or "what you want", and Yaki which means "grilled" or "cooked" (like in yakitori and yakisoba).
What Does Okonomiyaki Taste Like?
Although this tasty dish is sometimes referred to as 'Japanese pancake', it is not sweet!! Forget about maple syrup or chocolate topping, here you'll have it with octopus, shrimp, pork and yam. Maybe it's a bit more like pizza.
The Japanese usually eat it at restaurants that specialize in preparing it.
At some of the restaurants you are asked to cook the meal yourself. The ingredients are served (so you can see that they are fresh) and the dining tables have an iron grill on which you cook it yourself.
Okonomiyaki Recipe
How To Cook it At Home In 7 Short Steps
This Recipe is very easy to make at home.
Ingredients:
1 cup regular flour
3/4 cup water + Dashi if you can find it, if not – just water will do (Dashi is Japanese stock)
1 egg
1/4 of a medium cabbage
Toppings - any of the below:
Chicken
Roast pork or beef
Squid, Octopus, other seafood
Corn
Mushrooms
Onion
Mayonnaise
If you can find these ingredients:
Katsuo-bushi (dried bonito flakes)
Sakura-ebi (dried shrimps)
Beni-shoga (red ginger)
Ao-nori (green seaweed)
Okonomiyaki sauce (or tonkatsu sauce)
- Chop the cabbage finely. Better to have too much than too little because it shrinks a little as it cooks.
- Break the egg into a large bowl and pour in the dashi/water, and the flour. Then beat with a whisk until smooth.
- Now add some of the finely chopped cabbage and mix.
- Heat up your grill or frying pan. Now prepare your toppings. It can be chopped bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, parsley. Chicken, seafood, beef or pork. Cook for a few minutes. Arrange the cooked toppings in a round circle with your spatula.
- Add the cabbage/dough mixture on top. Shape the batter into a circle with your spatula.
- As one side of it becomes sufficiently grilled, turn it to the other side. Make sure that it has been cooked enough so it will hold together.
- When both sides of the batter are grilled, the toppings are added. The first layer is the Okonomiyaki sauce. Then comes the Mayonnaise, then light shavings of smoked Bonito (katsuobushi).
Because of the heat, the shavings start moving as if the fish is coming to life (which is why my girls won't eat it), but don't give up because it's yummy, believe me !!
And it's ready !!
The Japanese way of eating it – you leave it on the grill, and cut slices of it to your plate. That way it stays warm.
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Recipe
There are two main variations of this dish: Kansai Style - also called Osaka Style, and Hiroshima Style.
The recipe above is for the Kansai Style, which is the style most commonly found in Japan.
The Hiroshima Style is different. The batter is cooked like a thin crepe, and the ingredients are not mixed together, they are cooked separately.
When the crepe is ready the ingredients and the toppings are placed on the crepe.
Browse my
Traditional Japanese foods page
or go
from Okonomiyaki to Traditional Japanese Diet
for lots more ideas on Japanese breakfast, Japanese desserts, and what to expect at Tokyo restaurants.
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