Okonomiyaki is a popular dish in Japan. Literally translated, it means “bake what you like” and it is, you can put whatever you like on it. It is an easy to prepare and nutritious meal, especially popular in the cities of Osaka and Hiroshima. In these cities, however, a slightly different preparation method is used. Here you can read both recipes.
Okonomiyaki
Savory Japanese pancake
The Osaka variant
Ingredients for the pancake
- 500 grams of flour
- Half a white cabbage
- A leek stalk
- 3 eggs
- A cube of fish stock
- 500 milliliters of water
To your own taste
- Okonomiyaki sauce
- mayonnaise
- Aonori (finely ground seaweed)
- Katsuo (dried fish flakes)
The less common ingredients can often be found in Chinese toko’s or world shops.
Ideas for spreads
- Bacon steaks
- Shrimps
- Slices of cheese
- Squid
- Beef steaks
- Oysters
Preparation method
First cut the cabbage and leek into small pieces. Then make a batter of the flour, eggs, stock cube and water. You can use a whisk for this. Stir until you get a smooth mix. Then stir the finely chopped cabbage and leek into the batter. Make sure it is well distributed throughout the mix.
Okonomiyaki is easiest to do on one teppan, a hot plate. In the absence of such a pan, a frying pan is also suitable. Preheat the hot plate to about 230 degrees Celsius and leave it at that temperature. Put a drizzle of sunflower oil on the plate, not too much. Spread it evenly and pat it with kitchen paper if necessary.
Put a scoop of batter on the hot plate. Make a round shape, it now looks like a thick pancake. You can now add the topping on top, often bacon or shrimp is chosen. But you can choose what you like best.
After a few minutes, when the bottom is cooked, turn it over.
When both sides look ready, they are lightly browned, you can add okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise to your own taste. You can also there aonori, finely ground seaweed, and katsuo, dried fish flakes, on sprinkles. These fish flakes will start to dance through the hot pancake, which looks funny.
The Hiroshima variant
Ingredients
The ingredients for this version are exactly the same as before okomiyaki prepared the Osaka way. The only thing that differs is the preparation method.
Preparation method
Cut the leek into small pieces and the cabbage into thin, elongated strings. Make a batter of the flour, stock cube and water. Do not add the cabbage, leek and eggs yet. The batter will be considerably thinner than with the above variant.
Heat the hot plate to about 230 degrees Celsius and add a dash of sunflower oil. Spread it evenly again and pat it with kitchen paper if necessary.
Put a scoop of batter on the hot plate and make a round shape. The pancake you get now will be a lot thinner than the Osaka variety. Put pieces of cabbage and leek on top of the pancake until it is almost completely covered. Then top it with bacon, shrimp or something else from the above list. Cover with a few drops of batter. When the bottom is well done, lift the okonomiyaki it is best to use two spatulas for this. Then have someone else open an egg on the hot plate, under the okonomiyaki. One egg per pancake is sufficient. Turn the cake over, with the topped side down.
When that jug is cooked, you can turn it once more and taste okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, aonori and katsuo add.