Home Savory Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki

Difficulté : Easy
Catégorie : Savory
Cout : Affordable

The Osaka culinary trip (report HERE) was a good pretext to make you discover or rediscover this excellent recipe from the Kansai region: Okonomiyaki. What is it about? “Okonomi” means ‘what you want’ and “yaki” means ‘to grill’ (as in yakitori, teriyaki, tepanyaki…). So you put in what you want and cook! There are of course great lines and many ways to cook it. I present here a very common way and a perfect recipe that will give you the same taste as in Japan! I perfected my proportions right after my trip to Osaka, so I had a good taste memory of all the elements. You can change at will and add your personal touches. As far as the essential okonomi sauce is concerned, I tried to clone it for you with easy to find ingredients. I adjusted everything, making sure to weigh everything before and after with a real okonomi sauce on the side, until I didn’t really feel any difference. 

For this recipe, the only difficulty is to get all the right ingredients. I give you here a basic recipe with real Japanese cabbage and mountain yam (yama-imo). For the sauce, no more worries because I give you a recipe (of course there is mirin and vinegar of rice, but they are almost everywhere nowadays). For the cabbage, the best is the real cabbage, but you can take a white cabbage that you will have to cook for a few minutes to soften it, because the Japanese cabbage has a very surprising consistency, a little bit like if you cut polystyrene. I got all these tips from a Japanese friend who often cooks this delicious dish. For the mountain yam, there are several solutions: either you go to a Japanese grocery store (which will be more convenient to find the other ingredients), or you replace it by classic yam with a small teaspoon of sugar. Or,   easier, you always go to your Japanese grocery store or on the internet (you can find everything and they deliver everywhere, no excuses!!) and you buy the ready-made okonomiyaki flour (you just have to follow the instructions on the package and forget my recipe for the dough). For the tenkasu (tempura chips), this is optional. It will be even better with it, but it’s up to you!
Remains the katsuobushi, irreplaceable but essential for the real taste! Well, if it’s not there, it’s not the end of the world either! But it’s still a shame…


Recipe for two okonomyaki (2-3 or 4 people depending on your appetite!)



Dough:
-225g of warm water
-3g of dashi
-155g of flour
-70g of mountain yam (yama imo)
-2 eggs
-2 Chinese onions
-one third Japanese cabbage
– a few slices of pickled ginger (pink or red)
-10g of tenkasu (tempura chips (optional))
-6 to 8 slices of bacon


-a little katsuobushi
-mayonnaise
-sauce okonomi


Okonomi” sauce:
-75g worcestershire
-115g of ketchup
-20g of brown sugar
-45g of honey
-10g of soy sauce
-20g of mirin
-10g of rice vinegar
-5g of cornstarch
-1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
-1 tablespoon of oil

Start by preparing the sauce. I perfected this dosage by putting a little sauce I bought in Japan in a bowl and then putting everything in (having taken care to weigh before and after the ingredients) until I couldn’t really distinguish my sauce from the purchased one. 



 

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan, except cornstarch and oil.


Add the ginger powder as well.




Mix well and pour a little sauce over the cornstarch.





Mix well until no lumps remain, then pour back into the pan.




Put on low heat and bring to a boil. 







Let boil while stirring for 2 minutes. Add the tablespoon of oil off the heat. The sauce is ready! Leave   completely cool and put in a small bottle.




This is the Japanese mountain yam.




A root not very appetizing at first sight because its flesh is viscous. Remove the skin with a peeler (for carrots).




Then grate (or blend) until you have 70g.




Here we see the consistency of this root! Place in a bowl with the flour.





Dilute the 3g of dashi in warm water. Pour a little on the flour+igname.




Mix well to avoid lumps, then gradually add the remaining diluted dashi.




We obtain a rather thick paste. Add the eggs.




Mix well: the dough is ready!




Here is the Japanese cabbage. With a normal white cabbage, you will have to cut it in slices and then blanch it (cook it quickly) 2-3 minutes in boiling water.
On the picture there is half a cabbage whereas I put in the recipe a third. I didn’t put everything on the picture but a third of it (so two thirds of the half cabbage, we still follow??). But you can put a little more or a little less… After all it’s okonomi!




Cut cabbage into slices and then into coarse pieces.




Add the cabbage to the dough.




Cut the pickled ginger into small pieces and add as much as you like (a few good pinches and you’re done!).




Add some pieces of tempura chips (10 to 15g).
Cut Chinese onion into small pieces.




Put everything in the dough and mix well.




Heat a small frying pan (18cm) with a tablespoon of oil. Add a good two centimetres of okonomiyaki dough. 




Place 3 or 4 slices of bacon on top. You can substitute shrimp or octopus or whatever you want! 






When the dough starts to cook on the sides, turn the okonomiyaki over. It takes 8 to 10 minutes over moderate heat.
Two methods: throwing the pancakes (which I did here…) or flipping them with a flat lid (as I explained in the tortilla recipe).




Let cook 5-7 minutes on the side of the pork so that it is well grilled (even more than on the picture…).




Pour in a generous amount of okonomi sauce. 




Brush over the entire surface with a brush. 




Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with katsuobushi. It will start to move with the heat (as if there is wind in it).  Finish with a few dashes of mayonnaise.


Keep at proximity, okonomi sauce and mayonnaise! Incredible result! A delight!

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