Don't get caught in the mindset of Pizza Hut or Domino's pizza, but this variant from Japan is easy to prepare and makes a nutritious and different dish.
Yaki means grilled in Japanese and Okonomi means what you want. So there are no hard and fast rules, even in its traditional home of Japan there are different styles depending on the region.
Try this Westernised version although there are some tips to follow if you want to make it more authentic. It also depends on whether you want something simple and delicious or whether you feel like being “chefy” and adventurous.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 egg
- Oil for frying. (Olive oil or a higher temperature oil like peanut oil or the real healthy rice bran oil)
- Water or dashi. (Dashi is Japanese stock made by bringing a piece of kombu in water to the boil, removing the kombu at that stage, adding a good dollop of bonito flakes. Turning the heat off and when the bonito flakes have sunk( about 2 minutes), pouring off the liquid. Or you can cheat and buy instant dashi stock. Kombu and bonito flakes will be in most asian food shops.)
- A handful of shredded cabbage
- A handful of chopped green onions.
- A handful of bacon pieces or chopped ham, or cooked pork, or shrimp.
- A handful of grated cheese.
- And by a handful, I am not talking a Yeti hand, but a demure princess hand.
Method:
Place the flour in a bowl, break in the egg and add enough water or dashi to make a batter or pancake mix. Throw in the rest and mix well.
Heat the oil in a pan and add enough mix to make about a centimeter or half inch pancake. Don't have the oil too hot as you don't want to burn, but just to brown it nicely.
Then either stick it under the griller or flick the pancake over to do the other side.
Throw it onto a plate.
Serve with Japanese mayo, okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes to dust the top and pickled ginger.
Or a western version would be mayo and barbeque sauce, skip the bonito flakes.
Or a “chefy” western version would be take some standard mayo and add some rice white vinegar or even white vinegar to thin it down and give it some tang. The sauce can be made by mixing two parts ketchup to one part Worcestshire sauce and a pinch of sugar.
I hate writing out recipes because now I am hungry. You can vary this recipe as far as what you want to add, type of meat, grated vegetables, peas, but give it a whirl. It also gives you a chance to say some fancy foreign words!
