Okonomiyaki, which roughly translates to “anything grilled,” can be described as a Japanese cabbage and seafood-flavored pancake. But, that is very much off the mark as to what the dish is: think of a grilled disk of cabbage and batter, coated in a sweet sauce, and Japanese mayo. It is heaven and surprisingly easy to make.

Ingredients (1 Okonomiyaki):

Batter:

  • 76 grams flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon1 of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 60 ml of warm water2
  • bonito flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 of a head of cabbage
  • 1/4 of a red3 onion

Sauce4:

  • 1 tablespoon (26 grams) of ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon (30 ml) of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon (8 ml) of soy sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon (8 ml) of honey
  • 1 teaspoon (4 grams) of molasses

Garnish:

  • Japanese mayo
  • bonito flakes
  • nori flakes

Preparation:

Dashi Substitute

  • Get 60 ml of warm water.
  • Add half a teaspoon of soy sauce.
  • Add a generous amount of bonito flakes5.
  • Mix6.

Batter

  • Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • Whisk the eggs then add them to the batter.
  • Add your dashi substitute and mix.
  • Dice7 your cabbage and add it to the batter.
  • Dice your onion and add it to the batter.
  • Mix until everything is incorporated8.

Sauce

  • Combine the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, and molasses.
  • Mix until smooth.

Cooking

  • Get your best non-stick9 pan hot10.
  • Add all the batter, making a nice, large, circle.
  • Let cook11 until the bottom is ready (roughly 3 minutes).
  • Slide the okonomiyaki onto a plate, then flip it back onto the pan12.
  • Brush the top of the okonomiyaki with sauce (while the bottom is cooking).
  • Once the bottom is cooked, flip onto a plate.

Garnishing

  • Brush the okonomiyaki with sauce13.
  • Add a generous swizzle of (Japanese) mayo.
  • Sprinkle a very generous amount of bonito flakes.
  • Sprinkle some nori.

Credits:

This recipe is my take on Joshua Weissman’s recipe (a Kansai-style okonomiyaki). I mostly removed the need for dashi and cut the seafood from the preparation14.

  1. The technical term is a “pinch” but I am pretty sure that the dish would be fine if it were omitted. ↩︎

  2. This will be used with soy sauce and bonito flakes to do a quick dashi substitute. If you have dashi, use it. ↩︎

  3. Green onions would be more traditional, but I like color and have red onions in my pantry. ↩︎

  4. None of these ingredients are mandatory; there are many valid substitutions as long as you end up with a dark, sweet, and umami sauce. ↩︎

  5. If we were making actual dashi, we would filter out the flakes after mixing thoroughly, but they will bring some fish elements to the final product. ↩︎

  6. The result will look and smell fishy, which might not be the most appetizing thing depending on your taste; this is fine as it will be incorporated in the batter, taking the place of dashi and diced seafood. ↩︎

  7. Surprisingly, the onion cutting methods work great for cabbage… ↩︎

  8. This will feel more like coleslaw than pancake batter; it is normal and fine. ↩︎

  9. This is a sticky batter. If you do not have a great non-stick pan, then I would abandon the idea of flipping the dish and just scrape it once done enough (at which point it starts making sense to cook it in an oven…). ↩︎

  10. As you would for pancakes. ↩︎

  11. Do not put a lid on; it would retain too much moisture. ↩︎

  12. You can take your time to do this flipping action, but yes, that is the difficult part of this recipe. ↩︎

  13. Now is the time to use all the sauce left. ↩︎

  14. Feel free to add it back! This is a great dish to make with some leftover seafood. ↩︎