OkONOmiyaki
Inspired by No Reservations - Osaka I've been wanting to try making homemade okonomiyaki ("Japanese pizza"). This dish is a favorite late-night snack or pupu made with a pancake batter, cabbage, various meats and other vegetables - all topped off with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise. I found a nice site with a recipe and step-by-step instructions with pictures so I finally decided to make it last night. First step was to go to the Pearl City Don Quijote for ingredients. The recipe calls for Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie) and okonomi sauce. I also picked up the requisite head cabbage from Don Quijote. It's very easy to make.
Ingredients for a large single serving:
1 cup flour
1 egg
3/4 cup water or water with dashi no moto (soup stock made with bonito)
1 t sugar
1/8 to 1/4 head cabbage finely shredded
Optional things to add:
chopped meats (I used roast pork and char siu that I bought from the chinese take out place in the food court by DQ)
sliced onion
chopped green onion
cheese
You can use your imagination here and add shrimp or fish cake, etc.
Toppings:
Japanese mayonnaise (actually Best Foods would've been fine)
Okonomiyaki sauce
Katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes - I chose not to use this here)
Furikake (nori or dried seaweed flakes, sesame seeds, and other seasonings)
For this type of cooking, preparation is eveything - slice the vegetables and meats and shred the cabbage first. I'd also recommend sauteing the onions with a little salt and pepper. If you are using raw meats or seafood I'd also recommend sauteing them as well. Just be mindful of not overcooking so as they will be cooked further in the pancake.
Mix your wet ingredients (egg and water) and whisk into the flour. Add the raw cabbage and mix.
Heat a large skillet or (as in my case) a griddle to medium-high heat with a little cooking oil. Pour half the batter onto the heated griddle and then add your meats, other vegetables and cheese.
Pour the rest of the batter over this. Use the back of a large spoon or a spatula to press everything down. When the underside is cookied to golden brown, use 2 spatulas to flip the okonomiyaki over.
For a large okonomiyaki, it may take two or more flips to fully cook the pancake.
Slice and serve with the toppings. I think Anthony Bourdain said it best: "Served piping hot, it goes good with beer." ...something like that. ;-)
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