Okonomiyaki (new trial)

serves 6 to 8

Adapted from Just One Cookbook

We are pretty happy with this okonomiyaki recipe that we've adapted from 'Just one cookbook' who gives a very extensive post about all the options and substitutes and has a great video too. It's a light and fluffy vegetable pancake with a delicious sauce to accompany it made from sauces we already have around the home. 

My little one loves saying ok-ono-mi-ya-ki and will eat cabbage when disguised in this dish which is a win! I think she mostly enjoys the sauces on top but I guess we all do and that is what makes this dish next level. She also decided that she wanted to be in charge of decorating them and taking photos too, and was upset when I wanted to have a go...

So this is what life has come to.

When your 4 year old daughter decides she wants to be in charge of 'decorating' and taking photos,
I guess part of encouraging her is to take a step back from wanting it to look a certain way
(first three done by my little food blogger in the making) 

Prep time: 20 min

Cooking time: 1 hour (about 10min per pancake)

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar
¼ tsp baking powder

¾ cup water (supposed to be dashi soup stock but I can't seem to find any equivalent)
2 egg whites, beaten till fluffy
4 large eggs
½ cup tempura scraps or breadcrumbs
100g pickled radish

¼ cup frozen corn
1 head cabbage (approximately 700 g)
250g pork belly, plain or marinated
1 cup shredded cheese (optional, see notes for adding)

dried shrimp (optional, see notes for adding)

For the Quick Okonomiyaki Sauce

1½ Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
4 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (less than original recipe as we found it too sour)

Other toppings

Japanese Kewpie mayo

Furikake or dried seaweed

Dried bonito (tuna) flakes

Method

1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and water in a large mixing bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until fluffy then fold into the flour mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the gluten in the flour to settle.

3. In the meantime, finely chop the cabbage and then dice into 1cm lengths. Dice the radish into 1cm cubes. 

4. You can also make the okonomiyaki sauce by combining the sugar, tomato sauce, oyster sauce and Worcestershire sauce and tweak to taste. 

NB. The original recipe had more worcestershire but we found it too sour and overpowering.

5. When ready to cook, add the eggs and tempura scraps into the mixture and stir to combine. Add the cabbage, radish, corn and cheese and stir to combine.

6. Heat a pan on medium heat, add in a teaspoon of oil then add in the mixture to form a circle about 1cm thick. If using pork belly, then place thin slices of pork belly on top. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. 

6. Flip and cover and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 2 minutes until nicely brown on both sides.

7. To serve, brush with the okonomiyaki sauce, then add the Japanese mayo, then sprinkle with furikake and bonito flakes.