By Lola Milholland
In the Kansai region, where okonomiyaki was invented and where I lived (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe are all within Kansai), the ingredients are all mixed together and cooked as one mass. Many regions have their own adaptations—the other most famous style comes from Hiroshima—but the Kansai version is the easiest to make. I like to eat this with rice and miso soup.
I was delighted when I experimented by using our Organic Yakisoba Sauce in place of classic Otafuku or Bulldog Okonomiyaki Sauce. It works like a dream! In fact, I insist: try it out! It’s so special!
I am offering two different batter recipes. If you have access to an Asian market where you can buy long potato, typically labeled nagaimo, buy one and try it out, It is a really strange creature that adds lightness and fluffiness to the final pancakes. These tubers grow long and tubular underground and have poky little hairs on the outside. The flesh is extremely slippery (dare I say slimy) so your best course of action is to not peel away all the skin, leaving yourself a place to hold onto while you grate.
Makes 4 pancakes, 4 to 6 servings
Batter 1
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking power
2-1/2 cups water or dashi
or
Batter 2
1-3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2-1/4 cups water or dashi
2 to 3 inches long potato called nagaimo, peeled and grated with a or on the smaller setting of your box grater
Filling
1 pound green or savoy cabbage, cored, stems removed, and leaves shredded as finely as you can with a sharp knife or mandolin
2 to 3 stalks green onion, finely chopped
5 eggs
Optional add-ins – choose only 2 or 3 at a time
1 cup sliced collards, kale or other hearty greens
1/4 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined or squid, cleaned and chopped
1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
Extra green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons beni-shoga, pickled julienned pink ginger
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup tempura scraps called tenkasu
Handful shiso leaves, julienned
Handful chives
Handful bean sprouts, blanched in salted water and drained
To cook
4 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 pound thinly slice pork belly or bacon, cut in half
Toppings
Umi Yakisoba Sauce (or store-bought okonomiyaki sauce)
Kewpie mayonnaise
Aonori (powdered nori seaseed)
Dried shaved bonito Katsuobushi
Directions
Mix together the batter ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and set in the refrigerator while you prep all the remaining ingredients.
Add the cabbage and green onion to the batter mixture and mix well until thoroughly coated. Add the eggs and mix gently until just combined.
Preheat a nonstick or cast-iron skillet for at least 5 minutes on medium low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, make sure entire surface is coated. Spoon one-fourth of the cabbage batter into skillet to form a pancake about 6 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Don’t push down. Gently lay one-forth of the pork belly slices on top of pancake, try not to overlap. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Using a long spatula, carefully flip the pancake so the pork belly side is now facing down. Gently press on the pancake, not hard. Cover and cook about 5 more minutes. Uncover then flip again. Cook for about 2 minutes more. When it’s done it should be lightly browned on both sides.
Transfer to a plate, pork side up, and add toppings. First, smear about 1/4 cup okonomiyaki sauce evenly across the top. Squeeze on the mayonnaise in long thin ribbons (or you can make mayonnaise art!*). Sprinkle 1 tablespoon aonori over everything, and last sprinkle a small handful of shaved bonito flakes. Cut the okonomiyaki into quarters and serve immediately. Repeat with remaining batter.
*How to Decorate Your Okonomiyaki in a Fancy Way
If you want to try your hand at some very fancy mayonnaise work, you'll need to use Kewpie mayonnaise in a squeeze bottle (or place mayonnaise in a squeeze bottle or bag with a frosting tip).
After brushing on okonomiyaki sauce, squeeze a thin, straight line of mayonnaise horizontally across the top of the okonomiyaki and then curl back, like a switchback on a steep trail, half an inch below. Move the line in the opposite direction. Continue working down the okonomiyaki, back in forth, until you reach the bottom. Stop the flow of mayonnaise. Using a pointy chopstick, drag a line through the mayonnaise from the top to the bottom on the far-left side. Repeat, this time going from the bottom to the top, half an inch toward the center. Continue alternating from top to bottom then bottom to top in evenly spaced lines until you reach the opposite side. The mayonnaise should have a nice marbled effect like a turtle brownie.
