Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba). Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup dashi soup stock or water
• 4-6 eggs
• 1 - 1 1/2 lb cabbage, finely chopped
• 4-6 Tbsp chopped green onion
• 1/2-3/4 cup tenkasu (tempura flakes)
• 12-18 strips of thinly sliced pork or beef
• vegetable oil
• For toppings:
• ao-nori (dried seaweed powder)
• okonomiyaki sauce
• mayonnaise
• katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) *optional
• beni-shoga (pickled red ginger) *optional

Preparation:

Put flour in a large bowl. Pour dashi and mix to make batter. Rest the batter for about an hour in the refrigerator. To make one sheet of okonimiyaki, take out about 1/2 cup of the batter in another bowl. Mix about 1/4 lb of chopped cabbage, about 1 Tbsp of chopped green onion, and about 2 Tbsp of tempura flakes in the batter. Add an egg in the batter and stir. Heat an electric pan or skillet and oil lightly. Pour the batter in the pan and make a round shape. Cook for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, fry a couple slices of meat on the side and place the meat on top of the okonomiyaki. Flip the okonomiyaki and cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Flip the okonomiyaki again and spread okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise on top. Sprinkle aonori over the sauce. Sprinkle katsuobushi and beni-shoga if you would like.