Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Pancakes)
Okonomiyaki are the Japanese Street Food Pancakes of your dreams. No not the fluffy pancakes that you've seen float around the internet, these are better. They can also be frozen for a quick meal later but don't freeze with the dressing.
Servings: 4 Servings
Ingredients
For Okonomiyaki Batter:
- 1 cup 152g cake flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon 3g kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon 1g baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup 120ml dashi
- 1/2 large head cabbage cut into dime-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons 30g red pickled ginger chopped (beni shoga)
- 1/4 pound shrimp poached and cut into small bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup 30g agedama/tenkasu (tempura scrap)
- 1 bunch thin sliced green onion
For Homemade Okonomiyaki Sauce:
Instructions
Batter:
- Mix flour, baking powder, salt, whole eggs and dashi. Lumps are ok.
- Season your green cabbage with salt, and squeeze the water out of it.
- Poach your shrimp in a bit of dashi. Cool off and cut into small pieces
- Toss cabbage, shrimp, pickled ginger, agedama and onion whites in batter.
- To cook the pancake, start a nonstick pan with a cooking spray in medium heat.
- Add thin strips of pork belly.
- Flip pancake and brush with sauce.
- Flip pancake again and brush the other side with sauce.
Okonomiyaki Sauce:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Store and use as needed.
Video
Notes
Common Problems:
INSIDE OF THE PANCAKE IS RAW
This is probably by far the biggest problem in making okonomiyaki. I have experienced this countless times in my life from being impatient. To check the "doneness", you can simply use a bamboo skewer or wooden chopsticks to check if the center of the okonomiyaki is cooked or not. Stick it into okonomiyaki, and if it comes out clean, it means most likely done.
Alternatively, if the bamboo skewer feels warm or hot, it's likely cooked through as well.
This problem of okonomiyaki being raw in the middle comes from cooking it with a too high heat. If you cook it over high heat, only the surface will be cooked quickly, and by the time it's cooked all the way through, the surface will be burnt. So make sure to cook it over medium heat until firm inside. HOW TO FIX RAW OKONOMIYAKI
So you've served up your okonomiyaki, covered it in topping and cut into it... only to find it's still raw in the middle! Even if your okonomiyaki was not done enough, don't throw it away! You can fix the okonomiyaki by either returning it to the frying pan or teppanyaki and cooking over low heat with lid on in frying pan or cook in a microwave (600W) for 1 minute with cling film over the top. Following these techniques will save your okonomiyaki, although the appearance might be a bit compromised. OKONOMIYAKI BEING TOO SOFT AND SOGGY
This problem comes from only one reason, too much water content. This does not simply mean the water you put in the batter, but also because of the other water source such as cabbages or yams. So it's important to be aware of how much cabbage or yams you add as well as when and how. As I mentioned in the tip section, I recommend adding cabbage right before cooking. IT'S TOO CRUMBLY
This problem is often to do with either not enough eggs / not using eggs at all. If the amount of egg is not enough, the batter will fall apart easily, and the okonomiyaki may not set properly. If you use small eggs, maybe it's worth using one more. Eggs kind of act as glue that holds the batter and ingredients together, so without eggs, the ingredients tend to flake off and fall out when the pancake is done. So if you forget to add eggs, the okonomiyaki may not set properly.
This is probably by far the biggest problem in making okonomiyaki. I have experienced this countless times in my life from being impatient. To check the "doneness", you can simply use a bamboo skewer or wooden chopsticks to check if the center of the okonomiyaki is cooked or not. Stick it into okonomiyaki, and if it comes out clean, it means most likely done.
Alternatively, if the bamboo skewer feels warm or hot, it's likely cooked through as well.
This problem of okonomiyaki being raw in the middle comes from cooking it with a too high heat. If you cook it over high heat, only the surface will be cooked quickly, and by the time it's cooked all the way through, the surface will be burnt. So make sure to cook it over medium heat until firm inside. HOW TO FIX RAW OKONOMIYAKI
So you've served up your okonomiyaki, covered it in topping and cut into it... only to find it's still raw in the middle! Even if your okonomiyaki was not done enough, don't throw it away! You can fix the okonomiyaki by either returning it to the frying pan or teppanyaki and cooking over low heat with lid on in frying pan or cook in a microwave (600W) for 1 minute with cling film over the top. Following these techniques will save your okonomiyaki, although the appearance might be a bit compromised. OKONOMIYAKI BEING TOO SOFT AND SOGGY
This problem comes from only one reason, too much water content. This does not simply mean the water you put in the batter, but also because of the other water source such as cabbages or yams. So it's important to be aware of how much cabbage or yams you add as well as when and how. As I mentioned in the tip section, I recommend adding cabbage right before cooking. IT'S TOO CRUMBLY
This problem is often to do with either not enough eggs / not using eggs at all. If the amount of egg is not enough, the batter will fall apart easily, and the okonomiyaki may not set properly. If you use small eggs, maybe it's worth using one more. Eggs kind of act as glue that holds the batter and ingredients together, so without eggs, the ingredients tend to flake off and fall out when the pancake is done. So if you forget to add eggs, the okonomiyaki may not set properly.