OkonoMyaki: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Five years ago, on a trip to Japan, I met and fell in love with a Japanese egg dish called Okonomyaki.
Okonomyaki was the not the weird thing that I ate in Japan. It’s just an egg and veggie pancake with lots of flavor. In fact, in Japan it’s considered pub food and traditionally served with beer. Hold the beer for me, but bring on the Okonomyaki.
The dish was made on a griddle in front of my eyes on a freezing cold night in Kyoto. I was hooked, see the look of fascination in my eyes?
I came home and tried to recreate this dish using online recipes as my guide.
I tested many batches to find the perfect ratio of eggs to cabbage. I added sauerkraut, other veggies, cheese and all sorts of meats. You can throw just about anything in there.
I experimented obsessively over and over again until I became an okonomyaki expert.
I even came up with a baked version of this dish that’s more like a cabbage frittata. Get the recipe here.
What should we call it? How about delicious?
While I liked the baked version, the best way to eat this dish is to fry it on a griddle, like they do in Japan.
My okonomyaki game really stepped up when I got this electric griddle. It makes perfect okonomyaki all the time. It has become my favorite kitchen appliance. I use it to make flat bread and this Paleo pizza calzone.
The other cool thing about Okonomyaki are the toppings.
It’s served with squiggly lines of mayonnaise and a sweet Japanese BBQ sauce on top. I used Sriracha (this is one) instead of BBQ sauce. And if you want to be authentic you can sprinkle some flakes of dried, smoked fish on top, called bonito (you can buy bonito flakes here).
The bonito flakes dance on the top of the sizzling pancake like crackling flames. It’s a dramatic sight to behold. But you can leave out the bonito flakes because the pancake alone is delish.
After all that OCD experimentation, I have arrived at the perfect recipe for Okonomyaki. I hope you enjoy this easy to make taste of Japan at home.
My okonomyaki recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup (4 ounces) of diced sausage
4 eggs
3 Tablespoons of chopped chives or scallions
1 tsp fish sauce or 1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of potato flour (you can also use almond flour or coconut flour)
1/2 cup of bone broth (my Paleo addition to the recipe)
10 ounces of shredded cabbage
Optional: diced Jalapeno or Serrano pepper.
Garnish with Sriracha and/or Mayo
Optional: Bonito Flakes (for fun, authenticity and an added smoky flavor)
Equipment used:
CucinaPro Electric Griddle & Crepe Maker
How to
Mix eggs and flour in a bowl.
Add in cabbage and mix in with egg and flour mixture. This is the base for the pancake.
Add chives/scallions, bone broth and meat and mix ingredients together with a spatula.
Throw in diced sausage and either fish sauce or salt and optional chopped pepper
Mix ingredients into a pancake dough. It will be on the watery side but will stick together well after it is cooked.
I make one pancake at a time. Pour a pancake on a greased griddle and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side on medium heat. Flip over 4 times.
Don’t make the pancakes too thicker. The thicker they are the longer they take to cook, so adjust grilling time to pancake thickness.
Serve hot with mayonnaise, Sriracha or BBQ sauce and bonito flakes.
- ½ cup (4 ounces) of diced sausage
- 4 eggs
- 3 Tablespoons of chopped chives or scallions
- 1 tsp fish sauce or 1 teaspoon of salt
- ½ cup of potato flour (you can also use almond flour or coconut flour)
- ½ cup of bone broth (my Paleo addition to the recipe)
- 10 ounces of shredded cabbage
- Optional: diced Jalapeno or Serrano pepper.
- Garnish with Sriracha and/or Mayo
- Optional: Bonito Flakes (for fun, authenticity and an added smoky flavor)
- Mix eggs and flour in a bowl.
- Add in cabbage and mix in with egg and flour mixture. This is the base for the pancake.
- Add chives/scallions, bone broth and meat and mix ingredients together with a spatula.
- Throw in diced sausage and either fish sauce or salt and optional chopped pepper
- Mix ingredients into a pancake dough. It will be on the watery side but will stick together well after it is cooked.
- I make one pancake at a time. Pour a pancake on a greased griddle and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side on medium heat. Flip over 4 times.
- Don't make the pancakes too thicker. The thicker they are the longer they take to cook, so adjust grilling time to pancake thickness.
- Serve hot with mayonnaise, Sriracha or BBQ sauce and bonito flakes.
Other THingS I Ate In Japan
Something else happened in Japan. The night started out like this: all smiles while having a traditional Japanese dinner with local friends.
But it ended like this.
I’ve always had a fear spiders and our Japanese friends ordered a dish of tiny crabs that looked like spiders.
In Japan it’s rude not to try everything. So, even though I was terrified, I ate the tiny creature, shell and all.
My heart pounded. The room spun. I had to close my eyes and have it fed to me.
It looks like a torture photo for a reason: I felt like I was being tortured! But after crunching down on that little creature it wasn’t that bad.
But I’ll definitely stick with my Japanese pancakes. Thanks.
