054 - OKONOMIYAKI

Cooking your own food and eat it straight away is pure bliss. Don’t believe me? Try one of my recipes, preferably the easier ones, like the Aglio e Olio spaghetti or Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Grab a bite, and tell me if you don’t love it.

See what I’m talking about? That’s the great thing about comfort food. Done right and it will always hit the spot. Guaranteed.

This time around, it’s still Japanese, it’s still comfort food, and it’s still amazing.

It’s OKONOMIYAKI

To those with lazy fingers, let me help you with the googling. Okonomiyaki is basically a Japanese pancake. Well, not authentically theirs, but it’s their own take on the recipe. Instead of Butter and Maple, Okonomiyaki is served with Okonomi sauce and mayonnaise. 

Yes, it is Savory.

Okonomiyaki basically means ‘grill it as you like’. So each region throughout Japan has their version of it. Osaka people loved to add Squid or Shrimp to the mix, because their region specializes in Seafood. Hiroshima people loved to keep it heavy by adding yakisoba noodles and fried eggs into their already humongous Okonomiyaki.

Me? This is my take based on the Osaka version of the recipe. The recipe was adopted from several recipes I stumbled upon, and I tried to adjust it to Indonesian ingredients availability.

======================

For 2 Servings, you will need:

The star of the show!

100 grams of Cake Flour. Cake flour is basically a low-protein flour.

140 ml of Dashi stock. You can substitute this with Chicken Stock

¼ tsp of Baking Powder

(optional) 1 tbsp of Nagaimo. Nagaimo is Japanese mountain Yam. It can be bought at Japanese supermarket. The sticky texture doesn’t come cheap, it costs IDR 350.000 per kilogram.

Salt to taste

200 grams of Cabbage

75 grams of Green Onion

2 Eggs

100 grams of Squid/Shrimp. You can substitute this with Chicken. Keep in mind, Chicken cook longer, so it need to be par-cooked before being added to the batter.

For Toppings

Okonomiyaki/Japanese Worcestershire sauce. Mostly known as the ‘Bulldog’ brand.

Dried Seaweed

Katsuobushi (Dried, Smoked, Skipjack Tuna). Readily available at most major supermarkets today.

Japanese Mayonnaise. Kewpie should be your choice. Japs added MSG in their Mayo and it makes a whole world of difference.

Chives

========================

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Get a bowl and put the Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt in. Slowly add the Dashi while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. If you’re using Nagaimo, peel the skin, and grate it. Add the gooey stuff to the mix. This will make the final product chewy in a very good way.

Flour

Baking powder

Salt

Dashi stock

Nagaimo

It's sticky, YEW!

Step 2 – Add the Cabbage, Green Onion, Squid, and Eggs. Give it a nice stir. Not too much, just until combined. We don’t want gluten to form don’t we?

Cabbage and Green Onion

Squid

Eggs

Stir to combine

Step 3 – Get a large non-stick pan, add some oil to it. Heat it up on medium. Once the pan is hot, put the mixture in. Quickly cover the pan, and let cook for about 5 minutes on medium. After that, give it a flip, and cook on Medium-Low heat for another 6-7 minutes to crisp up.

Oil

Cooking on medium

The cover will help the insides cook

Ready to flip?

BAM!

Cover, yet again

Step 4 – Once crispy, take it off the heat and decorate! I usually go with Okonomiyaki Sauce, Katsuobushi, Chives, Seaweed, and Mayonnaise.

Okonomi sauce

Spread that sh*t, yeah

Katsuobushi

Chives

Seaweed

Kewpie Mayonnaise

Step 5 – SERVE!

You know, this might not be as authentic as it is in Japan, but it tasted pretty damn good!

You can literally put anything you want in here. For example, if you're not a fan of squid, you can add fish or shrimp. Or maybe shredded chicken? Yes, that can work too!

The thing is, Okonomiyaki is best enjoyed with family and friends. Cause it's just so damn good!

Give this thing a go!

Cheers

xx