Okinomiyaki: The Super Delicious Ultimate Japanese Pancake | Vicki James

One night during the dead zone between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I found myself craving something new, something that would wake up my tastebuds.  They were still in a turkey coma and needed something lively.  While perusing the delivery menu from a local pub, I found something I’d never tried before: okinomiyaki.  We ordered it, along with some Japanese style fried chicken. When the food arrived, we were not disappointed.  The taste and texture of the Japanese pancake was incredible.  The chicken was fine, too, but we were truly enthralled by the okinomiyaki.  The English translation means “ anyway you want it”, more or less.  So making okinomiyaki is a “have it your way” experience, although no Whoppers are involved.  Nevertheless, you can put on your paper crown and feast like a king on this amazing concoction.  In Japan, it’s considered the ultimate comfort food, so it is a little like a burger in that way.  In Japan, there are restaurants with griddles set into the center of the tables, so you can cook your own.

Once I tried okinomiyaki, I was on a mission to learn how to make it myself.  I read many recipes and watched numerous you-tube videos before I found one I wanted to try.  With a few changes because some of the ingredients were not readily obtainable, I followed the version shown by Joshua Weissman on You Tube.  Check him out, he makes some amazing food.  Here’s the video. 

Most of the ingredients were available at my local Fresh Market.  With so many Asian ingredients available in most grocery stores these days, you may not have any trouble finding what you need.  The one ingredient I had trouble finding was dashi.  

Dashi is an important ingredient used in many Japanese recipes.  Made from dried kelp and bonito flakes (more about those later), it’s an umami rich broth considered the backbone of most Japanese cuisine.   I found bonito flakes available at the Fresh Market, but no dried kelp.  I looked up substitutions  for dashi on line, and found that chicken broth was an acceptable stand-in.  I hope to acquire some dashi in the future and see if it appreciably changes the taste of the dish.

Some recipes called for cabbage and ginger as the only ingredient in the pancake, but many versions suggested adding shrimp and pork belly.  You may already know this, but pork belly is basically uncured bacon.  I was unable to purchase pork belly, so bacon subbed in in my version.

 Just so you know, the recipe makes three pancakes.

Are you ready to do this?  Assemble the following ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. Kosher salt

¼ tsp.  Baking powder 

4 eggs

½ cup dashi or chicken broth

½ head of cabbage shredded and chopped

2 Tbsp. red pickled ginger ( this is a little different from the kind of ginger you put on sushi)

6 large shrimp ( or more depending on how many people you are feeding – aim for three per person), poached.  I accomplished this by dropping  6 uncooked shrimp in boiling water for about three minutes.

Remove the tails and chop into small pieces. 

3 slices of bacon, cut into three pieces each 

1 bunch of thinly sliced green onions.  Chop the white part to go into the batter, and save the green part for garnishing. 

Okinomiyaki Sauce 

2 tbsp. Ketchup

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. Soy sauce

1 tbsp. Honey 

2 tsp. Molasses 

Garnishes:

Kewpie mayonnaise ( a special Japanese brand) 

Bonito flakes 

Sliced green onions 

You can add other garnishes, such as thinly sliced nori, but I used only the three above

Preparation 

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, broth or dashi, chopped poached shrimp, red pickled ginger and the white part of the bunch of green onions.  Fold in the sliced cabbage until thoroughly mixed. 

Prepare your skillet or griddle.  On some videos I watched, the chef used a slope sided omelet pan.  When it was time to flip the pancake, they placed a plate over the skillet, inverted it, and then slid the uncooked side of the pancake back into the skillet.  With full knowledge that such gymnastics could only end in disaster for me, I found another way.  Fortunately, I have a large rectangular electric non stick frying pan.  I also have a big, round spatula.  I also have a husband who was willing to do the flipping for me.  Crisis averted.

Heat your skillet, whatever it may be, to approximately 350 degrees; the same temperature you would use to cook any kind of pancake.  If your skillet is big enough, divide the batter into two or three parts and place the batter, et. al., in the skillet.  Each portion will make a about an eight inch pancake once you smush it down with the spatula.  Place four pieces of bacon the the top of each pancake.  Cover and cook for about four minutes.  Turn the pancakes over carefully so the bacon does not fall off (easier than you would think).   Cover again and cook for five minutes.  Check the underside of the pancakes; the bacon should be crisp and brown.

Remove each pancake from the skillet and brush with the okinomiyaki sauce.  Don’t skimp; brush them heavily.  Now using a squeeze bottle, zigzag Kewpie mayonnaise over the sauce.  Garnish with bonito flakes and green onion.

I promised to tell you about bonito flakes.  They don’t sound very appealing when described, but they do impart a nice umami layer to your pancake.  They are very thin flakes made from shaving dried fermented skip-Jack tuna.  You can find pictures and videos on line in which someone appears  to be shaving a  board.  This is how bonito flakes are made.  You’re welcome.

Now dive into your pancake and see if it isn’t one of the most delicious things you have ever put in your mouth.  At my household, we preferred our homemade version to the one we had ordered from the restaurant.  This recipe makes  three servings.  When my daughter and son-in-law joined us, I increased all of the pancake ingredients by fifty percent.  That made four generous servings.  They raved about them!  My daughter, who was once a big anime fan, had seen them in anime drawings and cartoons, but had never had one before.  As soon as she got home, she raced to the Asian market and bought everything she needed to make them herself.

The recipe is actually quite easy.  As long as you do your prep work ahead of time, chopping the cabbage and the scallions, and poaching the shrimp, it all comes together very quickly.  I also recommend making the sauce in advance so you have it ready to brush on the pancakes as soon as they are done.