Japanese Okonomiyaki Savory Pancake
These tender and moist savory Okonomiyaki Pancakes are packed with all sorts of delectable seafood or meaty bites, topped with umami packed toppings and zigzagged with all kinds of delicious sauces. Just one of the best comfort foods you can find!
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 11 oz Chinese yam (also known as nagaimo or mountain yam)
- 1 1/2 cup dashi soup stock (or use reg. soup stock or water)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 6 eggs
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs (optional)
- 1 head cabbage, around 2 lbs
- 6 oz frozen shrimp, defrosted, 170g
- 6 oz cooked octopus, 170g
- 2 tbsp oil
- okonomiyaki sauce
- 2 cups bonito flakes
- 4 tsp anori green seaweed powder
- squeeze bottled mayonnaise, preferably kewpie mayo
- 2 tbsp spring onions, chopped to rounds
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the yam: Use gloves if you have sensitive skin. Peel the skin off the yam with a veggie peeler. The yam is very slippery once peeled so keep a tight grip. Grate the yam. It will grate into a slimy liquid.
- 2
Prepare the dashi: Prepare dashi soup stock according to the package instructions. Let cool to room temperature.
- 3
Prepare the batter: In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, salt, white pepper and baking powder. Add grated yam. Add dashi. Stir to mix. Add eggs and bread crumbs. Stir to mix in thoroughly. Let batter rest for at least a couple of hours and up to overnight (covered and in the fridge.) This time lets the gluten relax and helps create a more tender and fluffy pancake. At this point the batter can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- 4
Prepare the additions: Night before making okonomiyaki, defrost any frozen seafood by putting in the fridge overnight. After removing defrosted seafood from the bag strain water off. Cut seafood to bite sized pieces if necessary.
- 5
Add the cabbage: On the day you want to make the okonomiyaki, wash the cabbage. Cut in half, then cut out the hard core and discard. Chop the cabbage into small bite sized pieces, fine shreds or process in food processor til chopped up. Size depends on preference. Squeeze the chopped cabbage to remove excess water. Add to the batter and stir til just mixed.
- 6
Cook the okonomiyaki: Heat up a thick bottomed frying pan* til hot then turn the heat down to low. Brush a bit of oil on the pan, then pour in enough batter to make a 6 inch round that is 1/2 inch in height. Add 1/8th of the shrimp and octopus cubes evenly over top. Scoop another scoop of batter over to cover. The batter should end up being around 1 inch high. Let cook, around 4-5 mins, or until the bottom of the pancake is a golden brown. Using two spatulas or one big one, flip the pancake over. Cook for another 4-5 mins until the bottom layer is a golden brown. Remove to serving plate and start the next pancake. *Note that you can reduce the cooking time by cooking two pancakes at a time. Just use two pans.
- 7
Add the toppings: Squeeze the okonomiyaki sauce over each cooked pancake in a zig zag pattern. Add a generous handful of bonito flakes and sprinkle some aonori seaweed over the top. Zig zag some lines of mayo over everything, sprinkle with spring onion and it's ready to serve. Enjoy the nom-nom-iness!