Hiroshima Okonomiyaki
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki is quite different to the Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savoury Pancake) that I posted some time ago, but equally delicious. It is a layered savoury pancake. Each ingredient is placed on top of the pancake in a particular order, making a very thick okonomiyaki.You will need either a flat rectangle griddle pan over stove/BBQ, electric flat griddle or two frypans on the stove top. See the step-by-step photo in the post as a reference.Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 40g / 1.4oz flour
- 80ml / 2.7oz water
- 1 tbsp bonito flakes
- 5g / 0.2oz tororo konbu ((shaved dried konbu, note 1))
- 120g /4.2oz cabbage shredded
- 80g / 2.8oz bean sprouts
- 2 tbsp tenkasu ((fried batter bits, note 2))
- 1 tbsp shallots/scallions chopped finely
- 50g / 1.8oz thinly sliced pork belly
- 100-120g / 3.5-4.2oz yellow noodles ((cooked, note 3))
- Oil
- Salt & pepper
- Aonori
- Okonomiyaki sauce ((note 4))
Instructions
- 1
Heat a flat griddle pan or a frypan to 170°C / 338°F.
- 2
Put flour and water into a bowl and mix well until lump free.
- 3
Oil the pan thinly and pour about ¾ of the batter onto the pan (one side if using a griddle plate) and thinly spread the batter to make a circle of about 20cm / 8” diameter (note 5).
- 4
Turn the heat up to 200°C / 392°F. Spread bonito flakes and tororo konbu (if using) on the batter.
- 5
Put the cabbage on it within the circle of batter, then bean sprouts. They are piled up very high – about 8cm / 3⅛" tall. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the pile.
- 6
Press down the vegetables slightly so that the top of the pile is flattened. Put tenkasu and shallots/scallions on top of it, then spread the pork slices over it (note 6). Sprinkle a pinch of salt & pepper over the pork.
- 7
Cook for about 5 minutes until the edge of the batter starts curving up. Do not try to move the pile until you reach to this point.
- 8
Spread the remaining batter over the surface of the pile. The purpose of this batter is to glue the toppings together as much as you can. So, try to spread the batter evenly, drawing the lines.
- 9
Slide a large spatula under the batter, gently lift the entire okonomiyaki up and turn it over (note 7). Some vegetables might spill over, or the thin layer of cooked batter, which should be on top, may land off centre but don’t worry.
- 10
Collect the scattered vegetables and push them to the edge of the pile. If the cooked batter landed off centre (this happened to me once), simply push the batter to the centre and tidy up to make a round shape with the ingredients piled up in the reverse order – pork at the bottom, the thin batter at the top.
- 11
Cook for 8-10 minutes until the cabbage becomes wilted and soft.
- 12
After 6 minutes into cooking the okonomiyaki in the above step, add a small amount of oil onto the unused area of the griddle pan or a new frypan that is heated to 200°C / 392°F, and stir fry the noodles on it for a couple of minutes, disentangling the strands. (note 8)
- 13
Shape the noodles into a circle with the same diameter as the okonomiyaki, lift the entire okonomiyaki with the spatula and place it on top of the noodles.
- 14
Reduce the temperature of the pan to 170°C / 338°F. Clean the pan where the okonomiyaki was and oil it thinly.
- 15
Crack an egg onto the area that you just oiled. Quickly break the yolk and spread the egg to form a circle with the same size as the okonomiyaki.
- 16
While the egg is still half raw, lift the entire okonomiyaki up and place it on the egg.
- 17
After cooking the egg for 10-20 seconds, place the spatula underneath the egg, lift the okonomiyaki up gently and turn it over quickly. The egg should now be on top.
- 18
Spread a generous amount of sauce over the egg, then sprinkle aonori over.
- 19
Cut the okonomiyaki in half using a spatula and eat it off the pan to keep it hot (traditional way) or transfer it to plates to serve.