Saturday, March 20, 2010

Jade: Bitemyokonomiyaki

The first time I had okonomiyaki must've been last year..when Mars and I [and by that I mean I wanted to, she really didn't have a choice in the matter] went on a food crawl around Covent Garden. Non-stop eating; 12 restaurants in 2 days. One of the best birthdays I've ever had, but I digress. I've never given much thought to this japanese pancake...the idea was novel, it looked pretty on a plate, but somehow it just never seemed intriguing enough. That is, until I took my first bite....light, almost creamy pancake packed full of crunchy vegetables and chunks of the freshest seafood, drizzled with tangy okonomiyaki sauce and silky Kewpie Mayo.....It was so much more than just a pancake..it was comfort food and a fuzzy hug all rolled into one. All those years I spent giving a disdainful sniff whenever someone suggested having it..what was I thinking? Ah well...better late than never, I say ;)

Okonomiyaki

1/4 cup all purpose flour [ I used self raising because I was lazy to measure out baking powder]
1/4 tsp baking powder
salt to taste
1/4 cup water or dashi stock [ I crumbled in some vegetable stock granules instead]
1 egg
1 spring onion, chopped
about 4 cabbage leaves, stems removed and roughly chopped
mixed seafood [ use bacon, mushrooms, cheese, anything you fancy]

Sauce
2-3 tbsp ketchup
1tbsp worchestershire sauce
soy sauce to taste
squirt of honey to balance out the tang

1. Get a non-stick frying pan nice and hot
2. Whisk the flour, salt and water till you get a fairly thick batter
3. Add cabbage, spring onion and seafood, crack in your egg
4. Give it a good stir, mainly to break up the egg, taking care not to overmix
5. Drizzle some oil into the hot pan, pour in your okonomiyaki batter and cook for about 5 minutes. I used my rice cooker lid to cover the pancake because that's what the lady at the shop did. I'm sure it has something to do with half steaming the pancake so it cooks thoroughly.
6. Get yourself 2 spatulas and flip the pancake, let it cook for another 5-10 minutes
7. Stick a skewer through the middle to check if it's cooked all the way through, brush on a generous amount of okonomiyaki sauce and drizzle on some Kewpie Mayo. You could use normal mayo, but it won't be the same.
8. Share with someone you like:)


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