Okonomiyaki

Ingredients

2 servings
  • cabbage 600 g
  • flour 180 g
  • dashi 250 cl
  • baking powder 11 g
  • egg eggs 2
  • bacon thinly sliced 8 sliceslices
  • ketchup 4 tbsp
  • Worcestershire sauce 4 tbsp
  • oyster sauce 2 tbsp
  • sugar 2 tbsp
  • mayonnaise without mustard, such as Kewpie mayo
  • katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
  • shichimi (Japanese seven spices)

Steps

  1. Cut the cabbage into thin slices and shuffle them.

  2. Prepare the okonomiyaki batter by mixing the flour, the baking powder, the dashi and the eggs. Once the batter's consistency is homogenous, add the cabbage.

  3. Let the batter rest for at least an hour.

  4. Coat a nonstick pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil, cover it with four slices of bacon, and spread a laddleful of batter on top of it.

  5. Cook one side of the okonomiyaki on medium heat for 5 minutes, then add a lid and cook it for 5 more minutes.

  6. Using a flat surface (such as a large cutting board), remove the okonomiyaki from the pan, coat it again with some more vegetable oil, then add the okonomiyaki back into the pan (raw side down) to cook the other side the exact same way.

  7. Prepare the okonomiyaki sauce by mixing the ketchup, the oyster sauce, the Worcestershire sauce and the sugar—ideally in advance, so that the sugar disolves properly. Brush it on top of the okonomiyaki.

  8. Drizzle mayonnaise over the entire surface in a zigzag pattern. Finish off by adding a layer of katsuobushi and by dusting some shichimi on top of it.

Notes

Adapted from Namiko Hirasawa Chen’s recipe.

I simplified the original recipe to skip ingredients that I hardly find or buy and increased the quantities of certain ingredients to preserve the batter's consistency.