Food experiment: Okonomiyaki (a.k.a. Japanese pizza)

I don’t even remember why I wanted to make this in the first place. But who needs a reason to make something so yummy?!

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) actually means “grill/cook (yaki) what you like (okonomi).” So basically you can put any kind of toppings/ingredients into the basic batter and cook it in the same way.

Actually in Japan, when you eat this in a special restaurant, they have a hot plate in front of you for you to cook it yourself. You order what you would like to be in your okonomiyaki, the waiter gives you the batter with all the ingredients, then you mix it and cook it yourself! It’s super fun. I remember the first time I tried it in Japan we had no idea what to do so the waiter had to help us :P Of course, the best part is that the okonomiyaki stays piping hot on the hot plate while you eat it.

But you really don’t need all that fancy equipment. This is a super simple recipe to make at home. And since I had none of the special Japanese ingredients (e.g. pickled ginger, shredded seaweed, bonito (fish flakes), okonomiyaki sauce etc), I just made everything at home.

There’s different styles of okonomiyaki in Japan, the two most famous ones are the Osaka and Hiroshima versions. I’ve actually never tried the Hiroshima ones (which is made differently and includes stir fried noodles). This one I’m making is more similar to the Osaka style.

Traditionally, you put a lot of stuff on top of the okonomiyaki when it’s done. It really should look like this:

(here’s the super real version of how to make it with super complicated steps: http://www.justhungry.com/okonomiyaki-osaka-style)

But this time, I just made a simplified one (with lots of photos): http://visualrecipes.com/recipe-details/recipe_id/120/Okonomiyaki-aka-Japanese-Pizza/

Also, since I didn’t want to buy the sauce that is used to put on top of it (you can’t eat okonomiyaki without the sauce!!), I found this recipe: http://okonomiyakirecipes.nthmost.com/quick-okonomi-sauce-recipe/

(actually I didn’t even have ketchup, so I just used canned tomato sauce. Hey! stop looking at me like that….ketchup is really just tomato sauce + vinegar + sugar!) I have a feeling you can buy okonomiyaki sauce at most Asian supermarkets.

basically:

1. Mix 1 beaten egg + 3/4 cup water

2. Add 1 cup flour, mix well

3. Add 1/4 to 1/8 finely chopped cabbage (how much depends on what you like. I love it with more cabbage, plus it will shrink). Once you mix it up, if it seems a bit dry, add a bit more water. Don’t over do it!

4. Cut up the rest of what ever topping ingredients you chose (vegetables, meat, mushrooms, corn, cheese etc)

5. Cook toppings on a pan for a bit (how long depends on what you cook); don’t put the cheese in here…

6. There’s two ways to do this: 1) tip all the toppings back into the batter bowl and mix or 2) put batter directly on top of batter

7. Add some oil to the pan and heat. Add batter + toppings.

8. cook both sides two times: but batter in –> wait until a little bit brown –> flip –> wait until a little bit brown –> flip –> wait until a nice golden brown –> flip –> spread the sauce on the top, lots of it –> cook bottom until a nice golden brown and make sure the middle is cooked.

Done! Dekiagari (done in Japanese)!

Since I’m not a meat eater, I just used whatever leftover vegetables I had in the fridge. Adding in cheese is also really tasty although you have to add quite a lot.

Small tips:

1. don’t try to make a big one to save time. they’re really hard to flip and when it’s too thick, the middle doesn’t taste too good.

2. use some oil ( I usually try to use as little as possible). But for this dish, you want the outer crust to be quite crispy. Heat up the oil first before you put the batter in!

3. put a little bit of baking powder in. Maybe it was my biased thinking, but I swear it was fluffier and tastier when I put it in the second time I made it. And do not press the thing down with your spatula.

4. don’t be afraid to substitute! I used wheat flour because I didn’t have anything else. I used tomato sauce instead of ketchup. Plus I had none of the other toppings (not even mayo – funny story, I spent 10 minutes at the super market trying to find a mayo that didn’t have many scary sounding ingredients/preservatives. I couldn’t. And I was too lazy to make mayo from scratch (egg yolk and olive oil). Mayo does make this taste reaaaally good)