Okonomiyaki
It’s not often you find another chef who understands and produces flavours the way you do yourself. When I first met Tamara, she had just finished cooking on one of the Sea Shepherd boats patrolling the Antarctic. The minute I met her, I o!ered her an apprenticeship. Four years later, not only had she become an incredible chef, but also an incredible stick and poke artist. So like a mother bird, I gently pushed her out of the nest and encouraged her to pursue her other art, and she quickly became one of Australia’s best tattoo artists. This is a recipe from her, to celebrate the good old days. This Japanese savoury pancake is a great breakfast dish. ‘Okonomi’ roughly translates as ‘how you like it’, and ‘yaki’ means ‘fried’. This means you can throw anything you like into the batter and fry, my pretties *insert evil witch cackle*.
Ingredients 26
3 pieces dried kombu
750 ml water
225 g plain flour, sifted
55 g besan (chickpea flour)
2 tsp black salt (kala namak)
1 tsp salt
2 1⁄2 tbsp nutritional yeast, optional
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp shichimi togarashi
450 g green cabbage, thinly sliced, preferably very green, tossed with 1 teaspoon salt
3 tbsp rice flour
1 daikon, small, coarsely grated
4 spring onions, sliced, divided
2 tbsp pickled ginger, roughly chopped, optional
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Tonkatsu Sauce
80 ml worcestershire sauce
80 ml tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 1⁄2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1⁄4 tsp arrowroot powder
Optional Extras
200 g prawn, about, thinly sliced
12 slices king oyster mushroom, thin
12 slices bacon, thin
12 slices cheddar cheese
To Serve
mayonnaise, see my recipe
3 tbsp dried seaweed flakes, or strips, to serve
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Method 7
Place the and in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer to make a simple dashi. Reduce the heat to low and leave on the heat for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
To Make The Tonakatsu Sauce
To make the tonkatsu sauce, combine the , , and in a small bowl. Place the in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon of the sauce mix and whisk until smooth and well combined. Add the remaining sauce mix and simmer, whisking, over a low heat for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Take off the heat and set aside to cool completely.
To Make The Pancakes
Mix together the and , , , (if using), and in a medium bowl. Pour in 250 ml (8 1⁄2 fl oz/1 cup) of the cooled dashi at a time until you have a somewhat thick batter just able to be whisked easily.
Coat the in the and add it to the batter, then add the grated , half the sliced and 1 tablespoon of the (if using) and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. If you’re including seafood, add the thinly sliced to the batter at this point and mix well.
Pour a little into a heavy-based saucepan to coat the bottom and warm over a medium heat. Depending on how many pancakes you want to make, scoop between 250 ml (8 1⁄2 fl oz/1 cup) and 375 ml (12 1⁄2 fl oz/1 1⁄2 cups) of the vegetable batter into the pan to form a very thick pancake. Cook on both sides to a deep crispy brown, about 3–4 minutes, then remove and cool on paper towel to soak up any excess oil. Repeat with the remaining oil and batter.
If you are using the optional ingredients (, and/or ), don’t cook both sides of the pancake. Instead, cook one side only, place your choice of ingredients (cheese first, then bacon and/or mushroom) on the uncooked side, then carefully flip the pancake and cook over a slightly lower heat until browned. Drain on paper towel.
Serve the pancakes warm, topped with mayonnaise, tonkatsu sauce, and the remaining and .
