After having this in Osaka I wanted to try making okonomiyaki at home. It turns out that it was quite easy to do. For two large okonomiyakis I started with about half of a medium head of cabbage chopped up. I added some chopped up green onions – about 4 of them. I had about 3/4 cup of cut up cooked shrimp and half of a cooked chicken breast that I cut up into pieces so I added that also. The batter was made from one cup of flour, 1/4 tsp of baking powder and some salt. I flavored that with just a bit of a fish dashi powder. Everything was mixed together along with two eggs. The mixture was piled onto the griddle to cook.
After cooking on one side the pancake was carefully flipped over to cook on the other side. This was repeated twice to make sure the inside was fully cooked.
The okonomiyaki sauce I made is pretty similar to what I had in Osaka. I made it from about 4 tbsp of ketchup, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, about 2 tbsp worschestershire sauce, a splash of mirin and a couple tbsp of brown sugar. This was heated in a pot just until everything mixed together and the sugar was dissolved. On top of the sauce is just mayo. Unfortunately I haven’t found bonito flakes yet so we ate these unadorned. But they were tasty.
Greg, those look so good. I saw them on your post at GB so I came to look for the recipe. Definitely do-able for me, without the shrimp! Thanks 🙂
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Greg, I’m so happy you posted this recipe. I was not familiar with it until you introduced it to us.
I know I would LOVE Okonomiyaki; I’m going to make it very soon.
You’ll probably find the Bonito flakes in your travels before I do (one of the reasons I miss my SF Bay Area!) But in the meantime, I can find many things not available locally on line.
In case you’re interested in one source:
http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp?PageAction=PRODSEARCH
I’ll definitely write about this on my blog as soon as I make it, and refer readers here, to your recipe.
Thanks again, and thank you for coming by to say hi!
All the best to you and your family in 2009 and beyond. ~m.
Oops. Me again.
I don't think I gave you the direct link to the Bonito Flakes. Here it is~
http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1148
(They also offer a much smaller size, in case you don't need 3.5 ounces.) 🙂
Thanks for the comments and the link! Funny you should post this today as I just found the katsuobushi (bonito) in my local Asian market earlier this evening.
I look forward to seeing okonomiyaki on your blog!
Lucky you for finding the flakes locally.
I’m going to check out a couple of places around here before giving up and ordering online. I’m fairly certain I’ve seen Bonito flakes at the fresh produce/health food store. Fingers crossed. 🙂
It would be nice to avoid shipping costs.