Suanne and Ben’s Food and Travel Adventures from Vancouver, BC

May

Okonomiyaki

Posted by suanne Published in Pancake

I don’t why but I simply like the word okonomiyaki. That’s six syllables and must be the longest single word I know in the Japanese language, not that I know many Japanese word.

Okonomiyaki is a popular Japanese dish developed from an Edo era snack. We first tasted Okonomiyaki when we were living in Kuala Lumpur where there is one and only one okonomiyaki place in Cheras. In Vancouver, we recalled the wonderfully delicious okonomiyaki that Yumiko made. We told ourselves we would try to make it one day and here it is … my first attempt on making Okonomiyaki. I know this is not as authentic as some of you make it — so don’t laugh at my humble attempt. Tell me how different you make it, give me your tips … anything.

These days, Japanese add all kinds of their favorite ingredients to create the style of Okonomiyaki that is a popular, nutritious and fun meal.

Okonomi means “what you like”, or “what you want” and yaki means “grilled” or “cook” in Japanese, so this dish’s name means “cook what you like, the way you like”.

Ingredients

I bought this Otafuku Okonomiyaki kit from T&T Supermarket for $3.99. The kit is made up of a packet of yam powder, a packet of Okonomiyaki Batter Mix, a packet of Tenka Tempura Crisps and 2 sachets of Saweed (Aonori). The kit also comes with the instruction on how to make Okonomiyaki in three languages, i.e. Japanese, Chinese and English.

I also bought the Japanese mayonnaise and Otafuku Okonomi sause for serving with the Okonomiyaki. I was told that we MUST use Japanese mayonnaise and not just any western mayo.

The ingredients I had for making Okonomiyaki consists of:

2 eggs
prawns
bacons
cabbage, thinly sliced
green onions, finely chopped

Instructions

Add water (160cc) to a large bowl followed by the Yam Powder and mix until dissolved.

Add the Okonomiyaki Batter Mix and blend until dissolved.

Add in the beaten eggs.

Add sliced cabbage, green onion, prawns, Tenka Tempura Crisps into the batter then slightly mix with spoon. Careful, over-mixing will makes it too sticky.

Preheat the frying pan to medium heat and lightly coat with salad oil. The batter is good to make two Okonomiyaki pancakes.Put half of the batter into the frying pan. Spread it into a circular shape approximately 15cm (6 inches) in diameter.

Cook for approximately 3 minutes (until bottom is golden brown). Add the sliced bacon to the top of the pancake.

Flip the Okonomiyaki pancakes (pork side down) and use spatulas to round the edges.Cook the pancake for about 4 minutes.

When the pancake has been cooked to the centre, place it on a plate.Generously spread Otafuku Okonomi Sauce on top. Add Seaweed (Aonori) and serve. Also, top with mayonnaise for richer flavour.

I am going by my memory of how Yumiko’s Okonomiyaki looks like. It does not look the same. Well, Yumiko’s looks darker, have a lot more ingredients and is larger. But it does taste delicious. I felt that the Okonomiyaki Sauce and Mayonnaise does add a lot of flavour to it. Comments?

Pork Floss Pancake (April 1st, 2008)
Sweet Potato Pancake (March 31st, 2008)
Cornmeal Pancake (March 27th, 2008)
Green Onion Pancake (November 14th, 2007)
Whole Wheat Pancake (November 12th, 2006)

9 users responded in this post

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Johnny Yap said in May 2nd, 2006 at 1:02 am

Yo! It’s been a while since I visited your blog and I suddenly found my favorite Japanese dish Okonomiyaki!!! It looked almost perfect! Except you forgot the one important ingredient at the end, which is to sprinkle katsuoboshi (bonito flakes). hahaha

realest said in May 2nd, 2006 at 4:54 am

While blogmading i just became a hungry..
and saying mama what`s for dinner :)

Don said in May 2nd, 2006 at 2:33 pm

When I first saw the picture it looked pretty disgusting, but after reading the ingredients and then through the cooking process it sounds pretty tasty.

Suanne said in May 2nd, 2006 at 7:22 pm

Hey Johnny: Been visiting your blog. Looks like you’ve gotten bored with blogging. How was your trip back to Malaysia?

Hi Realest: So, what’s for dinner mama?

Hi Don:
You’re right. It does not look good but it does taste real good. You can dump almost any ingredients you want … just like pizza!

Suanne

Johnny said in May 3rd, 2006 at 3:04 am

haha … nothing interesting to blog … unlike food, which is an everyday affair so you could technically blog 3 times a day! Or is it 6 times???

Maritza said in May 4th, 2006 at 5:28 am

We have a Mitsuwe supermarket/food pavillion in my area. I will go this weekend and buy these ingredients. At one noodle shop they serve the okonomiyaki (or something similar) on top of a miso udon soup. yummmm!!!

Yumiko said in May 4th, 2006 at 12:29 pm

Hi, Suanne.
You found very nice Okonomiyaki kits in T&T! and you bought the Japanese mayonnaise too.
We haven’t gone to T&T for a long long time, because Rajiv doesn’t like to go to that place.
Anyway, your Okonomiyaki looks pretty good. That is right you forgot the last toping katsuobushi (bonito), :-) but its no big deal though.
Okonomiyaki is very fun dish as the name goes you can put anything you like and you can create your own style.
So, I’m glad you enjoyed your Okonomiyaki.
If you like Okonomiyaki, I think you might like Takoyaki too. Have you tried that? It is yummy.

Suanne said in May 8th, 2006 at 9:12 pm

Hi Maritza: Tell me how your okonomiyaki turns out.

Hi Yumiko: Thanks for the tips. What are bonito? Is it some type of fish flakes? I have checked out Takoyaki and may make it some day. I’ll let you know if I do.

roopa said in April 19th, 2007 at 3:06 pm

wow, your website is amazing! I came upon your website searching for tofu pudding images, and i found more than that….wow just amazing :)

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