This 3-part series is inspired by a question that I have had several times in my life: what the heck do I do with a whole head of cabbage? Hopefully, if you ever encounter this question, this series will inspire you with some ideas of how to answer it.
Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake consisting of cabbage (obviously, or this would not be part of the “Got Cabbage?” series), a batter, and some form of meat, often adorned with an assortment of toppings. I first heard of okonomiyaki years ago through a subscription box called Try the World. As the name suggests, the subscription sends you a different country-themed box so you can try different foods from around the world. I only had the subscription for a couple months to save on money, but I remember receiving my Japan box, having no idea what okonomiyaki was and being very hesitant to try it. I remember thinking that “it seemed too complicated” to even bother trying at the time. In retrospect, I laugh at younger, naïve Ruth because okonomiyaki is actually quite simple.
My fiancé and I really enjoyed this dish. He typically doesn’t like cabbage, but because of the way it is cooked and with all the toppings, he could barely tell that there was cabbage in it. We ate this for dinner once, but I would probably recommend eating this more as an appetizer because it is not as filling as a meal. Hope you give this easy recipe a try!
Since this is a 3-part series about what to do with a whole head of cabbage, the recipes are intentionally measured out so that you can make all 3 recipes using 1 head of cabbage.
Ingredients (makes 2-3 pancakes depending on size)
- 1/4 of a head of cabbage
- 1 green onion
- 3 bacon strips (or thin slices of pork belly)
- 1 cup okonomiyaki flour*
- 1 cup water
- 2 eggs
- ~1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (e.g., vegetable, canola)
Toppings
- green onion/scallion
- kewpie mayonnaise
- okonomiyaki sauce*
- furikake
- bonito flakes
*See notes below
Directions
- Prep the ingredients. Chop cabbage thinly so they are more like strands than leaves. Chop green onion thinly (if using as a topping, chop enough for batter and topping). Cut bacon in half, so you have 6 shorter strips of bacon, 2-3 per pancake.
- Make the batter. Add okonomiyaki flour, water, and eggs to a medium-sized bowl and mix. Do not overmix. If the batter looks runny, you can add more okonomiyaki flour. Add the chopped cabbage and combine so that all the cabbage is covered in the batter.
- Cook the pancakes. In a large pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Once hot (you can test it with a smidge of batter or a drop of water), ladle some batter into the pan. Spread the batter, forming a circle and your desired thickness and size. While it is cooking, lay your bacon strips across the pancake. After about 3-4 minutes or when the bottom is nicely browned, carefully flip the pancake so that the bacon strips are now in contact with the pan. Cook another 3-4 minutes before serving on a plate, flipping it again so that the beautifully cooked bacon shows on top.
- Add the toppings. Carefully squeeze the kewpie mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce, spreading across the pancake in zigzag motions to create the iconic okonomiyaki look. Sprinkle the chopped green onion, furikake, and bonito flakes.
- Snap a pic and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t have okonomiyaki flour or okonomiyaki sauce, you can make your own using recipes such as the ones from Just One Cookbook. I purchased both from my local Japanese grocery store. The okonomiyaki flour came in a small enough package that I thought it was worth buying to avoid the extra work, which may not be worth it since it’s a very specific flour. The okonomiyaki sauce is probably worth making yourself if you have all the ingredients, but again, I was too lazy and didn’t want to risk messing up the overall taste.
- Apparently, you can refrigerate the batter for an hour up to overnight to allow it to become fluffier. For the sake of time and laziness, I skipped this step and still enjoyed some delicious okonomiyaki.
- The protein and toppings are really up to you. The ones used in this recipe are your typical ingredients, but you could also swap the bacon for pork belly, omit any of the toppings, or add others such as pickled red ginger and dried seaweed flakes (aonori).
