Osaka style Okonomiyaki is an iconic Japanese street food. A delicious savory pancake topped with a rich sauce, mayonnaise and other various toppings. Not only does it taste great, but it's also easy to make from scratch at home!
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What is Okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki （お好み焼き）is a savory pancake type dish made with a batter and filled with meat and vegetables. It's usually topped with a delicious fruity okonomiyaki sauce and drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise.
It is mostly popular in Osaka and Hiroshima and they are always arguing which one is authentic or better.
There's no compromise in this argument, after all, "okonomi" means "as you like". It depends on your own preference!
Osaka style Okonomiyaki vs Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki
The main difference between Osaka-style Okonomiyaki and Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki are
- Osaka-style: Ingredients are mixed beforehand, meat and cabbage are the main ingredients, sauce is more savory
- Hiroshima-style: Ingredients are added one by one, it includes egg noodles and the sauce is sweeter
Well, there's no deciding which is better for outsiders like me (I'm from Aichi so I don't need to be loyal), thank god I can appreciate both of them!
One of the beauties of Japanese food is that each region has different dishes and unique styles of food. So if the battle between Osaka and Hiroshima goes on forever, that's fine with a foodie like me! They're both beautiful!
I'm sorry to the people of Hiroshima, but today I'm going to write a recipe for Osaka (Kansai) style Okonomiyaki.
Simply because it's easier to explain, so please don't mind me.
Okonomiyaki Ingredients
As I mentioned earlier, Okonomi（お好み）means "anything as you wish" so you can put anything you like in there.
Okonomiyaki batter is made with weak flour and dashi. There is also special "okonomiyaki flour" that already contains dashi which saves time.
The most basic one mainly contains pork and cabbage but lots of restaurants have interesting twists.
They're also usually topped with Japanese mayonnaise, nori seaweed powder called "aonori" and bonito flakes called "katsuobushi".
You can buy an Okonomiyaki kit on Amazon that contains Okonomiyaki flour, aonori, tenkasu (tempura crumbs) and sticky potato "yam powder" which enhances flavour and texture. This kit is great for making authentic Japanese okonomiyaki.
Extra Ingredients
Here are a few ideas for ingredients you can add to okonomiyaki!
- Seafood
- Bacon
- Cheese
- Mochi (Rice cake)
- Udon
- Sweet corn
- Tenkasu (deep fried batter crumbs)
- Sakura ebi (tiny dried shrimps)
- Snacks like potato chips or nuts
- Avocado...the list goes on
Because you can add anything you like, you can also take out the meat and make it vegetarian. Don't feel like you have to stick to the recipe, you can be creative and liberate yourself!
Meanwhile, I will tell you the basic recipe, enjoy.
FAQ
It uses fair amount of oil, pork belly, mayonnaise...etc so it's not a healthy dish but according to Japanese okonomiyaki association, it's a nutritionally well balanced dish.
It's not necessary to use special okonomiyaki flour, but if you can get it then you don't have to use dashi so it makes things a bit easier.
In my recipe I use Worcester Sauce, ketchup, honey and soy sauce.
In Japanese homes, we usually use store bought sauce.
Osaka Style Okonomiyaki (大阪お好み焼き)
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
Description
How to make Osaka Style Okonomiyaki (大阪お好み焼き), a delicious savory pancake containing pork and cabbage, topped with homemade okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, aonori and bonito flakes. Everything is from scratch, no okonomiyaki flour required for this recipe!
Ingredients
Okonomiyaki
- 100g plain flour (see note)
- 100ml dashi stock (see how to make your own dashi from scratch stock here)
- 2 eggs
- 100g (1½ cups) cabbage
- 60g (2 oz) unsmoked streaky bacon (Or thinly sliced pork belly if you have access)
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon "katsuobushi" bonito flake (optional)
- 1 teaspoon aonori (or parsley as a substitute)
Okonomiyaki Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
- 1 tablespoon Oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoon ketchup
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Instructions
Okonomiyaki Sauce
- Mix 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 2 tablespoon ketchup, 2 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a small bowl.
Next the batter
- Roughly cut up the cabbage.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, dashi, egg and cabbage together along with any other additional ingredients (e.g. cheese, tenkasu, kimchi etc) you wish to add EXCEPT the meat.
- Heat up the frying pan on medium-high and pour in approx 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add half the mixture to the frying pan, lay the slices of streaky bacon on the top of the wet mixture.
- Fry until the bottom starts to become brown and crispy, then carefully slide it out onto a plate whilst still facing upwards.
- Add the next 1 tablespoon of oil to pan and lower the heat.
- Crack an egg into the pan and flip the half cooked okonomiyaki back into the pan with the meat side facing down.
- Put a lid on the pan and cook for about 5 minutes on a medium-low heat.
- Pierce the middle with a toothpick to make sure it's cooked. If the toothpick doesn't come out clean, it's not quite ready and you need to continue to cook on a low heat, checking regularly.
- Pour half of the sauce on top of the okonomiyaki and use a pastry brush or spoon to spread it evenly over the top. You can do this while it's still in the pan.
- Carefully move the cooked okonomiyaki to a plate.
- Drizzle with mayonnaise (I recommend using a squeezy bottle) and bonito flakes if you have them.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
- Repeat the same process again with the remaining half of mixture and sauce.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If you can get okonomiyaki flour, then you can replace the dashi stock for plain water. Check the package for more detailed instructions.
- If you can get hold of these Japanese ingredients, it is also common to add agedama (crumbs of deep fried batter), sakura ebi (tiny dried shrimps)
- Other great additions to okonomiyaki are cheese, kimchi and spring onion!
- This recipe makes two okonomiyaki pancakes, which should be enough for 3-4 people.
- Category: Classics
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Japanese
Keywords: How to make Japanese Okonomiyaki,Osaka style Okonomiyaki recipe,How to make Okonomiyaki sauce,Japanese okonomiyaki ingredients,Japanese savory pancake,okonomiyaki flour substitute,
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