お好み焼きOkonomiyaki

The Osaka street-stall "savoury pancake": a thin batter of flour + egg + water that carries shredded cabbage, and one thin, clean slice of pork, cooked in a hot teppan (a flat, heavy, pan-heat surface) until the underside is a crisp, even, deep gold and the cabbage is done and the batter is set, then turned and finished on the second side — and the whole thing finished with a four-layer of balance: a salt-and-sweet okonomi sauce over the top, a salt of the mayo (the fat edge), a dusting of katsuobushi (the smoke note), and one clean stripe of aonori (the green, oceanic top note).

Origin

Osaka, the teppan street-stall version of the "savoury pancake" family, adapted with the cabbage-carrying batter and the four-layer finish

Difficulty

2 / 5

Servings

2

Prep

15 min

Cook

~12 min

Total

~25 min (with the egg and the cabbage)

Equipment

• A 24–28 cm heavy, flat, non-stick pan or a teppan — the flat, heavy, pan-heat surface that sets the crisp underside
• A long, thin, nabe spatula for flipping and knife work
• A small whisk or two chopsticks, for mixing the batter

Ingredients

• 150 g plain flour (all-purpose)
• 1 egg, beaten — the fat and the binding of the batter
• 200 ml cold water (or, for the Osaka way, 80 ml water and 120 ml cold dashi — the dashi half of the Osaka style)
• 1 g baking powder — the lift in the batter
• 200 g cabbage, shredded fine and even — the water edge, the knife work, and the thing that makes it a "savoury pancake" and not a "flour-and-water-and-egg" pancake
• 40 g pork belly or lean pork, shredded fine — the salt-and-sweet marinate of the filling
• 1 scallion, cut fine on the diagonal — the fragrance top note
• 15 ml vegetable oil, for the pan-heat surface
• For the finish (the four layers):
• 2 tbsp okonomiyaki sauce (a thick, sweet-savoury, salt-and-sweet balance) — the salt-and-sweet balance of the sauce
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise — the fat edge of the balance
• 1 handful dried katsuobushi (the smoke note)
• 1 tsp dried aonori (the green, oceanic top note)
• a pinch of benihana (the red note, if you have it)

Method

1. The batter, mixed. Whisk the flour, the baking powder, and the beaten egg together in a bowl. Add the water (or the dashi and water) all at once and whisk to a single, even, slightly thin, batter — it's the sweet note of the balance and the binding edge, and the one that sets the batter to the balance of the pancake. Fold in the shredded cabbage and the shredded pork and the scallion until the filling is fully mixed with the balance of the batter. The batter will be a shaggy, thick, slightly wet paste — the cabbage and the pork are the filling of the batter, and the balance of the batter is what carries the filling from the pan-heat surface to the plate.
2. The pan, heated. Into an unheated pan, a thin film of the 15 ml of oil, and bring to a medium-high heat — the browning window. When the oil shimmers and the surface is a clean, even, hot surface, you're ready.
3. The pour and the shape. Tip about half the batter onto the pan, and with a long, thin spatula, spread it into a round of about 15–18 cm across and 8–10 mm thick. Press the cabbage and the pork into the batter so the filling is set to the surface of the batter, not on top of it. Cook for 1–2 min, until the underside is a clean, even, deep gold — the browning decision on the flat. (This is the browning half of the cook.)
4. The flip and the second side. Flip the okonomiyaki over, and a 2–3 min more, until the second side is a clean, even, deep gold and the whole pancake through is set — the cabbage is done and the batter is a clean, even, glossy, batter-set surface. Flip it back onto the first side if the second is a shade paler, and a 30 s — the four-layer of the balance of the finish is on the pancake, not in it.
5. The finish (the four layers). On the top surface, the 2 tbsp of the okonomiyaki sauce (the salt-and-sweet balance), a 1 tbsp of the mayo (the fat edge), the dusting of katsuobushi (the smoke note), the 1 tsp of the aonori (the top note), and a pinch of the benihana (the red note). The salt-and-sweet of the sauce is the salt against the sweet, and it's the balance of the plate against the crisp, even, deep gold underside of the pancake and the browning half of the cook.

What to serve with it

This is the pan-heat cook of the section — the flat, heavy, pan-heat surface, the salt-and-sweet four-layer finish, and the balance of the plate against the crisp, even, deep gold underside of the pancake. It pairs with the scallion pancake (the same pan-heat browning decision, but with the filling inside the dough, not on the surface) and the boiled dumplings (the dumpling family, with the filling inside the wrapper). A clean, simple plate of onigiri or a bowl of miso soup is the "cut" against the salt-and-sweet four-layer finish of the okonomiyaki.