Okonomiyaki means "as you like it", and an okonomiyaki is a pancake filled with whatever you choose. Provided you have eggs and flour, the dish can be completed with almost any other ingredient you have on hand. There are three types of okonomiyaki recipes listed on this page, each is according to your skill in cooking and availability of the ingredients in your area. The Beginner recipe would make two pancakes, and is very easy to prepare. The Advanced recipe is a bit more complicated in terms of ingredients, and will make pancakes for two. The Expert recipe is the hardest in terms of preparation and availability, and it's a recipe for about ten people! A recipe for Sweet Sake Sauce is also listed after the three recipes.

beginner

ingredients

1. 2 chicken eggs
2. 2/3 cup of soup stock or water
3. 1 cup of weak flour
4. 1/6 of a cabbage
5. 60 g of thinly sliced pork
6. ½ diced onion
7. Worcestershire sauce
8. Dried seaweed flakes
9. Bonito flakes

cooking directions

1. Break the eggs and mix in a bowl with the soup stock or water. Sprinkle in the weak flour (my note: probably means regular flour or something that doesn't thicken as much as cornstarch) and beat until the lumps disappear.
2. Cut the cabbage into 1 cm square pieces and mix with the pork. Add the onions. Sliced squid or dried shrimp may be used instead of pork. Other ingredients like red pickled ginger or vegetables may also be added.
3. Add the contents of (2) to (1), stir with chopsticks, and then pour mixture slowly out onto an oiled griddle or hot plate. When underside is brown, flip pancake and cook until done.
4. Divide into slices and season with Worcestershire sauce, dried seaweed flakes, bonito flakes, or your favorite spices.
5. Serve.

advanced

ingredients

1. 2 chicken eggs
2. 2/3 cup of soup stock or water
3. 1 cup of weak flour
4. 1/6 of a cabbage
5. 60 g of thinly sliced pork
6. ½ diced onion
7. Worcestershire sauce
8. Dried seaweed flakes
9. Bonito flakes
10. Mayonnaise

cooking directions

1. Break the eggs and mix in a bowl with the soup stock or water. Sprinkle in the weak flour and beat until the lumps disappear.
2. Cut the cabbage into 1 cm square pieces and mix with the pork. Add the onions. Sliced squid or dried shrimp may be used instead of pork. Other ingredients like red pickled ginger or vegetables may also be added.
3. Add the contents of (2) to (1), stir, and then pour mixture on hot plate. Some people at this point also add a small packet of fried buckwheat noodles and a raw egg in the center. This concoction will form a pile on your hot plate. Don't be alarmed. It is meant to taste wonderful, not look elegant.
4. When underside is brown, flip pancake and cook until done.
5. Divide into slices and season with Worcestershire sauce, dried seaweed flakes, bonito flakes, mayonnaise, or your favorite spices.
6. Serve.

expert

ingredients

1. 10 chicken eggs
2. 2 quail eggs
3. 5 cups of wheat or 6 cups of rice flour
4. 3½ cups of awase miso
5. Sesame oil
6. Any other flavorings as long as they are thinly sliced
7. Bonito flakes
8. Dried seaweed flakes
9. Japanese horseradish

cooking directions

1. Break the eggs in a bowl and mix well. Add flour and awase miso to the eggs and mix well. Do this slowly and beat so that the mixture is without lumps.
2. Heat a griddle or hot plate to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit and oil it. Stir the mixture just before you pour it out on the hot plate. Allow to start cooking and add any ingredients that you would like to the mixture that is on the griddle.
3. Wait until the bottom is brown and flip over to cook the top.
4. Flip back over and onto a plate.
5. Garnish with bonito flakes, dried seaweed flakes, and some Japanese horseradish.
6. Serve.

sweet sake sauce

ingredients

1. 2/3 cup of sake (rice wine)
2. 1/3 cup of mirin
3. 1/3 cup of soy sauce
4. 2 tablespoons of vinegar
5. 1/3 cup of white sugar
6. 3 tablespoons of grated ginger
7. 2 whole crushed takano tjume

cooking directions

1. In a saucepan heat up the sake, mirin, soy sauce, and vinegar. When it is nearly boiling, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
2. Reduce heat and add the ginger and takano tjume. Let simmer for an hour or until the sauce is two thirds of its original volume.
3. Strain and cool.
4. Serve in a soy sauce dish.

Do you have additional recipes of okonomiyaki that you want to share? Check out The Board section of The Spatula Home Page for more details on Contributions!

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