Okonomiyaki
Osaka Cabbage Pancake
Okonomiyaki, a savory pancake, is a specialty of Osaka, though it's eaten throughout the Kansai region and beyond. It is surprisingly tasty. The pancake itself consists of
a mixture of flour, grated nagaimo yam, shredded cabbage, sliced green onions and eggs, topped with slices of pork belly or bacon and then pan fried. It is topped with
Japanese mayonnaise, Okonimyaki sauce, shredded dried seaweed and bonito flakes - though it's very adaptable to whatever ingredients you want to include. I am
not providing a recipe for Okonimyaki because I made it from a kit I bought at World Market. I don't have a Japanese store
nearby and I didn't want to go searching for nagaimo yam and/or Onkonomiyaki Flour. The kit included the flour (which, ironically, ended up not having any yam) as well as the Onkonomiyaki sauce. The recipe is on the box. We
were surprised at how tasty these pancakes were (the kit makes 2). At first I thought it was too much cabbage, but the combination with the bacon, mayo and the delicious (but intense) sauce, was amazing. We didn't use bonito
flakes because I couldn't find them, but the pancake really didn't need it. I'll probably pick up some more kits next time I see them.
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