{"id":19333,"date":"2017-04-24T22:24:26","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T20:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=19333"},"modified":"2017-04-25T12:11:01","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T10:11:01","slug":"spring-okonomiyaki-japanese-savoury-pancake-with-wild-garlic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=19333","title":{"rendered":"Spring Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savoury Pancake) with Wild Garlic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Okonomiyaki is one of the most frequent\u00a0Japanese dishes in my house. From the beginning I took its name literally\u00a0(it means roughly “grill what you want”) and never stopped improving, adapting\u00a0to my changing palate\u00a0and, of course, seasons. As a big garlic fan, I made crushed garlic\u00a0the obligatory ingredient of every single batter. Last weekend\u00a0I decided to add chopped wild garlic leaves\u00a0instead and this seasonal twist made me discover\u00a0one of the best versions\u00a0(actually I wonder if it wasn’t even the best okonomiyaki in my life…). It’s definitely one of the best wild garlic dishes in my collection.<\/p>\n

If you have never heard of okonomiyaki, it’s a kind of savoury pancake (sometimes called “Japanese pizza”), but the batter contains\u00a0only\u00a0a small amount of flour and lots of<\/em>\u00a0white cabbage. The magical side of\u00a0every okonomiyaki is a generous choice of toppings added once it’s fried, and these\u00a0usually include a special okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, katsuobushi (dried and shaved bonito), green onions, pickled ginger, ao nori (seaweed \u201cflakes\u201d)\u2026 The basic cabbage batter can also be played with and enriched with sliced pork, beef, raw calamar\u00a0or\u00a0dried shrimp\u00a0and it is often topped with thinly sliced pork belly, fried when the pancake is flipped.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>There are two main variations of okonomiyaki: Kansai\/Osaka-style\u00a0(the one I \u201cpractice\u201d and describe above), and a very filling\u00a0Hiroshima style, which contains also cooked noodles and which I find too heavy.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As I have mentioned, I have experimented a lot with both the batter and the toppings. Most modifications are surprisingly successful and I can only hope the pancakes I make can still be called okonomiyaki….<\/p>\n

If you don’t have wild garlic\/ramsons (click here<\/a> to learn more about it), you might like one\u00a0of these versions:<\/p>\n

\"Okonomiyaki<\/a>
with Chorizo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Okonomiyaki<\/a>
with Bok Choy and Chicken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Okonomiyaki<\/a>
with Chicken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\"Okonomiyaki<\/a>
with Eringi Mushrooms and Bacon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"...with<\/a>
with Red Cabbage and Garlic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Okonomiyaki with Green Onions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

TIPS:<\/p>\n

Okonomiyaki batter mixture: it can be bought in Japanese grocery shops or prepared from the scratch. Personally I am happy to prepare it from scratch since it takes two minutes and I\u2019m sure it tastes better. I have seen different batter recipes; mine is composed of an egg, some flour, some dashi (Japanese stock), salt, pepper, baking powder and, last but not least, grated mountain yam (or yamaimo in Japanese), a slimy cousin of the potato (I find it in organic shops and I know Asian and Chinese grocery shops sell it). \u00a0It is not necessary, but in my opinion it largely improves the texture, making it lighter and fluffier. Yamaimo freezes very well (I freeze it peeled in individual portions and then grate when half thawed).\u00a0When I don\u2019t have yam, I skip it\u00a0and\u00a0when I don’t have dashi, I simply replace\u00a0it, trying to keep the same pancake-like texture. The result is still delicious, albeit slightly different.<\/p>\n

Okonomiyaki is always served with okonomiyaki sauce. I once bought it and it was much too sweet, so I was more than happy to learn from\u00a0Hiroyuki<\/a>\u00a0how to make my own sauce, mixing ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce in desired proportions. (Nowadays I go even further, replacing sometimes this sauce with my homemade Indian style tomato chutney<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Okonomioyaki mixture can be prepared in advance and fried\/grilled the following day. As an addict, I often make a double batch and have it two days in a row.<\/p>\n

Okonomiyaki toppings: these usually include okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and katsuobushi (flakes of dried bonito). Ao nori (powdered seaweed) is also very frequent, but I have noticed many Westerners dislike its “fishy” aroma. Personally I prefer to skip it and sprinkle with green onion or chives. Among my obligatory toppings are also taberu rayu (chilli oil with sediments) and very often tobanjan (Chinese chilli paste, which I buy in… Japanese shops and in Japan!). You can add of course whatever topping you like!<\/p>\n

Preparation: 40 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n

Ingredients (serves 2):<\/em><\/p>\n

Batter:<\/em><\/p>\n

5 slightly heaped tablespoons flour<\/em><\/p>\n

30 ml (about 1 oz)\u00a0dashi<\/a>\u00a0(Japanese stock,\u00a0home-made<\/a>\u00a0or instant) or a mixture of milk+dashi\u00a0or good quality chicken stock or simply water (though the latter yields the least flavourful pancake)<\/em><\/p>\n

1 egg<\/em><\/p>\n

3 cm\/about 1,2 in grated mountain yam (yamaimo) (can be omitted, but then less flour should be added)<\/em><\/p>\n

salt<\/em><\/p>\n

1\/2 teaspoon baking powder<\/em><\/p>\n

10 \u00a0bok choy leaves and stalks (or more if the bok choy is small), chopped ; if your bok choy has more leaves than stalks, use only half of the leaves, otherwise the pancake will be too soft\u00a0(at least for me)<\/em><\/p>\n

1 big handful of chopped wild garlic leaves<\/em><\/p>\n

1 chicken breast<\/em><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon oil<\/em><\/p>\n

Toppings:<\/em><\/p>\n

dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)<\/em><\/p>\n

okonomiyaki sauce (or a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce) ; I have used here my Indian-style tomato chutney<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

mayonnaise<\/em><\/p>\n

chopped chives or spring onions<\/em><\/p>\n

2 tablespoons oil<\/em><\/p>\n

(ao nori, or powdered seaweed)<\/em><\/p>\n

(chili paste, oil or sauce, such as\u00a0Taberu Rayu<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

(pickled ginger)<\/em><\/p>\n

(6 thin slices of smoked bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Cut up the chicken breast into small cubes (1 cm x 1 cm). Season with salt and pepper, stir-fry until golden brown and put aside.<\/p>\n

In a big bowl combine the batter ingredients. Adjust the\u00a0consistency adding more liquids or more flour\u00a0(the mixture should be very thick, not liquid and the batter should only bind the ingredients together and not dominate them).<\/p>\n

Heat one tablespoon oil in a frying pan or on a smooth grill (called teppanyaki grill or la plancha).<\/p>\n

Put half of the okonomiyaki mixture in a more or less round-shaped heap (you can adjust it on the pan).<\/p>\n

Flatten delicately the pancake, but not too much. Otherwise it might fall into pieces when you turn it over. (My okonomiyaki is max. 1,5 cm\/about 1\/2 inch high).<\/p>\n

If you use smoked bacon, place the\u00a0pieces on top, cover the pan and let it fry at medium heat for 5 \u2013 10 minutes until you see the upper part of batter set. If you use an old-fashioned pan (steel or iron), you might have to turn down the heat to the lowest because it might burn.<\/p>\n

Flip the pancake over, cover once more and fry for another 5 minutes until the bacon is slightly browned.<\/p>\n

Flip over onto a plate and add your favourite\u00a0toppings.<\/p>\n

Repeat the same with the remaining batter mixture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Okonomiyaki is one of the most frequent\u00a0Japanese dishes in my house. From the beginning I took its name literally\u00a0(it means roughly “grill what you want”)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,185,82,71],"tags":[136],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19333"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19333"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20717,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19333\/revisions\/20717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}