There are two types of Okonomiyaki, says my friend Mark, who spent the last few years teaching English in Fukuoka, Japan. He was in my kitchen, readying us for a quick lesson in Japanese food.

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki uses a batter of flour, egg and water to create a pancake. Cabbage, meat and a garnish of yakisoba noodles are layered (think the way a pizza is layered) in a nonstick pan and cooked. Osaka-style okonomiyaki is made without the yakisoba noodles, and instead of layering ingredients, they’re mixed together and thrown in the pan (like an omelet). We were making the Osaka-style.

The savory crepe-like dish is simple, and it acts like a base for whatever ingredients you want to include. Traditionally, thinly sliced pork and beef are used, but fried eggs, cheese and fish are not uncommon. Garnishes include a Tonkatsu sauce (kind of like a sweet teriyaki sauce), fish flakes and nori flakes. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe)

OSAKA-STYLE OKONOMIYAKI

• Yield: 3 to 4 servings
• 1/2 cup flour (more if needed)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced pork
• Garnishes:
• Tonkatsu sauce
• Nori flakes (seaweed)
• Dried fish flakes
• Mayonnaise*

Procedure:
1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, water and egg. Add cabbage and coat evenly with batter.
2. Place cabbage in a non-stick frying pan. Lay strips of pork over cabbage, covering top. Cook over medium-high heat for 7 to 10 minutes, or until batter underneath is a dark, golden brown.
3. Flip okonomiyaki over, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until pork strips are cooked through.
4. Place okonomiyaki on serving plate and cut into single-serving portions, pizza style. Garnish with tonkatsu sauce, nori flakes and fish flakes as desired. Serve.

* Mayonnaise is widely used to garnish this dish, but we chose to do without it.

– Cynthia Furey

Side note: March Madness is a month-long challenge in which I will post Monday through Friday for the entire month. Thank you for reading!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Appetizers, Fruit/Vegetables, In the kitchen, Main dishes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.