Okonomiyaki

I travelled to Japan in February 2010 on an amazing trip that took me through many gorgeous parts of the country. The trip began in Tokyo (which I mostly missed due to air plane issues!) and was followed by stops in Nagano, Matsumoto, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Yokohama and many small places in between.

Japan was my dream trip, I had been wanting to travel there for years. It did not dispoint. It was exactly the adventure I was looking for. A place so different from North America with new things to see and discover. With our world feeling so small these days thanks to television and the internet, seeing new things has really become a luxury.

One of my favorite meals in Japan was on my very first night, in Tokyo. We went to eat okonomiyaki, which in Japanese means "as you like it". This is such a fun and interactive dish. Basically you start off with the base batter, and just about anything can be mixed in. The end result is kind of like a savoury pancake/fritata type thing. Here are some pictures of my first okonomiyaki experience.

*please note that I look TERRIBLE in these pictures...RE: plane issues and arrivng to Tokyo late.

Flipping through my trusty Chatelaine magazine, I stumbled upon a make-at-home okonomiyaki recipe. I was super excited to give it a go. While I don't have all the set up of an okonomiyaki restaurant, it was rather simple to give this a try. I did make some changes of course.

Here is my version of okonomiyaki with help from Chatelaine (December 2010)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 eggs
1 head of Napa cabbage shredded
3 green onions chopped
3 carrots, grated or sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler
You can add most any other vegetable to this mix, I would try leeks, thinly sliced potatoes or sweet potatoes.
1 tsp butter
6 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp soy sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Whisk eggs with 2 tbsp water in a large bowl. Whisk in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the vegetables.

Heat a large ovenproof frying pan (you can ovenproof a frying pan with a plastic handle by wrapping it in tinfoil tightly about three times) over medium-high and melt butter.

Pour the batter into the frying pan, making sure to "juge" the pan a little to make it flat on top. Let this cook for five minutes to get golden on the bottom.

Whisk together ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.

Drizzle half of the sauce mixture around the top of the pancake and spread it around with a spatula.

Insert the the frying pan into the oven on the centre rack. Bake until egg mixture is set, or around 35-40 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.

Flip the okomiyaki onto a plate and brush the remainder of the sauce on top giving it a golden-y colour. I used some awesome Japanese seven spice to sprinkle on top, but if you don't have that, you can use freshly ground black pepper and a little cayenne. The restaurant in Japan had dry fish flakes to sprinkle on top, and they danced in the heat.

Slice and serve.