Okonomiyaki

We would like to introduce an adapted way of making Okonomiyaki. Here in the U.S., "O-ko-no-mi-ya-ki" is sometimes called "Japanese Pizza". It consists of a pancake-like base, stuffed with assorted fillings, and finished with toppings. The recipe we have prepared is targeted towards someone interested in trying and making new cultural cuisines, but would like to avoid buying expensive, hard-to-find ingredients. Most of the ingredients used here, if not all, can be found in a typical American grocery store!

List of kitchen wares you will need

· Electric cooking pan or a frying pan

· Spatula

· Small plastic sandwich bag

· BBQ sauce brush or a butter knife

· A set of measuring cups and spoons for

1 cup, ½ cup, ¼ cup, 1 table spoon,

1 teaspoon

· Medium-sized mixing bowl

Part One: Prep Work

1. Cut the cabbage and onions into tiny pieces.

It is better to have too much cabbage than have not enough because cabbage will shrink after cook.

Note: Cutting the cabbages and green onion in smaller pieces will also make it easier for beginners in the grilling process.

2. Briefly cook the shrimps or other meat ingredients (if you chose to include them as toppings) in a small pot of boiling water.

For sanitation and convenience purposes, we suggest cooking shrimps or other meat ingredients first before mixing them with the base batter. The cooked meat can also save grilling time in the later process.

3. Drain the cooked items and allow them to cool off at the side.

Part Two: Mix Batter

1. Place flour and a pinch of baking soda into the mixing bowl.

2. Crack an egg into the bowl.

3. Pour the dashi/water/broth into the bowl while gently stirring the mixture until it becomes a smooth batter. Figure 4 on the right show you what a mixed batter look like.

4. Add the rest of the base ingredients into the batter (such as cabbage and corn) and evenly stir the mixture.

Part Three: Grilling

1. Heat up the pan with medium heat.

2. After the pan becomes dry and warm, evenly distribute sesame oil or vegetable oil into the pan.*

*Caution: the pan must be dry before adding oil. Otherwise, the oil maybe blast off and spatter aggressively upon contact with water in the heated pan.

3. Pour about 1/3 of the base mixture to the pan, and shape it into a circle.

You can also mix the toppings straight into the mixture if you want to grill it all together. If not, simply place the toppings onto the top of the batter once you have made it into a circular shape. To shape the batter into a circle, you can use the spatula to gently push the edges inward until they become round.

4.Cook for about 10 minutes and flip it with a spatula, and cook on the flipped side for about 8 minutes.

The thinner the batter, the easier and faster it is for beginners to cook the okonomiyaki. You canbreak parts of pancake-like base apart to check whether it is cooked or not. Another good way to check is to poke an opening at the center of the pancake-like base and see if the cabbage inside the batter is done.

5. Place the "pancake" on a plate with a spatula.

Part Four: Dressing

1.Spread the okonomiyaki sauce you have made over the top of the okonomiyaki with a BBQ brush or a butter knife. Figure 6

on the lower-right shows evenly spread Okonomiyaki Sauce

2. Place a spoonful of mayonnaise into a plastic bag and cut the corner of the bag to create an easy applicator.

3. Put a web of 3 tbsp of mayonnaise the top of the okonomiyaki.

Many people prefer to crisscross while applying the mayonnaise to create a net-like look.

4. Sprinkle a handful of dried bonito flakes on top and your okonomiyaki is done!

Conclusion

As you can see, using this recipe you can prepare a delicious international dish without buying expensive equipments or ingredients. Moreover, making okonomiyaki is easy and fun.

The "okonomi" part of "Okonomiyaki" means "as you like it", and "yaki" means "grilled". So go and grill what you like; feel free to make changes to this recipe to include something else you think would be a good addition to this delicious dish! Good luck!

Ingredients

For the “pancake” base

Here are the ingredients you will need:

· 1 Cup all-purpose flour

· Baking soda 1 teaspoon

· ¾ Cup of fish soup stock

o (In an original okonomiyaki recipe the "dashi" is used. Dashi is a type of soup and cook stock often used in Japanese cooking. If you cannot find Dashi in your supermarket, you can always replace it with water. Another way to replace dashi is to boil shrimp or mushroom and use the broth afterwards.)

· 1 Large-sized Egg

· 1 Small onion

· ½ Cup of corn bits

o (Some people add the corn as a topping, but we found it to be a tasty textural addition to the base of an okonomiyaki. Plus, mixing it into the batter helps you avoid struggling to keep all the bits of corn on when you flip the okonomiyaki during the grilling process. )

· ¼ Of a small cabbagge

For the "toppings"

The ingredients you will need for the toppings part can be up to personal preference. Below

are some suggestions of what you can include as toppings.

Ideas for toppings:

· Thinly sliced pork or beef

· Squid

· Fresh shrimp

· Salmon or canned tuna

· Eggs 1 or 2 large-sized

· Green onions 1 tablespoon, chopped

· Mushrooms (button mushrooms are good but we recommend “shitake” which is an oriental mushroom) 5 whole mushrooms (size does not matter)

· Seaweed (amount is up to personal preference)

For the dressing

The ingredients for the dressing part are as follow:

· Okonomiyaki sauce*^II (we can teach you how to make it*^I) 4 tablespoon

· Mayonnaise 3 tablespoon (or up to personal preference)

· Dried bonito flakes ½ cup

*^IIf you cannot find okonomiyaki sauce at your local super market, don't worry, you can make the okonomiyaki sauce by yourself. Here is an easy recipe.

Simply mix the following ingredients into a smooth batter:

§ ¼ cup ketchup

§ 1 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

§ ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

§ 2 tablespoons sake

§ 1 teaspoon soy sauce

*^II You can also substitute the okonomiyaki sauce with any kind of source you favor. Many people use BBQ source or ketchup.