Okonomiyaki, or “Osaka Pancakes”

My husband used to make these for us a while back but we forgot about them for a while.  Do you ever do that?  Forget completely about recipes or food you used to eat?  Well, thankfully, my husband remembered these and he made these for dinner tonight.  He lived in Japan for two years while he served a church mission in the 80s.  It has been a while since he has been back, but he can still communicate a bit in the language and can cook some mean Japanese food.

These little savory pancakes are healthy and quick to assemble.  You can use whatever veggies you have on hand, but I will just list the typical veggies in the recipe below.

To make four pancakes (we tripled this to get a dozen pancakes, each about 7” across):

1 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. dashi stock (fish bouillon, essentially–available on Amazon or in Asian markets), room temperature

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

pinch of salt

Combine the pancake ingredients.  Meanwhile, in separate bowls, assemble the veggies.

4 cups chopped cabbage (in 1/2” pieces)

1/2 an onion, chopped

1/2 a green pepper, chopped

1/2 c. grated carrot

One cooked chicken breast, thinly sliced

Heat up your griddle to 350 degrees

Stir the veggies into the batter and pour into four large pancakes on your griddle.  Add the sliced chicken on top.   Let cook on each side for 3-5 minutes, then turn, cooking that long again.  Then turn them again for 1-2 minutes, and then again for the same amount of time.

the Pancake cooking on the griddle

 

To serve, squirt Bulldog sauce and Kewpie in a decorative pattern over the pancake. You can also sprinkle on sliced green onions.

Cooked Osaka Pancake with Bulldog and Kewpie

Then, gobble up as fast as you can!  My kids downed these like there was no tomorrow.  Even our little visiting critics, ages 4 & 6, liked these veggie pancakes.

Enjoy!

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Tagged: Japanese pancakes, Osaka Pancakes, vegetable pancakes

Posted in: Chicken, Ethnic Foods, Japanese Food, Lunches, Main Dish, Side Dishes, Snacks, Vegetables