My absolute favorite Japanese street food, EVER! Okonomiyaki is like a big savory pancake that is thick, a bit chewy, fluffy and soft on the inside and golden crispy on the outside, topped off with a generous amount of umami and sweet sauce and mayo.
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake made of vegetables, sometimes meat and seafood, in a wheat flour batter. It's as adaptable as an omelet, if not more, as the word okonomi literally means "how you like" or "what you like".You can pretty much stuff it with whatever ingredients you prefer but for this vegan version, I used a variety of vegetables. This is also a great fridge clearing recipe to use up all the scraps of veggies you have on your hand.
For the batter, the traditional okonomiyaki recipe calls for grated nagaimo to add fluffiness to the texture. Nagaimo, or mountain yam, is a type of root vegetable that's long and hairy, it's creamy and slimy when grated. However, it's not easy to find nagaimo in a regular grocery store especially in North America so I make the batter with substitutes and it worked just fine!
For the toppings, I used a few simple, easy-to-find ingredients to make both sauces - the dark, rich, umami, sweet okonomiyaki sauce, and a super easy vegan mayonnaise.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup spelt flour, or AP flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 cup water
8 oz shiitake mushroom
1/2 head small cabbage, about 4 - 5 cups chopped
1 carrot
3 scallions
1 tablespoon marinated ginger
Vegan Kewpie mayonnaise (homemade)
Nori flakes and sesame seeds for topping
Okonomiyaki Sauce -
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoon vegan oyster sauce
1 tablespoon tamari/soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
TO MAKE:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the spelt flour, rice flour, baking powder, salt, white pepper, whisk to mix well, then slowly pour in the water, whisk until very smooth;
- Cover the flour mixture and refrigerate for half an hour;
- Meanwhile, finely chop the cabbage, thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms, shred the carrot, and chop the scallions and marinated ginger, take your time to chop the vegetables nice and small, if they're too chunky they'll affect the texture later;
- When the batter is chilled, stir in all the chopped vegetables, mix till all the ingredients are well coated in the batter;
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of cooking oil, add in about 1/4 of the batter mixture, form into a pancake shape about 1 inch thick, cover and cook for about 4-5 minutes;
- When the bottom is golden brown and firm, carefully flip it over, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for another 3-4 minutes, until cooked through and the other side is also golden brown, repeat till all mixture is used up, make about 4 "pancakes";
- Prepare the okonomiyaki sauce by mixing all the ingredients together till smooth and well combined, and make the vegan kewpie mayo or use your preferred vegan mayo;
- Transfer the cooked okonomiyaki to a plate, drizzle on a layer of okonomiyaki sauce, then a layer of vegan mayo, repeat the two sauce drizzles one more time;
- Finally sprinkle on some chopped scallions, nori flakes, and sesame seeds;
- Serve immediately, enjoy!
