What is Pancake day?

I’m also writing this for my own understanding since we don’t have Pancake day in Japan.

Pancake day—also called "Shrove Tuesday"—is a traditional Christian feast before "Ash Wednesday".

In France, there is “Fête de la Chandeleur” where you eat crêpe instead. Fête de la Chandeleur is on the 2nd of February, while Pancake day in the UK is on the 1st of March.

Which pancake do you prefer? The thin one? Or an American style thick one? Or do you want to try something different this year? If that’s the case, continue reading!

Japanese savoury pancake “Okonomiyaki”.

Okonomiyaki is a popular dish in Japan; it’s like a large pancake but savoury. It’s mixed with chopped vegetables, meat or seafood. On top, you can add the dedicated sauce for it and sprinkle katsuobushi (bonito fish flakes) and aonori (seaweed powder).

Whenever we stay at my parent's house in Japan, we do an okonomiyaki party or sometimes go to an okonomiyaki restaurant with my friends.

There are two different okonomiyaki styles in Japan. One is from Osaka and the other from Hiroshima. The difference is that the Osaka style mixes all the ingredients and cooks them. On the other hand, Hiroshima style piles those ingredients up to cook. So it’s like a layer of batter, cabbage, some noodles and then meat.

For this recipe, I used an Osaka style-ish way to prepare okonomiyaki.

Recipe

This okonomiyaki recipe is different from the original recipe. I used jumbo oats instead of plain flour because I think it’s healthier. I couldn’t get nagaimo, and I didn’t add tenkasu (small pieces of deep-fried tempura batter) because the gluten from oats helped replicate that chewy texture. You can find all the ingredients in a typical supermarket, and it still tastes great! I was delighted with the result!

Ingredients

  • 60g Oats
  • 200ml dashi (fish stock)
  • 150g sliced Cabbage
  • 20g Spring onions
  • 20g Pickled ginger
  • 2 Eggs
  • 150g chopped pork or seafood such as prawns and calamari or mix both

Dashi (fish stock) for 1l

Soak the kombu into the water for 30 minutes and start heating up. Before boiling, remove the kombu and add katsuobushi when it's boiling. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Once all the katsuobushi has sunk at the bottom of the saucepan, strain it with a strainer with muslin.

You can use the rest of the dashi to make some soup or other various recipes!

Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons of Ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon of Oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of Honey
  • 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
  • Half a tablespoon of Soy sauce

Toppings

Tools

Instructions

Okonomiyaki batter

  1. Place the oats and dashi into a large bowl, put them in a microwave, and heat them for one and a half minutes.
  1. Crack two eggs beat them up, and then add to the oats mixture.
  1. Add cabbage, spring onions, pickled ginger and a pinch of salt and mix well.

Let’s start frying them!

  1. Place a pan on medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and spread.
  1. Once the pan has heated, put some chopped pork and fry both sides to a golden brown.
  1. Add half of the okonomiyaki batter and press with a spatula. Make an evenly flattened round shape.
  2. Lower the heat to lower medium heat and cover with a lid.
  3. After about 3 to 5 minutes, remove the lid and gently shake the pan horizontally. The okonomiyaki should slide in the pan when doing so.
  1. Be brave and flip the okonomiyaki!
  1. Put back the lid and cook for 5 minutes until you thoroughly cook the okonomiyaki.

Ready to serve!

  1. Spread the sauce on the okonomiyaki and put some mayonnaise.
  1. Sprinkle some aonori (seaweed powder) and katsuobushi (bonito flakes) on top!

Closing words

Have you tried making this style of okonomiyaki, or maybe did you make the real Hiroshima/Osaka version? Please let us know on our Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook if you do! We’d love to see it!I plan to post more simple seasonal recipes, so don’t forget to subscribe to our email list so that you don’t miss any of our future updates.