Japanese cuisine · Dough, Pasta & Rice

Okonomiyaki

A hearty cabbage pancake with shrimp and squid, topped with sauce, mayonnaise, and bonito flakes.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 200 g flour
• 180 ml dashi
• 4 eggs
• 600 g white cabbage
• 4 spring onions
• 150 g shrimp
• 150 g squid tubes
• 4 tbsp okonomiyaki sauce
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 10 g bonito flakes
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Stir the flour with dashi and salt until lump-free and let the batter rest chilled for 20 minutes — this makes the pancake airy instead of tough.
2. Cut the white cabbage into very fine strips (don't grate it), the spring onions into rings, the squid tubes into narrow rings, and roughly chop the shrimp.
3. Stir the eggs into the batter, then fold in the cabbage, spring onions, squid, and shrimp loosely, until everything is just coated.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a nonstick pan (24 cm), pour in a quarter of the mixture, shape into a 2 cm thick pancake, and cook over medium heat for 6–7 minutes until the underside is golden brown.
5. Flip using a plate and cook for another 5–6 minutes until the pancake is set in the middle; cook the remaining three pancakes the same way.
6. Brush with okonomiyaki sauce, drizzle mayonnaise over in thin lines, and sprinkle with bonito flakes that dance in the rising heat.