Okonomiyaki

[torakris]

We had okonomiyaki yesterday, from a recipe in this month's NHK Kyo no Ryouri magazine...cabbage shredded and "massaged"

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Was this the May one? I glanced through it but I can't recall this recipe. I haven't bought cooking magazines for close to 6 months now but 3 days ago I picked up Orange Page (5/17 issue). I actually chose this because of a section "Okonomiyaki on the hot plate", I will have to give some a try and let everyone know.

[helenjp]

Yes, the May one - I bought it specifically for that recipe and the fish feature, to overcome Golden Week cooking marathon blahs...but virtuously resisted Orange Page.

Thanks to rubbing the chicken stock powder into the cabbage, the mixture appeared sloppier than usual, but it wasn't gluey when cooked.

[MoGa]

Sourcing Nagaimo in London

Not that straightforward.

Easiest place to find it is the Japan Centre , Piccadilly. It's wrapped in clingfilm with other vegetables and staff know it as nagaimo.

However, this isn't a dependable source (sometimes we can't buy it for several days or even weeks). More problematic is the price. An approx 12cm portion costs about 2GBP. It's wrapped in clingfilm.

Thing is, we like to eat lots of nagaimo regularly, and the price quickly racks up. Having hunted around China Town over several weeks, we failed to find an alternative source until a post in the China Forum reminded me of a shop we kept overlooking.

See Woo, 18-20 Lisle Street (parallel with Gerrard Street)

Here it is given its Cantonese name - Wai San Root and the characters on the receipt are: 淮山

(alternative names can be found on this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioscorea_opposita )

Price is currently 2.87GBP per kilogram (much, much cheaper). It's sold in a sealed plastic bag.

- currently if you enter "wai san" & nagaimo into google only 2 entries come up (hopefully, this will become a third mention)

Not sure if I should post this in the UK forum. We're familiar with nagaimo and had trouble finding it, it must be tough for those looking to cook with it for the first time. And I'm convinced many more people would love to eat it if they knew how good and how easy okonomiyaki were (even if they don't like nagaimo any other way... although it's so perfect for summer! Tororo soba, mmm...)

[nakji]

Okonomiyaki must be in the air. I made it for the first time last week - it's really easy and super convenient for me as a late-night dinner. It doesn't take a lot of prep, and it's reasonably filling. My husband doesn't like a lot of the standard seafood fillings, so I make it with pork, cabbage, and lots of fresh ground pepper. I use a mix, too, because I still find most of the Japanese produce section intimidating.

I put the pork on last, so it gets extra crispy when it's fried.

Standard toppings (I don't tell my husband that those flakes are made from fish - he eats them)

I-got-creative-toppings

I also went out to an amazing okonomiyaki restaurant in Tokyo on the weekend - a really fabulous place in its own building, all wooden beams and private rooms and a garden outside. We had a set menu - I don't know what it was, someone else ordered, but my favourite was made with mochi and cheese.

I'd like to try making one with kimchi and pork.

Edited May 7, 2008 by nakji (log)

[MoGa]

Do try it with fresh nagaimo, nakji. It really is much easier to use than you might think.

I've been compelled to make it with a packaged mix a few times, but it just doesn't compare.

When using a mix, my husband takes a bite, nods and says it's good.

When using freshly grated nagaimo, my husband takes a bite, takes another and carries on until he has to stop to breathe at which point I get a long drawn out "Wow!" from him before he continues.

(Apparently you can grate and freeze what you don't use)

Edited May 7, 2008 by MoGa (log)

[jrcrunch]

hi newbie here.

tried okonimiyaki first time in HK and 2nd at narita and i love them so much!

since okonomiyaki is not available in my place, i tried making one myself with the help of the internet. the pancake itself was pretty ok but the sauce i made is terrible. i followed a recipe that calls for a mix of ketchup and worchestershire sauce.

unfortunately okonomiyaki sauce is not available at my place. can anyone help me find/share the recipe. please please

[Hiroyuki]

Okonomiyaki sauce is rather sweet for me, and I can use "chuunou" sauce instead.

Anyway, one person suggests this recipe:

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp honey

1 tsp oyster sauce

Small amount of mayonnaise

from here (Japanese only)

This person suggests not using sugar but honey or apples for sweetness. No reasons are indicated, though.

[mkayahara]

Tonight, I made okonomiyaki for the first time. Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this great thread! I made several compromises on the dish, including omitting the nagaimo and using Napa cabbage and bottled tonkatsu sauce, not to mention the wrong kind of pickled ginger. Still, it was delicious, and definitely a dish that would reward exploration with different toppings.

[Hiroyuki]

Tonight, I made okonomiyaki for the first time. Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this great thread! I made several compromises on the dish, including omitting the nagaimo and using Napa cabbage and bottled tonkatsu sauce, not to mention the wrong kind of pickled ginger. Still, it was delicious, and definitely a dish that would reward exploration with different toppings.

Yours looks good! By the wrong kind of pickled ginger, do you mean gari, the sweet kind, served with sushi?

[mkayahara]

Yours looks good! By the wrong kind of pickled ginger, do you mean gari, the sweet kind, served with sushi?

Yes, that's exactly it. It was the only kind they had at my local Asian grocery store, and I figured it was better than nothing! I'll buy some beni shouga next time I'm in Toronto, when I can go to an actual Japanese grocery.

[Toufas]

i have one of the ready made packs, the pics tell me to add bacon (but i assume it must be uncured pork thinly sliced?) cabbage, eggs and milk to the flour mixture.

does it sound ok?

[mkayahara]

i have one of the ready made packs, the pics tell me to add bacon (but i assume it must be uncured pork thinly sliced?) cabbage, eggs and milk to the flour mixture.

does it sound ok?

I'm no expert, but that sounds about right to me. I've made okonomiyaki with cured but unsmoked pork belly, and it tasted fine.

[Hiroyuki]

i have one of the ready made packs, the pics tell me to add bacon (but i assume it must be uncured pork thinly sliced?) cabbage, eggs and milk to the flour mixture.

does it sound ok?

I'm no expert, but that sounds about right to me. I've made okonomiyaki with cured but unsmoked pork belly, and it tasted fine.

Milk doesn't sound right to me. Water is usually used instead, and dried small shrimp (sakura ebi in Japanese) is a common ingredient.

[helenjp]

Milk and bacon are definitely "nonstandard". Water, yes, or dashi stock. I have used bacon but find it a bit salty with all the toppings that go over it.

How did your okonomiyaki turn out, Toufas?

[jkim]

Reading this thread, I'm now completely confused as to what I ate at an Okonomiyaki restaurant in Oosaka.

They only had 1 thing on the menu (that I could tell) which was 700 yen? each.

It looked nothing like any of the pictures of "osaka okonomiyaki" on this thread, which looks exactly like korean "bin de dduk".

The food in question was cooked on a large grill at the front of the restaurant.

The cooking process was as follows:

- Very thin layer of white runny batter was placed on the pan.

- This was thinned out even more by using the back of a soup ladle to spread the batter.

- Some vegetables and grilled meats was placed on top, in thin layers.

- At the end, it was topped with egg, at which stage the chef expertly flipped it to cook the egg onto the rest of the ingredients to hold them down on that initial thin batter.

- Then it was flipped again and topped with sauces.

None of the ingredients were actually mixed "into" the batter, but they were on "top" of them.

[Hiroyuki]

Sounds more like Hiroshima-fu okonomiyaki.

[jkim]

Hi Hiroyuki,

That's EXACTLY what I had!

It was sooo nice, and so much better than the crappy Okonomiyaki they server in Melbourne (Australia), which is the Binde Dduk style (or Oosaka style according to the previous posts).

[LBNoble]

Serendipity!-Just back from vacation, not much in the kitchen, but rather than chucking the slightly tired cabbage & green onion, I sauteed them w/ a dab of oil, soy sauce, & pepper, topped w/ some frozen salad shrimp, mixed 2 eggs w/ some flour & water, poured it over the top, & after flipping, had a lovely little mini okonomiyaki. I topped it w/ a smear of sriracha mayo & it was delicious! Next time, I'll add some bacon...

[weinoo]

Perhaps you could tell us all what it is? Sounds Japanese.

[huiray]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki

http://www.gooddrama.net/japanese-drama/kodoku-no-gurume-episode-9

[weinoo]

Thanks. I was wondering why it was the OP's "latest obsession" too.

[ambra]

I made this recipe :

http://food52.com/recipes/12352-okonomiyaki

And I liked it. But it was a bit eggy. Maybe it's supposed to be. It was the first time I had ever had it.

Edited January 30, 2014 by ambra (log)

[weedy]

in my opinion, one HAS to buy the Kewpie mayo and the Okonomiyaki sauce, and the right japanese sweet potato flour, to get close to the real thing.

Also Tenkasu (tempura bits) and bonito flakes.

I can do a reasonable impersonation... but it's NEVER like it is in Japan (sigh)

http://okonomiyakiworld.com/buy-okonomiyaki-online.html

[huiray]

I made this recipe :

http://food52.com/recipes/12352-okonomiyaki

And I liked it. But it was a bit eggy. Maybe it's supposed to be. It was the first time I had ever had it.

Nice webpage. Some comments do point out that this recipe uses WAY more eggs than what they (the commentators) expected in their experience.

[huiray]

In addition to the various links and pictures in the eG thread linked to by heidih as well as the others in this thread, here are two additional webpages on Hiroshima Okonomiyaki:

http://www.littlejapanmama.com/2013/04/hiroshima-okonomiyaki-recipe.html

http://www.otafukufoods.com/recipes/hiroshima-style.html

The old eG thread concentrates largely on Osaka (or Kansai) Okonomiyaki [with some Tokyo (Kanto) stuff] and not much details on the Hiroshima version...

p.s. The Kodoku no Gurume episode I linked to above shows a Hiroshima-style preparation.

Edited January 31, 2014 by huiray (log)