Mochi Cheese Okonomiyaki Recipe (Kansai /Osaka style)

As I was asked to write a blog entry about my favorite recipe, I was thinking about it for a while. In the end I came to the result that I don’t really have something like a “favorite dish”, so I decided to choose a very special delicacy, which I really adore.

Okonomiyaki, also called “Japanese pancake”, is a traditional Japanese dish. The name comes from the word okonomi which means "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki which means "grilled" or "cooked". Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai (area around Osaka) or Hiroshima areas of Japan.

So, as I have only tried the Osaka version yet, I decided to choose that one. Before I am getting “medias in res”, I have to tell you that I have never cooked it at home before. I have only eaten it in a restaurant, but it is kind of the same, because in a typical Okonomiyaki restaurant you just get all the ingredients and then do it yourself.

source: http://www.bento.com/rf_ok.html

What do I need?

Essential Ingredients of Okonomiyaki:

•        1/2 of a sliced cabbage
•         2 cups of flour
•          2 2/3 cups of water
•          4 eggs
•          2 tsp of dashi powder (can be replaced by chicken stock powder)

These are the basic ingredients, which you need for every variation of (Kansai style) Okonomiyaki. Then there are also some extra ingredients, which you can choose by yourself. (There are endless variations of Okonomiyaki, you can even “create” your own version).

So here is a typical one:

Optional Ingredients

• 1 cup of shredded cheese
• 2 mochi (rice cake)
• 1/2 cup of bonito (fish flakes)
•  Okonomi Sauce or Tonkatsu Sauce
• Japanese mayonnaise

Preparation

1. So first of all, slice the cabbage. 

2. Then mix flour, water and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat it with a whisk.

3. After you have mixed all these things together, also add dashi powder, the sliced cabbage and the shredded cheese.

4. Heat oil in a frying pan and then spoon half of the batter into the frying pan and make a circle (it should look like a pancake)

5. Put the mochi on the circle and then add the rest of the batter and put it on the top of the “pancake”.

6. Cook it for 5 minutes and then flip it on the other side.

7. For the topping you can use bonito flakes, okonomi sauce, Japanese mayonnaise and green onions.

source: http://www.littlejapanmama.com/

It’s a very quick and easy recipe (it only takes about 20 minutes to prepare it) and it tastes really good! If you are a fan of Asian food you should definitely try it.