Ivan Orkin's Savory Pancakes (Okonomiyaki) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Why is my okonomiyaki soggy? ›

Make sure you only add the batter to the vegetables at the last minute before cooking. If you leave the vegetables in the batter too long, the water will come out and you'll have a soggy mess that's impossible to flip without breaking.

OtaJoy's label lists sugar, white vinegar, molasses, salt, tomato paste, apple, carrot, peach, dates, onions, raisins, mushrooms, garlic, kelp and spices (you didn't think we were going to give away our secrets, now did you?) among other ingredients.

Okonomiyaki flour is made of unbleached wheat and soy flours, leavening and spices such as kelp for flavor. It's designed to rise naturally on its own, meaning you don't need to add extra ingredients like nagaimo to get thick, fluffy pancakes.

If you find it impossible to get your hands on Japanese Mountain Yams (Yamaimo), they can be substituted by White Rice Flour, but then your Okonomiyaki will in fact turn into Korean Pancakes instead. Perhaps just check a normal Okonomiyaki recipe, and if you are gluten intolerant, keep looking for those Mountain Yams.

Shavings of smoked bonito called katsuobushi are placed on the okonomiyaki with wooden pincers. Because of the heat, the fish shavings move and contort when put on the okonomiyaki. Small flakes of aonori, a dried seaweed, are sprinkled over the okonomiyaki with a little spoon.

Okonomiyaki is traditionally made with dashi, the essential Japanese soup stock, so if you have it, please use it in place of the vegetable stock. Half a regular-sized cabbage is all you'll need for this recipe and you could also substitute with purple cabbage.

The word "okonomiyaki" is derived from "okonomi" meaning "as you like" and "yaki" meaning "grilled. It's commonly referred to as being a Japanese pancake. Accurate to its name, okonomiyaki can be served with a variety of toppings which include everything from meat and seafood to vegetables and cheese.

This fiber increases performance in the stomach and intestines, removes excessive fat, and works to expel cholesterol and salt from the body. Dietary fiber is easily ingested by eating Okonomiyaki, and it is great for your overall health.

A close cousin to okonomiyaki is hiroshimayaki, or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

If you cannot find okonomiyaki flour, use 100g of plain flour mixed with 2g of dashi stock powder and 1 tsp of baking powder.

What is the nickname of okonomiyaki? ›

It is also called by an abbreviated name, "okono", where the O is a politeness prefix and kono means 'favorite'. A liquid-based okonomiyaki, popular in Tokyo, is called monjayaki (also written as monja yaki) and abbreviated as "monja".

Note: Okonomiyaki sauce is available from Asian grocery stores. A quick substitute sauce can be made by blending three tablespoons of tomato ketchup, 1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon mushroom soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Nagaimo (Yamaimo)

When cooked, it adds volume to the batter and creates a fluffy okonomiyaki. Alternatively, you can use Japanese mountain yam (yamaimo) instead of nagaimo, but yamaimo is a thick and paste-like texture while nagaimo is a loose and liquid texture.

Yamaimo is Japanese mountain yam, a long root vegetable with thin, light brown skin and a slippery internal texture. (It can be omitted.) Hondashi is granulated dashi powder. (Water can be used in its place.)

A type of pan-fried batter or savoury pancake, monjayaki is Tokyo's answer to okonomiyaki, the iconic dish of Hiroshima and Osaka. Monjayaki retains a slightly runny appearance much like melted cheese even when cooked – but the delicious concoction tastes better than it looks.

Regional Variations of Okonomiyaki

Popular throughout the Kanto region, monjayaki resembles Kansai style okonomiyaki, but with finely chopped ingredients and a diluted batter that cooks to a soft, gooey texture.

They are “mushy” because they were undercooked. They are undercooked because the heat was too high and the surface cooked before the inside making them look cooked but “mushy”. To fix those, you could put them in a medium hot oven or toaster oven for a few minutes.

Its flavors—sweet and savory, spicy from bits of ginger, smoky with the flavor of dashi—were instantly recognizable (as they would be to anyone who grew up eating casual Japanese food), while the texture, simultaneously crunchy and creamy, hit all of my comfort food sweet spots.

Thinner pancakes will stay more moist and tender if cooked a little more quickly, so turn up the heat a bit when cooking. Better air circulation prevents the pancakes from becoming soggy while cooling.