Ingredients
3 eggs
2 small potatoes
1 carrot
½ cup of plain flour
2 cups of chopped cabbage (any kind!)
2-3 Tbsp dashi stock, fish sauce or veggie stock
2 Tbsp chopped spring onion
1 thumb-sized corner of grated ginger
1 Tbsp sesame or vegetable oil
Okonomi Sauce
Method One (vegetarian)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Kecap Manis
1 Tbsp tamari / soy sauce
Method Two
1 Tbsp tamari / soy sauce
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
dash of sriracha or chilli sauce
PLUS
Japanese mayonnaise, more spring onions, nori / seaweed for garnish
Summary
Japanese comfort food – and an easy, satisfying meal for any kind of cabbage you may have! This version gets the tick of approval from our very own Osaka-born warehouse powerhouse (thanks Aki) and is a winner with all manner of veggies. Use up the stragglers! This one pictured has carrot, potato, half a wombok and a lovely green pak choi. Plus we’ve included two versions of a homemade okonomi sauce as well, so you can try both and pick your favourite!
Vegetarian Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake)
Peel and grate the potatoes into a large bowl. Add two of the eggs and flour, the fish sauce or dashi stock and mix to create a loose batter. Then add the carrot, shredded cabbage, spring onion, and grated ginger. Mix to combine, then add the third egg to make sure the mixture binds completely.
Add vegetable oil to the pan and bring to low-to-medium heat. Dollop the batter in the centre of the pan and use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently flatten it off, nudging the outer edge back in as do. Take care not to make the size too large as you may struggle to flip it!
Let it cook slowly on a low heat for about 10-15 mins, then flip. Use a brush or the back of a spoon to evenly cover the cooked side with the okonomi sauce – you can buy pre-made Japanese sauce or create your own from pantry staples. After about 5 minutes the second side should be cooked, so transfer to a plate.
Drizzle mayo on top, plus your extra condiments like seaweed sprinkles, pickled ginger or extra spring onion.
Okonomi Sauce
We know two great versions:
Method One is to combine 1 part rice vinegar, 1 part sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and 1 part tamari or soy sauce.
Method Two uses 2 parts tomato sauce (just like a bbq), 1 part tamari, 1 part oyster sauce, and a dash of sriracha for good luck. Create your own to your taste, these DIY versions taste surprisingly like the real thing and likely have a lot less sugar than the bought version.
Can these be frozen before cooking?
Yep, okonomiyaki will freeze well – they make a great emergency meal to reheat. Just cook them but leave the toppings, then wrap and freeze in a sealed bag. Defrost and reheat as usual in a pan, oven, sandwich press… however you prefer!
You can also make it vegan by adding rice flour or corn flour or vegan egg (flax seed ground 1 tsp to 3 tsp cold qater)
Absolutely, another really flexible meal for all kinds of dietary requirements. Thanks so much Bob!
What do you replace the egg with?
Bob uses 1 tsp ground flax seed and 3 tsp cold water as an egg replacement 🙂
I think you may be confused – a fish is not a vegetable…I’m not sure how this can be called vegetarian?
Hi Bob, no not confused 😉 just forgot to specify that you could replace the dashi with veggie stock if need be. Feel free to adapt our recipes as you need, we hope they’re just a good starting place and helpful for as many folks as possible.
Amazing recipe, so versatile! I swapped rice flour in because I’m GF and it turned out perfect. Thankyou
Thanks for the ricotta substitute, I’m dairy intolerant. I’ll definitely be trying out the lasagna recipe.
Thanks for posting the recipes.
Looks yum, cheap and adaptable…thx
Made this with peas, shredded sweet potato, cabbage and rev potato and I made a sauce from honey, soy, sriracha, bbq and a squeeze of lemon. Plug mayo and fried shallots. It can pretty much be made with any shredded veg.
Yummmm, I’ve been experimenting with okonomiyaki for years since I’ve never found restaurant ones quite as good as when I lived in Japan. The recipe I’ve been happiest with is a lot like this, but with grated sweet potato (the purple/white ones), but I’ve never tried normal potato – will definitely try this now!
Hi, great recipe! I was just wondering when does the carrot go in?
Carrot can go in with the cabbage and other veg! Thanks Luc, have fixed that in the recipe description.
Yum, looks delicious Liz. I will be swapping eggs with Flaxseed, rice flour and use the veg stock 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! They were absolutely delicious! Took me right back to our holiday in Japan. The nori flakes were a perfect substitute for the bonito (tuna) flakes that are traditionally used!
Glad to hear this recipe took you on holiday!
Highly recommend. These are great. So simple to make and very tasty. I will be making again for sure.