Japanese Street Food Recipe - Okonomiyaki - Japanese pancake

"Okonomi" means favourite or as you like it and "yaki" means grilled so you can really add whatever you like to this savoury pancake recipe (i.e. vegetables, seafood, meat etc). This is a popular Japanese street food and I remember eating it at Japanese festivals with ingredients like octopus and shrimp in it. It's a popular Japanese street food.

I'm sharing this basic okonomiyaki recipe with you but please add your favourite ingredients or whatever you have at home in the fridge!

Ingredients:

100g plain flour

250g savoy cabbage (finely shredded)

2 spring onions/ scallions (finely cut diagnolly)

200ml dashi stock or 200ml water with 1 tsp of hondashi (instant fish stock granules)

4 eggs (preferably free range or organic)

6-8 slices of bacon/ rashers (depending on size)

For the okonomiyaki sauce/ tonkatsu sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
4 tbsp water
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sake or red wine
1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp sugar

To garnish

Okonomiyaki sauce/ tonkatsu sauce

Mayonnaise

Milled nori or dillisk seaweed, optional

Beni shoga (pickled red ginger), optional
Katsuobushi (dried fish flakes), optional

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Instructions:

1. Put all the ingredients for the tonkatsu sauce in a saucepan and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until it thickens to the same consistency as tomato ketchup. Then set aside and allow to cool.

2. Place the shredded cabbage and spring onion in a large bowl and completely coat in flour.

3. Whisk the eggs and dashi together in a jug. Pour over the cabbage and mix well together.

4. Heat vegetable oil in a non stick frying pan on medium to high heat.

5. When the pan is hot completely cover the base of the frying pan in one single layer of bacon slices and fry for a few minutes.

6. Carefully place the cabbage mix on top of the layer of bacon until completely covered (depending on the size of your pan you may use most of the cabbage mix or only half).

7. Fry for a few more minutes then if you are not confident to flip the pancake do the following. Place a large plate over the frying pan and turn the pancake onto the plate. Now, slide the pancake with the uncooked part facing down onto the frying pan.

9. Continue to fry for less than 5 minutes on medium to low heat. When ready place on a serving plate with the bacon side of the pancake facing up.

10. To garnish, using a spoon/ brush cover the top of the pancake with tonkatsu sauce. Decorate with lines of mayonnaise and milled seaweed as shown in the picture on the left below. Finally top with katsuobushi and beni shoga (optional ingredients) as shown in the picture on the right below. 

Mini okonomiyaki pancakes:
You can make mini pancakes if you prefer. Simply place one slice of bacon on the frying pan and after frying for a few minutes carefully place a few tablespoons of cabbage mix on top of the bacon. Fry and garnish in the same way as the instructions for the large pancake above. 

Tips:
Traditionally a Japanese type of potato called nagaimo is grated and added to the batter to help make it lighter. This vegetable can be found in Asian stores.

JAPANESE SPAGHETTI CARBONARA RECIPE WITHOUT CREAM

I have a slight intolerance to dishes with added cream or butter so when cooking at home I try to avoid adding these when possible. Some people find it hard to believe that you can make carbonara without cream however once you have good quality eggs and Parmesan cheese the sauce will be nice and creamy.

I love cooking Italian food at home. My favourite Italian cookbooks are from Jamie Oliver and Catherine Fulvio. Italian food is very popular in Japan, you'll find Italian restaurants in every town across Japan and Italian dishes on the menus in their family restaurants. The dishes are influenced by local Japanese tastes by adding some favourite Japanese ingredients such as seaweed.

Here's my carbonara recipe with a Japanese twist and no added cream.

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS:
300g spaghetti pasta
4 slices of bacon (cut into small square pieces)
Olive oil (for frying)
4 egg yolks (preferably free range or organic eggs)
50g Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
Salt & pepper (to season)
Nori - roasted seaweed (to garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Boil the pasta as per the packet instructions until it is cooked to your liking.

2. Fry the bacon pieces on a frying pan with olive oil until they are nice and crisp (but not overcooked and black in colour).

3. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. 

4. Before draining the pasta make sure you have the whisked egg yolks, grated Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper and nori at hand. Also set the table in advance as this dish should be served immediately.

4. Drain the cooked pasta leaving some water at the bottom of the saucepan. 

5. Quickly add the bacon to the pasta and stir. Immediately pour the egg yolk over the pasta and stir completely covering the pasta in the egg yolk. Now toss the grated Parmesan over the pasta and mix well.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Serve on a place and garnish with some nori.

TIPS:

- When you mix the raw egg yolk into the pasta it's important that the saucepan is removed from the heat to avoid the egg scrambling. 

- The hot pasta will cook the raw egg yolk.

- To make the perfect creamy sauce you need to work quickly through the instructions from point 4 to 7.

NOTES:
Nori is a type of roasted seaweed which can be found in Asian supermarkets and also supermarkets such as Tesco, Dunnes and Superquinn. If you can't find nori sprinkles, then get a sheet of nori and using a grater make nori sprinkles. 

JAPANESE STYLE BURGER RECIPE

To make the most of the summer season I'm going to post a few summer barbecue recipes over the next month or so. Let me know if you would like me to post any of your favourite recipes. 

INGREDIENTS:
4 xsteak mince burger (preferably from your local butcher)
4 x bun burgers
1 large tomato (cut into thick slices)
Fresh salad leaves

Homemade tonkatsu sauce
4 tbsp Tomato ketchup
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sake or red wine
1 tbsp soya sauce
 
INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put all the ingredients for the homemade tonkatsu sauce in a saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens to the same consistency as tomato ketchup and then set aside to cool.
2. Cook the burgers to your liking on a BBQ, frying pan, grill or oven.
3. Place the burger on the bun and dress with a little tonkatsu sauce, sliced tomato and salad leaves.

TIPS:
You can also enjoy this with boiled rice and steamed vegetables

  

JAPANESE TONJIRU RECIPE - PORK SOUP

Tonjiru is a tasty Japanese stew using pork, vegetables,  and miso paste. Traditionally pork is used however you could use chicken instead.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 litre of homemade dashi stock or 1 litre of water and 1 tbsp of instant dashi granules
1 tbsp vegetable oil 

200g pork shoulder (thinly sliced) or pork belly
2 tbsp sake (Japanese rice wine) - optional

300g  daikon (peeled and cut into bite size cubes)

100g carrots (peeled and cut into bite size cubes)

100g potato (peeled and cut into bite size cubes)
3-4 tbsp miso paste 
Scallions/ Spring onion (finely chopped to garnish)

Nanami togarashi (optional to taste)

Chilli oil (optional to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. If you're using homemade dashi then click here to see how to make homemade dashi. You'll need to make a start on this first.
2. If you're using dashi granules then you'll need 1 litre of cold water and 1 tbsp of dashi granules. Set aside until point 5.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy based saucepan and fry the pork slices until browned on both sides.
4. Pour the sake over the meat and then add daikon, carrots and potatoes to the pork. Stir and continue to fry for a few minutes.
5. Pour the homemade dashi stock or 1 litre of cold water and 1 tbsp of dashi granules into the saucepan with the meat and vegetables until the vegetables are cooked (15-20 minutes).
6. When the water starts to boil skim the scum off the surface of the water.
7. When the vegetables are cooked lower the heat allowing the dashi to simmer only. 
8. Dilute the miso paste in a cup of dashi water taken from the saucepan. Then, add to the saucepan and mix all the ingredients. Do not allow to boil once the miso is added. 
9. Serve in a bowl sprinkled with nanami togarashi and a few drops of chilli oil. 
10. Garnish with spring onion. 

NOTES:

Click here to see my post on daikon and it's health benefits.

Tonkatsu - Deep fried breaded pork chop

One of the main ingredients in this recipe is panko which is flaky breadcrumbs used in Japanese cooking. The biggest difference between panko and standard breadcrumbs is that panko doesn't contain the crust of the bread and the breadcrumbs are bigger in panko. Seemingly panko absorbs less oil than standard breadcrumbs!

You can get a packet of panko in most Asian supermarkets. If you can't easily source ready-made panko then you can easily make your own or just use standard breadcrumbs. To make panko just remove the crust from a few slices of white bread. Then tear the bread into small flake like pieces. Place on a baking tray in a low heated oven until the bread is completely dry but it shouldn't turn a golden brown colour. Then store in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

2 pork chops/ cutlets

Salt and pepper for seasoning
Flour for coating
1 egg, beaten

Panko (flaky breadcrumbs)

Rapeseed oil for frying

White cabbage (optional)

Bulldog Tonkatsu Sauce for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cut the fat off the pork chops if you prefer not to eat the fat. 
2. Make small cuts all around the edge of the pork chops.
3. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. 
4. Coat the pork chops in flour (shaking off any excess flour).
5. Dip the pork chops in the beaten egg. 
6. Finally coat in panko (rub the panko gently onto the pork chops).
7. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan to 170 degrees Celsius.
8. Place a bit of panko into the oil to check if the oil is hot enough. 
9. Gently place the breaded pork chop into the oil. Fry for a few minutes until the panko turns a nice golden brown colour and then turn the breaded pork chop and fry for a few more minutes.
10. Remove the pork chop from the oil and place on kitchen towel.
11. Cut the pork chop into bite size pieces while it's still hot. 
12. Serve on a bed of finely cut white cabbage and drizzle Bulldog Tonkatsu Sauce over the Tonkatsu.

How to eat:

To enjoy a complete Japanese tonkatsu meal experience serve with a bowl of Japanese rice, a bowl of Japanese miso soup and Japanese pickled vegetables.

Tips:

1. If you like a nice thick breadcrumb on the pork chop then after coating the pork chop in flour, egg and panko coat it in egg and panko again to get a double breadcrumb coating!
2. Breast of chicken goes really well in this recipe also!

Why not:

Serve with Japanese curry sauce rather than tonkatsu sauce.

Japanese Teriyaki Recipe: Mince meat and aubergine in a teriyaki sauce

There are many variations of teriyaki sauce. This is a nice recipe to start off with and then you can adjust the proportions of the basic ingredients for the teriyaki sauce (soya sauce, mirin, sake and sugar) to adapt to your personal taste. 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large garlic cloves (finely chopped)

2 inches ginger root (finely chopped)

1 lb mince meat

2 large aubergine (cut into large square pieces)

8 tbsp soya sauce

4 tbsp mirin

4 tbsp sake

3 tsp caster sugar

Pickled ginger to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so (do not brown the garlic and ginger).
3. Add the minced meat and stir using a wooden spoon to help break up the mince meat. Let it cook until the meat is nearly cooked (do not cook the meat fully or it may become dry).
4. Add the aubergine pieces and stir into the mince meat using the wooden spoon.
5. Mix the soya sauce, mirin, sake and caster sugar in a small bowl. 
6. Pour the mixture over the mince meat and aubergine and stir well cooking under high heat for a few minutes, then let it simmer until the aubergines are nice and tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

How to eat:
Serve with a bowl of Japanese white rice. Sometimes I serve this dish with iceberg lettuce leaves (eat it like a wrap). This is not a traditional Japanese way of eating this dish but I find it handy if I don't have time to prepare rice or if I just fancy a change!

Tips:

1. Add less sugar if you prefer the dish less sweet
2. If you have time you could soak the aubergine pieces in a bowl of water before adding to the dish to get rid of the bitterness of the aubergine. 

Why not:

Try adding other vegetables that go really well with this teriyaki sauce. These include green peas, edamame (soya beans), carrots, mushrooms, broccoli etc.