Homemade Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki

This homemade Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is the ultimate savory pancake that you can’t get enough of. This okonomiyaki is made of cabbage, a light batter, pork belly, noodle, eggs, shrimp and a bunch of other toppings that you can add. What distinguish this Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki from others is the layers of goodies. For my homemade version, the very bottom is the layer of cabbage/batter, then it’s the noodle, and the last one will be the egg. Afterwards, it will be topped off with mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes. Of course, you can always add more toppings as you’d like.

This Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is super easy to make, fast and a great breakfast item (or lunch, or snack, or anytime really!). It will satisfy you and will last until your next meal. If you do not want it to be too heavy, you can try this okonomiyaki version. To make any version of okonomiyaki, you definitely need to have the okonomiyaki sauce. You cannot skip this as the sauce ultimately is the one that makes it flavorful. As I write this, I’m getting hungry… Let’s get cooking, shall we?

Tools I used:

• Nonstick griddle – Easy to clean, heat-up evenly, can cook a big batch, and, the best part, it is non-stick. This skillet is great for making a small portion of fried rice, sunny-side-up egg, burger/hotdog, or hash brown and so on.

Tip: You can be creative with the toppings. Add whichever you like, but, at the very basic, you should have okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes. Some topping ideas that you can add: pickled ginger, corn, shredded cheese, shredded nori/seaweed sheets and so on.

Ingredient:

• ½ medium-sized cabbage – shredded
• 8 thinly sliced pork belly – chopped into striped like a matchstick (can be substituted with bacon)
• ¼ lb shrimp – peeled, deveined, and cut into small chunks
• 4 eggs
• 1 package yakisoba or egg noodle (about 300gr)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup potato starch (or rice flour)
• A pinch of salt
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup mirin
• 4 tablespoons okonomiyaki sauce
• Olive oil

Toppings:

• Mayonnaise
• Okonomiyaki sauce
• Bonito flakes

Direction:

• In a large mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, potato starch (or rice flour), mirin, a pinch of salt and water. Give it a good stir until all are mixed thoroughly.
• Scoop out about two ladles of the batter into a small bowl and set it aside.
• Then, add shredded cabbage, striped pork belly and shrimp chunks into the mixing bowl, give it another stir. Now you have one big batter with shredded cabbage and another small bowl of just the batter.
• Divide the batter with shredded cabbage into 4 portions. However, do the same for the noodle, divide it into 4.
• Pre-heat the olive oil on a griddle (or you can use a skillet/pan) under low-to-medium heat.
• Once heated, pour one portion of the shredded cabbage batter to the griddle/pan. Make it into a round pancake shaped. Flatten it a bit if needed. Cook for about 4-5 minutes. Do not flip yet.
• While the batter is cooking, on a different spot of the griddle (or using another pan/skillet), pre-heat olive oil under low-to-medium heat. Once heated, add a portion of noodle.
• Then, add a tablespoon of okonomiyaki sauce. Give it a good mix. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, depending on the package instruction.
• By this time, you can flip the cabbage batter to let it cook for about 4-5 minutes. After flipping, add the noodle to the cooked side of the cabbage batter. Crack an egg and add on top of the noodle. Also, add about half a ladle of the batter only (the one in the small bowl).
• Once the other side is cooked, flip once more, to ensure that the noodle and the egg is cooked nicely. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
• Transfer the okonomiyaki into a plate and repeat cooking the batter again until all are cooked.
• To serve, drizzle the okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise onto the top of the okonomiyaki. Then, sprinkle it with some bonito flakes. Eat it while it’s still warm. Enjoy!