Okonomiyaki

It's basically a Japanese street food from what I have been told/learned upon over the years. I've never had the real deal, so I can't comment on how authentic this is. But from what I understand, there are so many variations that authentic probably isn't something to shoot for here. Let us just shoot for delicious instead, shall we? This really is the best kind of fat kid food. It's not all that bad for you I guess, but holy cow it tastes good enough to seem that way. I made this for dinner the other day and told myself I would only eat half. Needless to say, that did not happen. I could eat another one right now. Kinda loosely inspired by a Serious Eats recipe, but I took some liberties. Really does help to take a look at the video I made to see the flip, what the yamaimo looks like, and how thin to shave the cabbage.

Ingredients

Mix

• 400 g shredded cabbage
• 3 scallions
• 2 eggs
• 140g yamaimo
• 1/2 tsp Beaver, xtra hot horseradish
• 10g katsuobushi
• 120g chicken broth (or water is fine)
• A pinch of salt
• 110g AP flour
• A pack of bacon

TOPPINGS

• 1 piece nori
• 5g katsuobushi
• Kewpie mayonnaise
• okonomi sauce

Directions

1. Peel and grate the yamaimo. Yamaimo is a root vegetable of some sort. It's a little tough to find some times. You can skip it if you want, but it is kinda crucial for the texture. In San Francisco, the best place to get it is at the UN Plaza farmers market on Wednesdays and Sundays. You grate it like ginger, not like cheese. The fine side of a cheese grater will do though if you don't have a ginger grater. The texture is pretty weird.
2. Slice the scallions thin. Cut the cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Slice it fairly thin as well. You might even wanna use a mandolin. Some people like it thin like sauerkraut, but personally, I like it somewhere around coleslaw thickness.
3. Combine all of the mix ingredients, except the bacon. Mix well.
4. Cover the bottom of a 10" frying pan with bacon over medium heat.
5. Spread about half of your okonomiyaki mix over the bacon now. Place over medium-low heat. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. The bacon should be a little crispy.
6. Now you gotta flip it. This can get a bit tricky. I recommend flipping over the sink into another pan, so you can pour off a little grease and slide your pancake back into the original pan. Check out the video here if you're confused at all. Return to the stove to cook about 8 minutes longer.
7. Topping time! Slide that bad boy onto a plate. Squirt on a cool zigzag of kewpie mayo. Add a drizzle of that special okonomi sauce. Sprinkle with shavings of nori and katsuobushi. Time to eat!

bon appetit