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Known as Japanese comfort food, okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese cabbage pancake that is all at once sloppy, crispy, gooey, savory, sweet, and umami. | theeverykitchen.com

Okonomiyaki (Savory Japanese Pancakes)

Known as Japanese comfort food, okonomiyaki is a savory pancake that is all at once sloppy, crispy, gooey, savory, sweet, and umami. Our okonomiyaki is made of red cabbage and topped with pickled pink ginger, scallions, and dried seaweed, but since okonomi translates to "how you like," you can make okonomiyaki with any mix of ingredients and toppings you choose. Recipe adapted from Just One Cookbook.

Course Main
Cuisine Japanese
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 4 pancakes
Calories 435 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2- inch section of baking potato, peeled and grated
  • 3/4 cup stock (any type)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup pickled pink ginger
  • 1/2 pound baby sea scallops (or small shrimp or pork belly or any protein)
  • 1 1/2 pounds red or green cabbage
  • 4 tablespoons canola oil

Okonomiyaki Sauce

  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fish or oyster sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestshire sauce

Toppings*

  • Okonomiyaki sauce
  • Yum Yum sauce
  • Pickled pink ginger
  • Chopped scallions
  • Dried green seaweed (I chopped up Annie Chun’s Roasted Seaweed Snacks)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, potato, and stock. Mix until well-combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
  2. Meanwhile, make the okonomiyaki sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, fish or oyster sauce, ketchup, and Worcestshire until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
  3. Remove the cabbage core and chop until the cabbage is in small pieces. Set on paper towels to remove the moisture.
  4. When you are ready to cook the okonomiyaki, add eggs, pickled ginger, and scallops to the batter. Mix until well-combined. Slowly stir in cabbage.

  5. Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. (You will cook one okonomiyaki pancake in a skillet, so you may have multiple skillets on the stove if you feel comfortable.) Once hot, add 1/4th of the cabbage and batter mixture and spread in a circle on the pan. You can make it as thin or as thick as you like. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Once the bottom has browned, flip over, cover, and cook 5 more minutes. Transfer to a plate.

  6. To finish: Brush okonomiyaki sauce over the top of the pancake. Drizzle with Yum Yum Sauce. Garnish with pickled ginger, scallions, and seaweed. Serve hot.

Recipe Notes

*Nutrition facts do not include toppings.