Japanese Vegetable Pancake (Okonomiyaki)

When I lived in Melbourne, there was a great little Japanese lunch bar behind my office building. I loved ducking in for Okonomiyaki and Yakitori (Japanese Vegetable Pancake with Chicken skewers). Admittedly, the thick, sweet Japanese soy sauce and mayonnaise drizzled liberally over them is what I love about these pancakes (and they’ve got vegies in them, so they must be healthy!). I haven’t found them as readily available here in Brisbane, so thought I’d give them a try.

This is new recipe #1 for my 2011 goals. Click for the full recipe:
Ingredients
3 cups of plain flour 
1 medium potato, peeled and grated 
1 onion, chopped
1 eggs
2 cups water
1 cup cabbage leaves, shredded
1 small can corn kernels (or 1 cup fresh/frozen corn kernels)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons thick, sweet Japanese soy sauce (or Okonomiyaki sauce – available at Asian grocery stores, or barbecue sauce)
1/2 cup Japanese mayonnaise

Procedure

1. Mix together flour, potato, egg, a pinch of salt and water. Add cabbage, corn and onion.
2. Heat a little oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Spoon one-quarter of mixture (about two soup ladles) into frying pan on medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
3. Turn pancake over and cook for another 10 minutes. Place in a warm oven and repeat with remaining batter.
4. To serve, drizzle the sauce and mayonnaise over the pancakes.

The recipe makes four large pancakes and are deceptively filling. I didn’t have any mayonnaise and just used barbecue sauce. Hubby and I enjoyed them, the toddler wasn’t so keen!

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