Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Pancake)
お好み焼き · Okonomiyaki
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Okonomiyaki is Japan's beloved savory pancake: a batter of flour, egg and water packed with chopped cabbage and pork, griddled until golden and finished with a sweet-savory brown sauce, bonito flakes and a dusting of green aonori seaweed. The name roughly means "grilled as you like it," and it is a favorite of the Kansai region, especially Osaka. Children love it because it eats like a soft, hand-held pizza with a little sweetness from the sauce, and the cabbage all but disappears into the batter. This version keeps things simple, so it works just as well as an afternoon snack as it does for lunch.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 15 gthinly sliced pork (komagire)Small, thin offcuts of pork sold in Japan for quick stir-fries and simmered dishes. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin cut into bite-size pieces.
- 48 gcabbage
- 24 gflour
- 16.5 gegg
- 0.5 gkatsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)Paper-thin shavings of dried, smoked skipjack tuna that add a savory, smoky depth as a topping or stock base. Substitute: A pinch of dashi powder, or omit.
- 0.1 gaonori (green seaweed flakes)Fine, fragrant flakes of dried green seaweed sprinkled over dishes like okonomiyaki and yakisoba. Substitute: Crumbled nori sheets, or omit.
Seasonings
- 0.8 gvegetable oil
- 30 gwater
- 2.3 gvegetable oil
- 4.5 gchuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce)A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- thinly sliced pork (komagire) (豚こま切れ肉)
- Small, thin offcuts of pork sold in Japan for quick stir-fries and simmered dishes. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin cut into bite-size pieces.
- chuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce) (中濃ソース)
- A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
- katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) (かつお削り節)
- Paper-thin shavings of dried, smoked skipjack tuna that add a savory, smoky depth as a topping or stock base. Substitute: A pinch of dashi powder, or omit.
- aonori (green seaweed flakes) (あおのり)
- Fine, fragrant flakes of dried green seaweed sprinkled over dishes like okonomiyaki and yakisoba. Substitute: Crumbled nori sheets, or omit.
Directions
- 1
Cut the pork into 1 cm strips and stir-fry in a lightly oiled frying pan. Roughly chop the cabbage.
- 2
Sift the flour, then add the beaten egg and water and mix. Stir in the pork and cabbage from step 1.
- 3
Oil the frying pan, pour in the batter and spread it out, and cook over medium heat. Flip, reduce to low heat, cover, and cook through.
- 4
Once cooked, brush with the sauce, top with the bonito flakes and aonori, and cut into pieces.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 177 kcal | 354 kcal | 177 kcal |
| Protein | 8 g | 15.9 g | 8 g |
| Fat | 6.5 g | 12.9 g | 6.5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22 g | 44.1 g | 22 g |
| Fiber | 1.5 g | 3 g | 1.5 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.3 g | 0.6 g | 0.3 g |
| Calcium | 34.5 mg | 69 mg | 34.5 mg |
| Iron | 0.9 mg | 1.8 mg | 0.9 mg |
| Potassium | 205.5 mg | 411 mg | 205.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 177 kcal | 8 g | 6.5 g | 22 g | 1.5 g | 0.3 g | 34.5 mg | 0.9 mg | 205.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 354 kcal | 15.9 g | 12.9 g | 44.1 g | 3 g | 0.6 g | 69 mg | 1.8 mg | 411 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
