Like Hawaii’s love for spam, okonomiyaki became popular in Japan during WWII when rice was scarce, and it’s remained popular since. The Japanese translation for okonomiyaki is “what you like, grilled” or basically…grill anykine. This is a fast and filling way to use up your leftovers. Think fried rice but with flour. Breakfast of champions!
Tips
1. We bought this mix from Nijiya Market. If you don’t have okonomiyaki mix you can make your own! Use 1 cup all purpose flour & 1/4 cup or so of grated yamaimo
2. Use kewpie mayo or make your own like we did
3. There’s no right or wrong way to make okonomiyaki. Play around with the ratios of liquid and egg depending on how firm or eggy you want yours.
4. We used leftover king crab, but you can use whatever you have. In another version, we used leftover steak and kamaboko. Get more inspiration from Okonomiyaki World
5. If you have a waffle maker, use the batter to make some okonomiyaki waffles!! I love all the crispy edges so I’m sure these’ll be amazing in a waffle maker. Tempted to buy one just for that.
- 1 cup okonomiyaki mix
- 2/3 cup cold water or dashi
- 2 - 3 eggs I prefer 3 eggs for breakfast
- cabbage shredded
- king crab meat
- green onion
- katsuobushi bonito flakes
- housemade or kewpie mayo
- okonomiyaki sauce
- benishoga red pickled ginger
- Combine okonomiyaki flour and water (Add the yamaimo here if using all purpose flour)
- Mix in cabbage and crab first. Then gently fold in eggs. Don't over mix eggs.
- Lightly oil pan on medium heat. Add batter, gently flatten. Cook for 7 min on each side until nicely browned. Test for doneness in the middle. Make sure the flour is fully cooked without overcooking the egg. Note: You can make individual pancakes or one large pancake and divide. We divided ours.
- Remove from pan
- Drizzle with okonomiyaki sauce and homemade mayo. Garnish with katsuobushi, green onion, and red ginger. Voila! Savory Japanese egg pancake. Golden and fluffy but crisp around the edges. Chunks of king crab in each bite with a zip of flavor from the sauces and red ginger. Yum!
I'll let you on how our okonomiyaki waffles turn out!