Okonomiyaki is probably the more official name of this pancake but its a bit of a mouthful!! Japanese food is where this pancake originates from. A country I haven’t been to yet but one that is firmly on my travel list.
Right now, we can all travel to any country we feel like every day in our kitchens! The key thing to Asian cooking is fresh flavours and they like to go mad with the toppings on any dish – fresh herbs, peanuts, sesame, dried seaweed and chilli all come to mind.
This recipe is also a great way to use up odds and ends in your vegetable supply as you can swap in and out ingredients as you wish. Traditionally this pancake uses cabbage but I’m using brussel sprouts, savoy cabbage is firmly in season right now but any type of root veg like carrots, parsnip, celeriac, beetroot, squash or tough leafy green like sprouts or cabbage will work very well.
When putting the finishing touches to your pancake go mad or keep things to the side for dipping and dunking as you prefer. Either way, the effortless BBQ sauce will be one I feel I will be using an awful lot so it might be worth making twice the amount and keeping some in your fridge for more food adventures!
For another great travel test trip, try my Samosa recipe!
Serves 2.
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1/2 tsp soy or tamari sauce
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 8 sprouts or 100g cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
- 50g leek or 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 1 medium carrot, grated
- 2 tbsp fresh herbs – mint, coriander, parsley; roughly chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- Optional: 100g prawns or leftover cooked chicken or pork
- Toppings: fresh herbs, chopped peanuts, mayonnaise, sriracha sauce, dried seaweed, spicy peanut sauce etc.
BBQ Sauce:
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp tomato paste or tomato ketchup
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- Whisk the eggs, flour, salt and soy sauce together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the sprouts, carrot, leek, fresh herbs and ginger alongside any optional meat or fish to the whisked eggs. Combine together with a fork until everything is well coated in the egg batter.
- Heat 1 teaspoonful of oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Place half the mixture onto the pan, spreading out and pressing down lightly. Place a lid or plate to cover the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on one side. Flip the pancake over by inverting the pancake onto a plate first or flipping easily with a spatula.
- Cover the pancake with the lid again and cook through on the other for 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining mix.
- For the BBQ Sauce: whisk all the ingredients together until a smooth loose paste is formed.
- Serve as you like with your choice of toppings.
