Japanese pancake – Okonomiyaki

Jen loved eating Japanese pancake, okonomiyaki, when she was in Japan on holidays, then came home and worked out how to make a great tasting baked version, rather than fried as it is traditionally cooked.

JAPANESE PANCAKE – OKONOMIYAKI

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 90 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

butter for greasing
4 cups of savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
salt (iodised)
1 tbsp of miso paste (white)
20ml / 1 tbsp of boiling water
2 carrots, grated
½ brown/yellow onion, grated
2 sprigs of flat leaf parsley, chopped
½ cup of plain / all-purpose flour
1 egg
100g / 3oz of white bean sprouts
1 spring onion / scallion
3 tsp of pickled ginger
mayonnaise to serve
brown sauce (HP) to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 150ºC / 275ºF / Gas mark 2.
Line the base of a springform pan (20cm/8″ for 4 serves) with baking/parchment paper, and grease the sides with butter.
In a bowl, place the cabbage and then sprinkle with salt. Let it stand for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, combine the miso paste and boiling water to dissolve the paste.
After 20 minutes, rinse and drain the cabbage and squeeze out excess liquid and return to the bowl.
Add the miso, carrots, onion, parlsley, flour and egg to the bowl, and mix until well combined.
Press mixture into prepared tin, and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
While pancake is baking, combine the sprouts, spring onions/scallions and pickled ginger and set aside.
When pancake is cooked, remove from oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Run a knife around the edge, then release the sides of the tin. Tip pancake on to a plate, remove paper, and place on a serving platter.
Top with mayonnaise and brown sauce, then slice and serve with the sprout mixture.

TIP
Okonomiyaki means anything goes, so use any leftover vegetables in the pancake or top with your favourite food like a fried egg or sliced meat. Pickled ginger and nori sheets/seaweed are another vegetarian option. The brown sauce and mayonnaise are staples though, and important to include.