My absolute favorite Japanese street food, EVER! Okonomiyaki is like a big savory pancake that is thick, a bit chewy, fluffy and soft on the inside and golden crispy on the outside, topped off with a generous amount of umami and sweet sauce and mayo.
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake made of vegetables, sometimes meat and seafood, in a wheat flour batter. It's as adaptable as an omelet, if not more, as the word okonomi literally means "how you like" or "what you like".You can pretty much stuff it with whatever ingredients you prefer but for this vegan version, I used a variety of vegetables. This is also a great fridge clearing recipe to use up all the scraps of veggies you have on your hand.
For the batter, the traditional okonomiyaki recipe calls for grated nagaimo to add fluffiness to the texture. Nagaimo, or mountain yam, is a type of root vegetable that's long and hairy, it's creamy and slimy when grated. However, it's not easy to find nagaimo in a regular grocery store especially in North America so I make the batter with substitutes and it worked just fine!
For the toppings, I used a few simple, easy-to-find ingredients to make both sauces - the dark, rich, umami, sweet okonomiyaki sauce, and a super easy vegan mayonnaise.
If you try it please tag me @veganbunnychef on Instagram and Tiktok I'd love to see your creations ^^
INGREDIENTS:
*this amount makes 2 medium size ones of 1 large and extra thick one
1/2 cup GF flour, or AP flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour (same as tapioca starch)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 flax "egg" - 1 teaspoon ground flax seed and 2 tablespoon of warm water
1/2 cup dashi, I made kombu and shiitake dashi but feel free to use any kind you have
4 oz shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced
1/4 head green cabbage, about 2 - 3 cups chopped
1 carrot, shredded
Vegan Kewpie mayonnaise (homemade)
Furikake for topping
Cooking oil
Okonomiyaki Sauce -
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoon vegan mushroom "oyster" sauce
1 tablespoon tamari/soy sauce
1 tablespoon coconut amino
TO MAKE:
- Mix the flax "egg" ingredients, let it sit and thicken up;
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, salt, and white pepper, whisk to mix well, then add in the flax "egg" and slowly pour in the dashi while whisk the mixture until very smooth;
- Cover the flour mixture and refrigerate for half an hour;
- Meanwhile, finely chop the cabbage, thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms, shred the carrot, take your time to chop the vegetables nice and small, if they're too chunky they'll affect the texture later;
- When the batter is chilled, stir in all the chopped vegetables, mix till all the ingredients are well coated in the batter;
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of cooking oil, depending on your preferred size, add in either half of the batter mixture or all of them if you like an extra large and thick one like mine, form into a pancake shape, cover with the lid and cook for about 4-5 minutes;
- When the bottom is golden and firm, slide a thin spatula underneath and go around to make sure nothing is stuck at the bottom of the pan, carefully flip it over, try not to break it but if you do it's ok it'll still taste amazing!
- Cover again, and cook over medium-low heat for another 3-4 minutes, until cooked through and the other side is also golden brown, repeat till all mixture is used up if you are making multiple ones;
- Prepare the okonomiyaki sauce by mixing all the ingredients together till smooth and well combined, and make the vegan kewpie mayo or use your preferred vegan mayo;
- Transfer the cooked okonomiyaki to a plate, slather on a layer of okonomiyaki sauce, then a layer of vegan mayo;
- Finally, sprinkle on some furikake, serve immediately, enjoy!
