00:00Many people think Okonomiyaki is impossible to make without a special flour.
00:04Actually, that's wrong.
00:05With just flour, cabbage and a few techniques,
00:08you can master Japan's ultimate cornflake food at home in a frying pan.
00:12For a printable version of this recipe, visit my website,
00:14just google okonomiyaki space statue to find me.
00:18Let's start with our batter.
00:19In a large mixing bowl, we're sifting 100g of cake flour with 1⁄8 teaspoon of baking powder.
00:25Now, I'm using baking powder instead of the traditional Japanese yam
00:29because, let's be honest, it can be tricky to find outside Japan.
00:32But if you live in Japan or have access to Japanese yam paste,
00:36definitely use that instead for the authentic light and silky texture.
00:42Next, we're whisking in 75g of cold dashi along with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce,
00:481 teaspoon of mirin, 1 teaspoon of milk, and 1 egg until just combined.
00:55Whether you're using instant dashi, dashi packets, or homemade dashi,
00:59make sure it's cold before you add it. Hot dashi is the enemy here because it'll
01:03make the gluten develop too quickly, turning your mixture gummy and heavy.
01:08Room temperature, or chilled, that's what we want.
01:12Now, here's something most people might skip. We're covering this bowl and chilling it for at least 30
01:17minutes. An hour is even better. This resting time lets the moisture distribute evenly and gives
01:23that gluten network time to chill out. You'll get a thicker, easier-to-shape okonomiyaki that won't
01:29spread all over your pan. While that's resting, let's make our sauce if you want to.
01:41Mix 2 tablespoons of ketchup, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce,
01:481 tablespoon of honey, and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce in a small bowl.
01:53Store-bought okonomiyaki sauce works too if you already have one. Also, feel free to tweak the
01:58ratios. More honey if you like it sweeter, more soy sauce if you want it saltier.
02:03Next, I've got about 150g of cabbage leaves. This is undeniably one of the most important ingredients,
02:10and how you cut it actually matters. We want it roughly, yet finely chopped. I start by rolling
02:17it up, cutting it into strips, and then roughly chopping it in the other direction.
02:23Too thin and fine, and all that moisture starts leaking out, making your batter watery. We want
02:29small but rough pieces so you can actually taste the cabbage without it turning your batter to runny.
02:35And ideally, choose spring, green, or pointed cabbage varieties. Basically go for tender or
02:42dense. Tough ones like winter cabbages take a long time to soften, and will weigh your batter down.
02:53Time to bring it all together. This recipe makes two smaller okonomiyaki, so divide your rest of the
02:58batter into two bowls. One goes back in the fridge while we cook the first pancake. Working quickly to
03:03keep the cabbage nice and crunchy. Fold in half of your chopped cabbage, then about one tablespoon of tenkasu,
03:10or crushed plain potato chips if you eat in a pinch, and one tablespoon of finely diced
03:16peppered pepper. Then you can omit it if you don't have it.
03:31Then, crack in one extra egg, and stir just until you stop seeing streaks. If you over-stair,
03:38you're toughening the gluten and knocking out all the precious air.
03:42On the mix, on the other hand, you'll get unstable pockets that collapse fast when you flip.
03:48What we want is a light 30-second fold after the egg.
03:52Now, if you're feeling fancy and don't mind the extra work, you can separate your eggs,
03:57beat those whites to soft peaks, and then fold them in. I don't usually bother,
04:02but it does give you the souffle-like texture.
04:05Heat up a well-seasoned cast iron over medium-high heat, add a thin layer of neutral oil,
04:11and use kitchen paper to spread it into a thin, even layer.
04:16Oil batter right into the centre. Use your spatula to shape it into a circle,
04:21about 14-16cm wide and 2cm thick. That's your standard size right there.
04:35Pan choice actually matters here. Cast iron retains heat beautifully,
04:40searing the crust before the centre overcooks. Non-stick works too,
04:43but don't crank it too high because they don't love extreme temperatures.
04:58Lay those thin pork belly slices right over the surface. I use about 50g for each okonomiyaki.
05:05If you can't get your hands on pork belly, streaky bacon works, but you'll want to dial back
05:10on the sauce a bit to balance out the extra saltiness. When the edges look dry and the
05:16bottom is a gorgeous deep golden colour, it's flip time.
05:24Slide a white spatula, or two smaller ones if you're not feeling confident,
05:29under the pancake and flip it in one smooth motion.
05:35I must say, I took too long to lay pork slices this time and it's slightly overdone, but it's still
05:41ok.
05:42For troubleshooting like this, check out the link to my detailed blog post in the description below.
05:49Turn the heat down to medium-low, pop the lid on and let steam do its magic for 5 minutes.
05:56As that meat starts sizzling, the rendered fat is essentially shallow-frying the batter,
06:01adding incredible smokiness and keeping those slices from curling up while the lid is trapped in the
06:08steam and helping the center cook evenly. After 5 minutes, take the lid off to re-crisp the surface
06:14and get rid of any excess moisture if there's any. Poke the center with a toothpick. If it comes out
06:21clean,
06:21flip it one more time so the pork side is on top. Now, brush on half of that sauce.
06:39Drizzle with a thin stream of mayo.
06:44Then bonito flakes and alnori powder right before serving. The heat will make those bonito flakes
06:51dance like they're alive, and the alnori sea aroma will absolutely pop when you add it last.
07:05Slice it into portions and enjoy it while it's piping hot. Just repeat the whole process with
07:11that second bowl of batter chilling in your fridge and enjoy your first batch while it cooks.
07:17Want even more delicious recipes? Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
07:23Okay, let's go over the ingredients one more time, and if you're ready to cook,
07:27grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box with a picture that's about to pop up
07:32on your screen. There we go, the link to the full recipe is on the screen for you now, and
07:43if you want
07:43to watch more similar videos, don't miss my street food playlist popping up on your screen as well.
07:48Thanks so much for watching, and I hope to see you in the next one. Bye!
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