Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is... sort of the Japanese version of pizza. It basically means "whatever you like, grilled". The basic recipe is fine strips of cabbage in a flour-dashi mixture, which is fried with various toppings of you choice. Apparently, the recipe I was following is the Osaka-style okonomiyaki, but okonomiyaki is actually usually associated with Kansai or Hiroshima (all are regions in Japan).

Of course, I needn't say that okonomiyaki has been featured several times in the animes and J-dramas that I watch, such as Ranma and Teppan Shoujo Akane, so I don't need to tell you that I've always been tempted to make it, hehe. Its the same old story. Food looks good on screen, and you want to eat it at home. Especially the okonomiyaki in Teppan Shoujo Akane... *drools* So, here we go~!

What you need:
Base:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup dashi or water
1 egg
1/8 - 1/4 cabbage

Topping:
Anything you like, but I used
Chicken, cut into small pieces (marinated in seasonings of your choice)
1 onion, sliced finely
1 shallot, sliced finely
2 inches of chicken salami, diced finely
2 spring onions, sliced finely

Sauces:
Okonomiyaki sauce, or tonkatsu sauce**
Japanese mayonnaise (or just your favorite one)

What you do:

1. Chop up the cabbage into thin strips, as finely as you can. Discard as much of the white stem bit as you can.
2. Mix the egg, flour and dash/water with a whisk in a large bowl, until smooth and well combined. Mix in the cabbage the best you can. (Better to have too much than too little - it will shrink)
3. Heat up a large frying pan (or a teppanyaki hot plate if you have it!)
4. Fry your topping ingredients for a few minutes until almost cooked, then gather in a round in the middle of the pan.
5. Add the cabbage/flour mixture, also in a round on top of the toppings.
6. Turn up the heat and let it cook on one side for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Carefully flip it over (cutting it into smaller pieces if necessary) and let it cook on the other side for another five to ten minutes. (Check the dough to see if it is cooked already)
   
8. Slide onto a plate, drizzle over the sauce and mayo and serve immediately.

One of my friends made this before me and was raving about it, so I really couldn't wait to try it out! I know, it has a lot of veggies, but hey. Its cabbage. I eat cabbage. So shouldn't be too bad right? Even if it is a vegetable.

Well, I don't know what I was expecting. I thought that somehow, the cabbage would magically transform itself into something like rice or bread or chicken or something. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. :( It still stayed the same old cabbage. Not that I have anything against cabbage, you see. Its just slightly... unappetizing (not to mention disconcerting!) to have so many vegetables on one's plate, heh. Not only that, I was trying to stretch the topping a little bit, so I didn't have *that* much chicken to go with the thick mound of cabbage. So, um, yeah... :(

I also had the heat a *bit* too high, so some parts of my topping were a bit burnt before the whole thing was done. And I must say, its pretty hard to cook this for three people at once, heh. :P The flipping thing was a bit tough the first time round, but my next 2 okonomiyaki were loads better.

In saying that, although this dish really really really really really wasn't my taste (seriously, what was I thinking???) Hadi and Justin luuuurved it. They liked the cabbage and dough mixture, even, and said they were willing to pay for this kind of thing. Although that one was the one that was slightly burnt, heh. All I had to do, they said, was increase the topping and don't be so stingy, hehe. So ... is it just me who doesn't like this??? :( How sad. Missing out on so much Japanese "culture" by not being a fan of vegetables, haha! Oh well, next time will be better, I hope~! ;)

Quote of the day: Cabbage - a vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head.