Okonomiyaki

Ingredients

• 125 g flour
• 1 egg
• 125 ml water
• thinly sliced meat (pork, beef, or bacon)
• dashi powder or desired seasonings
• 2-4 cabbage leaves
• salt
• tonkatsu sauce
• mayonnaise
• sriracha
• katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
• nori (dried roasted seaweed)

Method

Okonomiyaki is a filled batter-based pancake where the meat becomes your structural foundation. Cook the protein first, use it as the base layer, then pour your batter directly onto it. This method works because the rendered fat from the meat bonds with the batter's starch and egg, creating a unified crust rather than two competing layers.

Slice your cabbage thinly—2-3 mm ribbons—then whisk your water and egg together in a large bowl until the yolk is fully broken. Add the flour, a pinch of salt, and dashi powder (or your chosen seasoning) in one go, then stir with a fork until just combined. The batter will look loose, almost soupy. Don't overmix. Fold the cabbage in with a spatula, using as few turns as possible; you want distinct shreds of cabbage suspended in batter, not a homogenised paste. Overworked batter leads to a dense, rubbery pancake.

Heat a cast-iron griddle or pan to medium-high until a single drop of water dances and evaporates in less than a second. Arrange your meat (about 75-100 g, enough to cover the base in one layer) and let it cook undisturbed for 90 seconds to 2 minutes until the underside develops colour and begins to render its fat. Don't flip yet. Pour the batter directly over the meat—roughly 200 ml, enough to form a pancake about 8 mm thick—and spread it gently with a spatula. The meat will become encased in batter as it sits.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on the hob without moving it. You'll hear a steady sizzle; listen for it to deepen slightly as the bottom pan-frying|sets and colours. Slide a spatula underneath to check: the bottom should be deep golden-brown, almost mahogany at the edges. Now flip with confidence in one fluid motion. Cook the cabbage side for another 2 minutes until the batter firms, or finish under a hot broiler for 90 seconds if you prefer the top surface drier and slightly charred.

Slide onto a plate, meat side up. Draw zig-zags of tonkatsu sauce and Japanese mayonnaise across the surface while it's still hot. Shower with katsuobushi flakes—they'll curl and dance in the residual heat—then scatter nori shards over the top. Eat with a small spatula or takoyaki pick; this isn't a hand food.