I think we’ve mentioned this a few times before, but Megan and I like to plan our meals ahead of time to reduce meal planning decision fatigue (it’s a real thing!). To keep thinks interesting, we try to plan for a variety of different types of cuisine throughout the week: Taco Tuesday, Japanese Wednesday, Indian Thursday, … And while we’re definitely not opposed to eating the same thing every week, we also like to change things up once in a while for a little variety week to week. Our baby boy just turned one and has been reaching for our food more frequently, so a good way to reduce some of our meal prep is to get him to eat what we eat. At this point it’s not too difficult, it just means laying off on the salt and sugar, and making sure the consistency is manageable for him. Okonomiyaki has been a really great option for this! We have also discovered that with something like a pancake, it’s much easier for us to hide his vegetables.

What is Okonomiyaki? Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake that contains eggs, cabbage, pork and its usually served with okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie pie, dried seaweed flakes and shaved bonito. This recipe is quite adaptable and you can make substitutions for the protein, and add any vegetables or other leftovers you find around the house.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp of oil + some for frying
• 2 cups shredded green cabbage
• 1/4 cup shredded vegetables (carrots, zucchini)
• protein of your choice (bacon, shrimp, canned fish, …)

Tools Required:

• whisk/ spatula
• box grater
• 2oz yellow handle scoop
• non stick frying pan

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder).
2. In a separate bowl, grate green cabbage along with other vegetables.
3. In a third bowl, whisk together 1 tbsp of oil, 3/4 cup water and large egg.
4. Add wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth.
5. Fold in shredded cabbage and other vegetables.
6. In a nonstick pan, heat pan on medium and add oil to coat.
7. Scoop batter with a portion scoop and place it into the frying pan, gently press it down and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
8. Once it is brown and crisp, flip the okonomiyaki with a spatula and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
9. Once it is cooked, topped with a drizzle of tonkatsu sauce, Kewpie mayo, dried seaweed flakes and a generous amount of shaved bonito.

Variations:

• Canned fish or other seafood (octopus, scallops, fish cakes) work well for protein if you don’t want to use pork. Tofu and mochi would also be nice for texture.
• Adding any other vegetables you want to have is fine
• We haven’t tried in yet, but we found in our google search that some people use cheese or yakisoba (will definitely try in the future)
• Egg whites can easily be substituted instead of using a whole egg

FAQs, Tips, Troubleshooting:

• The reason why we opt for a smaller version is because it’s much easier to flip, rather then trying to flip one giant pancake (with the rest of going overboard and all over the counter making a mess and ruining dinner…), it’s much easier and more manageable.
• We also make them a couple at a time so it stays hot.
• If you end up with leftovers, don’t worry, they reheat nicely (from fridge or frozen) in an air fryer or toaster oven.