EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Northern america / Dominican republic
How to make Japanese pizza Okonomiyaki? Recipe
If you think that only Italians have their own pizza, you are wrong. Japan has it too! Yes! It is surprising but it is true. お好み焼き known as okonomiyaki. What is that? The shortest and the quickest definition will be that okonomiayaki is a Japanese style pizza. Actually, it has nothing to do with a regular pizza, but you cannot expect to have it prepared in the same way. Just think about all available and not available ingredients in Japan. Compare it with what you can buy in European and American countries. Finally, bear in mind, that each nation and each region have their own, preferred tastes, flavors, and food textures. Some countries love everything that is boiled. Other, all that is fried. And again, other all that is baked or grilled. Finally, are areas that favorize raw, unprocessed food.
Why is okonomiyaki so popular?
Okonomiyaki is one of the most popular, and the most loved Japanese food. It is quite easy to be prepared, needs a minimal number of utensils and is quick. That is why okonomiyaki is so popular on festivals and garden-parties. It is a little bit like a Western-style fast-food. It is available as an alternative for a hot-dog, burger, or a pizza slice. It is relatively cheap, easy to eat without having to sit at the table and can be served in small portions.
What is okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki known as a Japanese pizza is rather like a tortilla or a pancake dough mixed with some ingredients and fried on a pan; than a regular, Italian pizza. The list of potential ingredients to be mixed with the dough is really very long. Actually, the name okonomiyaki might be, more or less, translated as ‘tailored made pancakes’. Given that, you can add to it almost everything you want to.
Where to eat okonomiyaki?
Most popular and famous okonomiyaki are form Osaka and Hiroshima. Both cities are also the best places to try real okonomiyaki and that are also places, where exist restaurants serving nothing else than okonomiyaki. But if you cannot be there, try okonomiyaki from a stall at a local Asian market or in a Japanese restaurant. One of many places for trying them is a Sunday morning market in the China Town (as for example this one in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), where Chinese, Japanese and Korean people gather, prepare food, and share their culture and cuisine. Food is freshly made and with all crucial ingredients. That is why it is a good place to try something traditional form Asian cultures. Especially that all these meals are prepared in the best possible way – by natives!
However, if you ever have a possibility to go to Japan and eat okonomiyaki there, such a meal in a local restaurant would be an unforgettable experience. In such a case, choose restaurants that offer preparing okonomiyaki by yourself and on your own table. If you manage to do so, you will sit at a special table with a place for frying meals. At the same time, you will be given a pan and all ingredients you need for your okonomiyaki.
Basic ingredients for okonomiyaki
While the filling for a Japanese pizza might be completely different depending on your taste and preferences, some basic ingredients must be included in all of them. This ingredients' list is especially important during the process of the dough preparation for okonomiyaki. You cannot start your cooking without eggs, flour, typical sauces and finally without special toppings.
Osaka-style okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki from Osaka are much easier to be prepared than these from Hiroshima. That is especially important for all beginners, that start experimenting with Japanese cuisine. Another big difference between okonomiyaki from Osaka and Hiroshima is the flavor. What is characteristic for okonomiyaki from Osaka, is their aroma that suits better Western tastes.
While preparing Osaka-style okonomiyaki, all ingredients, including these needed for the filling, are combined together, and put on the pan simultaneously.
Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki from Hiroshima are also known as Hiroshimayaki. The main difference is the frying method. In Hiroshimayaki, at the beginning of the frying process, only some part of the pancake-like dough is put on the pan and fried. Just in the same way, you were frying regular pancakes. After a couple of minutes, when the Hiroshimayaki starts getting a golden color, all other ingredients are being added. All these that you choose and decide to include in the filling. Finally, it is topped it with the rest of the dough and fried for a couple of next minutes. At the far end, according to the most traditional preparing method recipe, Hiroshimayaki are topped with a fried egg and stir-fried yakisoba noodles.
Okonomiyaki varieties - filling ideas
Given the fact that you can add to okonomiyaki almost everything you wish, this dish is ideal for everybody. No matter whether you are on a special diet, are vegetarian, vegan or following restricted religious cooking methods, you can enjoy okonomiyaki.
Filling options
- Meat - use pork or roasted beef
- Seafood - choose prawns or squids
- Mochi
- Glutinous rice noodles
- Kimchi
- Tofu soya cheese
- Vegetables
Home-made Osaka-style okonomiyaki with prawns and bacon - a step-by-step recipe
Although some Japanese ingredients might be hard to be bought in a regular shop, make some effort, and try to get them. Of course, they are not obligatory for preparing your okonomiyaki, but will definitively make a significant difference in the flavor, taste, and texture. Actually, if you wish to follow a really strict and traditional Japanese method, you will need three important ingredients:
- special flour dedicated solemnly for okonomiyaki
- okonomiyaki sauce
- Japanese mayonnaise
The rest is up to you, and you can experiment with the filling alternatives.
Ingredients for okonomiyaki
Ingredients for the pancake-like dough
- 100 gr okonomiyaki flour
- 100 ml cold water
- 1 egg
Ingredients for filling okonomiyaki
- 1 tbsp. beni-shoga – pickled red ginger
- 1 tbsp. tenkasu (leftovers from tempura)
- 70 gr prawns
- 100 gr bacon
- ¼ onion
- ½ cabbage
Additional ingredients for okonomiyaki
While preparing okonomiyaki, you might also like to add:
- Okonomiyaki sauce
- Japanese mayonnaise
- Katsuoboshi (dried bonito – tuna, flakes)
- Aonori (dried, powdered green seaweeds)
Step-by-step instructions for preparing okonomiyaki
Before you make okonomiyaki, prepare the filling for them.
Okonomiyaki filling preparation method
- Julienne cabbage.
- Cut bacon into small cubes.
- Finely julienne onion.
- Clean prawns, remove all black or brown parts.
- Mix all ingredients for the filling.
Prepare the dough for okonomiyaki
- Take a bowl and put flour into it.
- Add egg and mix it.
- Add water and mix till you get a homogenous, sticky mixture that is not too liquid.
- Add tenkasu and beni-shoga and mix it.
- Add julienned cabbage and once again mix it.
- Add the rest of ingredients prepared for okonomiyaki (onion, prawns, and bacon).
- Combine the dough with the filling prepared at the end.
Frying okonomiyaki
- Preheat the pan with some oil.
- Decrease the heat.
- Pour on the pan the prepared okonomiyaki mixture.
- Use a wooden, bamboo or a coco large spoon for forming a circular shape of your first okonomiyaki.
- Let it fry for a couple of minutes.
- Turn it, and continue frying on the other side.
- Fry it, till your okonomiyaki becomes slightly tough.
- Remove from the pan.
Topping okonomiyaki
- Top and decorate your first okonomiyaki with okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise (try to draw a dense mesh with interlacing dressing colors).
- Add a little bit of katsuoboshi and aonori on the top of each okonomiyaki.
- Serve it hot, directly from the pan.
TIPS:
- Use wok instead of a regular frying pan.
- If you cannot buy okonomiyaki flour, use any flour you want. Adjust it to your preferences and diet restrictions. Avoid wheat flour if possible and replace it with rice, buckwheat, or bean flour.
- Make your own okonomiyaki sauce (see the recipe below).
- Add extra ingredients to your okonomiyaki (fry separately an egg or/and boil yakisoba noodles). When ready, top your okonomiyaki with them. Thanks to that, you will get a meal partially like Hiroshimayaki.
Ingredients for a home-made okonomiyaki sauce
- 3 tbsp. ketchup
- 1 tbsp. soya sauce
- 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Remember to prepare your okonomiyaki just before serving and do not let it cool down and reheat, as it loses the flavor, its the texture becomes spongy.
