OKONOMIYAKI - Rajini's Kitchen

An adaptation of the Japanese savoury pancake with local ingredients.

Makes: 8

Ingredients:

Plain Flour – 2 cups
Cornstarch – 2½ tablespoons
Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
Chicken or prawn stock – 2 cups (prawn stock is a lot tastier) alternatively you could use water and a stock cube
Eggs – 2, beaten
Spring onions – 8, chopped (white and green parts)
Cabbage – 4 cups, shredded
Prawns/ squid – ½ cup packed, shelled, deveined and chopped (more the merrier).If you use squid chop these really tiny.
Chicken – 2 cups, cut into tiny ¼” cubes (tiny, because you will not pre cook these, it cooks with the pancake)
Salt to taste
Crunchy garnish ingredients: In a small bowl mix ½ cup toasted Sesame seeds + ¼ cup dry shrimp/or dry fish flakes (galmo) cleaned and toasted

Ingredients for the Sauce: In a small bowl mix the following:

Method:

In a large bowl using a wooden spoon mix the plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, beaten eggs, vegetables, prawns and chicken, combining everything well.
Pour in the stock a little at a time mixing well between additions (you might not need all of it). You should have a thick batter. As you make the Okonomiyaki, the batter will start thinning out because of the water let out by the cabbage, so go easy on the stock at the beginning.

Heat a non stick pan on low heat. Wipe the pan with a little oil and drop a third of a cup of the prepared batter on to the pan to make a thickish pancake.
Ensure that the chicken, prawns are well spread out. Cover and cook. After one side of the pancake is done flip it over and cook the other side without the lid.
To serve, top with the prepared sauce, mayonnaise and crunchy garnish.

Note:

Okonomiyaki is something I always play around with, by introducing a grated carrot (which unfortunately gets noticed because of the colour) or chopped spinach which, fortunately, always goes unnoticed as it blends in with the spring onion.