It has been a while, come to think of it.
I had the urge to have okonomiyaki last winter, so it was a quick visit to YouTube to see what is needed to make this savoury cabbage-filled pancake at home. Mind you, when I last had it in Tōkyō, it was pre-made, and all I needed to do was mix and pour, and eat. Like this:
I couldn’t find ready-made okonomiyaki flour in my neck of the woods, so I opted for corn flour in addition to the wheat flour. For this attempt, I went for a nattō version. The ethos of this pancake is indeed 「お好み」 – ‘as you like it‘.
I had everything else prepared – cabbage, spring onion, onion, egg, katsuoboshi, okonomi sauce, Kewpie mayo and aonori.
One big mistake I did was not to add a little bit more water to the mix. I swore that the mixture at Sakura-tei looked like it didn’t have water in it, so I must be wrong.
So, this attempt was a bit dry and, err… crispy, but taste-wise, I thought it was okay. But I’d defo wouldn’t serve it to anyone.
Fast forward to a couple of months later, I decided to make it again. This time, I had a packet of pre-made flour bought in London. The difference with a pre-made pack is that the flour is mixed with yam flour which adds binding flour. Hence, my usage of corn flour last time.
Not forgetting to add a little bit more of water, the mix looked moist, way better than before.
The konomi ingredient this time was… pastrami! I also chopped a quarter of a red pepper and added it to the mix.
Suffice to say I was stuffed. Wanna try turkey bacon next time, if I can find it.