Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki
Updated Oct. 5, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 to 4 servings
- ¾cup dashi, plus more if necessary
- 1teaspoon mirin
- 1pinch granulated sugar
- 1cup cake or all-purpose flour
- 6very thin slices pork belly (about 5 ounces), see Tips
- Salt
- 3ounces green cabbage (from about ¼ small head)
- 3Japanese green onions or scallions
- 5tablespoons neutral oil
- Tenkasu (tempura crisps), to taste (optional; see Tips)
- Bean sprouts, to taste
- 2portions fresh yakisoba noodles (about 5½ ounces each)
- 2eggs
- Okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise (preferably Kewpie brand), to taste (see Tips)
- Bonito flakes and aonori powder (green seaweed powder), for serving (see Tips)
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine the dashi, mirin and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Add the flour and mix until smooth. Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.
- Step 2
While the batter is chilling, lightly salt the pork belly strips and set aside. Very thinly slice the cabbage (you’ll need about 1 cup). Mince 1 green onion, then thinly slice the others and set aside.
- Step 3
Remove the chilled batter from the fridge. (The batter should be slightly thinner than pancake batter. If it seems too thick, stir in another teaspoon dashi.) Heat a large griddle or medium skillet over medium-high. Once hot (a drop of water should sizzle and skitter across the top), add 1 tablespoon oil, then add about ¼ cup of batter, spreading with the back of the ladle or measuring cup to about 6 inches in diameter.
- Step 4
Once the pancake’s edges begin to sizzle, about 2 minutes, top the pancake with half of the cabbage and minced green onion, then tenkasu and bean sprouts to taste.
- Step 5
Set 3 slices pork belly atop the pancake, without covering one another. Then pour a small amount of batter (1 to 2 tablespoons) over the top of the pork belly and, using a wide spatula, quickly flip the pancake over, pork side down. Tuck any stray pieces of vegetables underneath and shift the pancake to one side of the griddle. Allow the meat to cook through, adjusting the heat to avoid burning the pancake, 1 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pork.
- Step 6
On the other side of the griddle, or in a second skillet heated over medium-high, add 1 tablespoon oil. Untangle 1 portion of Yakisoba noodles, and stir fry until coated with oil, about 1 minute. Season noodles with okonomiyaki sauce to taste (or about 2 tablespoons), stirring and tossing to coat.
- Step 7
Form the noodles into a circular shape roughly the size of your pancake. Then flip the okonomiyaki on top of the yakisoba, setting the pancake side (not the pork belly side) onto the noodles. Reform the okonomiyaki into a clean circle.
- Step 8
In the now freed griddle or pan space, add ½ tablespoon cooking oil, then add one egg, using a spatula to break the yolk and spread the egg into a circular shape roughly the size of your pancake. Slide the okonomiyaki atop the egg. Flip the okonomiyaki over so that the egg side is up, and remove from heat.
- Step 9
Transfer to a plate and cover with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, a pinch of bonito flakes, a pinch of aonori powder and sliced green onion. Serve okonomiyaki immediately upon completion. To make the second okonomiyaki, wipe out the griddle or pans and repeat with remaining ingredients.
Tips
- Asian markets often sell frozen packages of pre-sliced pork belly. Alternatively, ask your butcher to slice a piece of pork belly for you, preferably 1/16- to ⅛-inch thick. If you prefer to slice your own, freeze your pork until very firm (at least 1 hour) for cleaner slices.
- Tenkasu, okonomiyaki sauce, Kewpie mayonnaise, bonito flakes and aonori powder can be found in Japanese markets or online.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Chef Mamie Nishide, Japanese Cooking Studio
I am a chef instructor and a Japanese who grew up in Japan. There are some mistakes in this recipe. But one big mistake is in Step 7. Do NOT flip the okonomiyaki on top of the yakisoba. The pork belly side onto the noodles. Step 8. Slide the okonomiyaki atop the egg. Cook for 1 minute then flip over. Finish with sauce, bonito flakes, and seaweed flakes. Lastly, the batter is just flour and water, and after making it circle thin crepe-like, sprinkle with bonito flake powder.
Random Japanese American
If you want to make Okonomiyaki the quick and easy way, get pre-made Okonomiyaki flour at a Japanese or Asian grocery store. Just mix it with water, put in cabbage or bacon or whatever you like, cook it and you're done in 20 minutes.
Samten
Very complicated.
Yukie
My family grew up making okonomiyaki regularly since my father is from Hiroshima. 1. Yes, gluten-free using mochiko (sweet rice flour). Even my wheat-eating guests <3 it as it's crispier and sits less 'heavy' in the stomach. 2. These take time. Pre-steam cabbage (e.g., microwave w/H2O) to get sweetness out w/o waiting for to steam on griddle. 3. Add beni shoga (not sushi ginger) - helps balance flavors w/ acidity. 4. Agree w/ all Chef Nishide's points, and batter really is flour + water only.
te
Try cooking it in a waffle maker. Not authentic, but really crispy and oishi.
Lauri
This recipe looks good. I am going to try it here in Tuscany where I am staying with a friend who has a lot of the ingredients already- like kombu to make dashi. The other recipe (s) for Okonomikayi on the Times cooking site are great, maybe sound less complicated. These pancakes are regulars on our menu, and are delicious.
Steve-o-reno
I've always encountered this dish with a decent amount of pickled ginger on top. It seemed to brighten up the flavor.
Boho Nasty
Truly great dish for late night best pal hangs. In the spirit of its gracious openness to variation, we subbed out pork belly with leftover french fries, toasted and lightly seasoned, cut at a 2" diagonal. Don't be afraid to let the noodles stir fry long enough for that delightful crusty crisp.
mostlyfoodpics
Delicious but I will take other commenters’ advice and reduce the number of flips.
Blc
I would love to make this, but could we please use ingredients that are readily available. I'm up for trying all sorts of cuisines, but having to order a bunch of different ingredients online just makes it not worth it. I have cabbage in my fridge and pork belly in my freezer, I have eggs, flour, scallions and mirin, and then I'd have to order everything else. So a list of substitutions would be great. Guess I'll make some colcannon instead.
Ferguson
I'd never eaten one of these before so I have nothing to compare it to but this was delicious. I couldn't find tenkasu but I was able to get everything else. 5 ounces of pork belly was too much for two pancakes; perhaps the slices I bought were extra thin. I found a youTube video helpful, especially Jono's way of corralling the egg with the noodles and then putting the noodles on top. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jwCs4EMZVY Thanks for this yummy recipe.
SJH
This recipe cries out for a video. I posted one as well - different style. This one is very helpful - thx!
Dave D
A local restaurant has this on their menu. I swear it taste like the best Thanksgiving stuffing you ever had. Honest!
Declan
Skipped everything about the noodles and eggs and simply made a Japanese-inspired pancake “stuffed” with cabbage and thinly sliced pork belly. Topped with same kewpie, sauce, more scallions etc., it was AMAZING.
Elizabeth
Tried this tonight because the bonita flakes, pickled ginger and dashi arrived today. We used almond flour (done this many times), and the dashi puts it over the top. We added cabbage, scallions, shrimp and two eggs. We dusted off (literally & figuratively) the panini grill/griddle to cook the pancakes, which solves so many problems. Added Kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, julienned pickled ginger, bonita flakes and scallions to the top. So, so good! Adding this to the rotation.
PatC
Dried instant Dashi —in teabag-like pouches— is available in large supermarkets such as Wegmans.
Chef Jean Pierre
wow the flavors really explode in your mouth! I was worried this would bomb at my dinner party but my guests surrendered to the decadent flavors!
te
Try cooking it in a waffle maker. Not authentic, but really crispy and oishi.
Matt Mangham
This is the only real okonomiyaki. That "dogsick-on-the-teppan" Kansaiyaki is a mess, only good for making with small children. But what's with the multiple flips in this recipe? Okonomiyaki gets turned once. There are many other possibilities for "toppings" as well. Shiso is good, and easily added.
Paul on the West Side
If I am ever sentenced to death and given a choice for my last meal, it would be okonomiyaki, but Kansai-style, not Hiroshima-style. Having said that, I have been trying for 30 years to make a decent okonomiyaki at home and I just can't do it. Thanks for the recipe, but some things are better left to the experts.
Veronica
I found these pancakes to be very dense, the next time I want to beat the egg whites and fold them in before the noodles.
SJH
To keep the oko light, do not press it down until you turn it. Then press, and pierce it through in a few places with a chop stick to let the heat through. I learned to make okonomiyaki from a video by Adam Liaw. In the new version (https://adamliaw.com/recipe/okonomiyaki, Adam uses his spatula, but the chopstick is brilliant. I have never used either cheese or meat, as Adam does, just veggies, and we love them. Eager to try Bryan's version, but Adam's is pretty easy.
Yukie
My family grew up making okonomiyaki regularly since my father is from Hiroshima. 1. Yes, gluten-free using mochiko (sweet rice flour). Even my wheat-eating guests <3 it as it's crispier and sits less 'heavy' in the stomach. 2. These take time. Pre-steam cabbage (e.g., microwave w/H2O) to get sweetness out w/o waiting for to steam on griddle. 3. Add beni shoga (not sushi ginger) - helps balance flavors w/ acidity. 4. Agree w/ all Chef Nishide's points, and batter really is flour + water only.
adam
very simple
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