Recipe Sharing | Ivan Ramen's Savory Pancakes (Okonomiyaki)

Ivan Ramen's Savory Pancakes (Okonomiyaki)

Our team is being inspired by the lovely vegetables coming from Orchard Farm right now. Sometimes we look for inspiration from other chefs too. Ivan Orkin has a great book called "The Ramen Gaijin"*, where we source this recipe for Okonomiyaki.

Tyla cooks these pancakes as the main course when cooking for her family. Vincent is using the inspiration for one our small plates on this weekend's menu. He is "going rogue" by garnishing with locally foraged Whidbey Island Sea Beans from our resident forager Karen Achabel (she is at the Langley Library and does fun food & beverage events).

We also love to be inspired by specialty ingredients. The Japanese Pantry from San Fransisco has especially high-end products. Central Market or H-Mart also carry many of these products.

Happy eating,
The Orchard Kitchen Team

*(Recipe excerpted from Ivan Orkin's The Gaijin Cookbook: Japanese Recipes from a Chef, Father, Eater, and Lifelong Outsider, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2019, RRP $30.00 hardcover.)

Our head cabbage! Orchard Farm's summer bounty starts in July. Visit our Farm Stand Monday-Friday, noon-6pm, for all your veggie needs. Cash, Local Check, Credit Cards, Apple Pay all accepted.

Our head cabbage! Orchard Farm's summer bounty starts in July. Visit our Farm Stand Monday-Friday, noon-6pm, for all your veggie needs. Cash, Local Check, Credit Cards, Apple Pay all accepted.

INGREDIENTS

For the Pancake

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (plus an additional 2 tablespoons if making a vegetarian version)

  • 2 1/4 cups tightly packed shredded green cabbage

  • 11 ounces thinly sliced pork belly or uncured bacon

Garnishes

  • Kewpie mayonnaise

  • Bull-Dog tonkatsu sauce

  • Aonori (powdered dried green seaweed)

  • Chopped scallions

  • Katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

 

  1. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the egg and 1 tablespoon oil together with 3/4 cup water in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix briefly until most of the lumps of dry flour are gone. Fold in the shredded cabbage.

  2. Set a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and lay 3 strips of pork belly or bacon next to each other in it. Once the pork begins to sizzle, let it cook for 2 minutes to render some of the fat. Spoon half the batter on top and spread into a 1/2-inch-thick layer. (If you're making a vegetarian version, coat the pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil before adding the batter.)

  3. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then sneak a peek underneath. Once the bottom is crisp and brown, give the pancake a flip with a spatula. Do it confidently and quickly to avoid making a mess. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the okonomiyaki is golden brown on both sides. The inside should be cooked through, but it's fine if it's still a bit moist—the cabbage will give up a fair amount of water.

  4. Slide the okonomiyaki onto a plate and top freely with squiggles of Kewpie mayo and Bull-Dog sauce. Sprinkle with aonori, scallions, and a big handful of katsuobushi (unless you've made a vegetarian version). Serve immediately, then use the remaining pork and batter to make and serve the second okonomiyaki.

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