Easy Japanese Okonomiyaki Recipe

Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake that is one of the quintessential comfort foods of Japanese cuisines.  You can find them throughout Japan, but they are claimed to be the regional cuisine in the Kansai / Osaka region and in Hiroshima.   The main difference is that the Hiroshima-style will have noodles as an optional ingredient to be grilled into them.   It definitely is one of the foods you must try when you are in Japan but they are also easy to make at home.

Okonomiyaki literally means “what you like, grilled” and if you go to an okonomiyaki specialty restaurant, you will choose between seafood (usually squid or octopus) and meat (usually pork) then add other ingredients and toppings to make them exactly the way you like.  And traditionally, they are grilled right in front of you on a large griddle.  Okonomiyaki are also sold at food stands but often those aren’t made to order. You get exactly what they make, which is usually with pork.

These pancakes might look simple, and they are very simple to make.  But if you don’t make them with the right ingredients, they end up being pretty bland. Trust me.  I made them earlier on because I craved for some, thinking that they should be super easy to make with just flour, water, eggs and cabbage.  But those totally lacked the depth of flavor, or “umami,” that these pancakes should have.

Two secret ingredients for the best flavor

There are two ingredients that you must have to make the most delicious okonomiyaki:  Dashi and Tenkasu.

• Dashi should be added to the flour to make the batter. 
• Tenkasu essentially is the crumbs that are made as result of making tempura. You can buy tenkasu, you can make tempura and make some tenkasu OR, do what my mom did as an ingenious alternative ingredient since tempura and tenkasu were not something that was easy to obtain back in the 80s in Pittsburgh:  Fried French Onion which is what my recipe uses.

Now, to make it even easier (and taste just as good) without these secret ingredients, you can just use the pre-mixed okonomiyaki flour mix which probably has all the trade secret ingredients in them!

The topping options

Once the pancakes are done, you add your favorite toppings to create the flavor you love.  The one must-have topping is the okonomiyaki or Tonkatsu sauce, although Japanese mayonnaise has also become one of the essential toppings for okonomiyaki.

Here are all the traditional topping options to choose from to customize your okonomiyaki just the way you like it:

• Okonomiyaki Sauce or Tonkatsu Sauce – I personally use tonkatsu sauce since you can use it for other dishes
• Japanese Mayonnaise
• Aonori (dried green seaweed flakes)
• Reg ginger (beni-shōga)
• Green onions
• Roasted sesame seeds
• Fried eggs
• Bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
• Nori (seaweed)

Meat substitutions

Instead of the bacon that I use for my recipe, you can make this using one or a combination of the following:

• pork, thinly sliced
• beef, thinly sliced
• sausages, thinly sliced
• shrimp
• dried shrimp
• calamari
• and/or without any protein to make it completely vegetarian
• add yakisoba noodles to make it a Hiroshima-style

As in the name, grill it the way you want!

How to pronounce Okonomiyaki? 

This six syllable word can be very tricky to say until you get a hang of it.  So, here is Rocket to show you how!

Related article: Can’t get enough of the Okonomiyaki flavor? Check out our Okonomiyaki coleslaw recipe!

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