Cabbage Pancakes (Okonomiyaki) - Healthy Recipes Blog (2024)

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Is Okonomiyaki good for you? ›

If you're not familiar with it, it's sort of a frittata-like Japanese savory pancake made with cabbage, scallions, and assorted meat or seafood (Jack often calls it a cabbage hashbrown). This homemade version isn't entirely authentic, but it's healthy, delicious, and so darn easy to make.

Core and shred Napa cabbage, then transfer to a large bowl. Use a vegetable peeler to grate the carrot into the same bowl. Thinly slice scallions, adding most to the bowl with the cabbage and carrots. Add ketchup and Worcestershire to a small bowl and mix to combine, then set aside.

Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake)

Its flavors—sweet and savory, spicy from bits of ginger, smoky with the flavor of dashi—were instantly recognizable (as they would be to anyone who grew up eating casual Japanese food), while the texture, simultaneously crunchy and creamy, hit all of my comfort food sweet spots.

Although Okonomiyaki has the image of being high in calories, in fact, one Okonomiyaki is only about 570 kcal.

In Osaka style okonomiyaki, all of the ingredients are mixed together and cooked together. In Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, all of the ingredients are layered almost like a cake. Soba or udon noodles are also added to Hiroshima-yaki in another layer as well. (Although they do add noodles to okonomiyaki in Osaka.

Okonomiyaki is sometimes translated into English as "as-you-like-it pancake". However, this may be misleading. Though it does consist of batter cooked on a griddle, okonomiyaki has nothing of the sweetness or fluffiness of pancakes, not to mention that it is usually filled with octopus, shrimp, pork, yam or kimchi.

Okonomiyaki are savory, fried Japanese pancakes that are crisp on the outside and custardy at their core. They traditionally feature cabbage and pork, but this meatless version opts for spinach, zucchini and Napa cabbage.

A close cousin to okonomiyaki is hiroshimayaki, or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

There's one main difference between negiyaki and standard okonomiyaki; there's no cabbage in this option. Instead, the cabbage is swapped with green onion. You'll have a much stronger onion flavor, though your pancakes will be equally delicious.

What is the difference between okonomiyaki and Modanyaki? ›

Hiroshimafu-okonomiyaki is cooked by making layers of flour batter, yakisoba and pork, so each flavor and layer never get mixed, while Modanyaki is cooked by mixing and grilling okonomiyaki batter and yakisoba all together. Modanyaki is still Osaka styled Okonomiyaki but with Yakisoba in it.

There are two significantly different types of Okonomiyaki. First, the Kansai or Osaka style, in which the ingredients are all mixed into a batter and then grilled. Second, the Hiroshima style, in which a small crepe-like pancake is grilled and then other ingredients are layered on top.

Katsuobushi (Japanese: 鰹節) is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as okaka (おかか).

Unlike a typical sweet pancake, okonomiyaki is not fluffy or sweet. It's a dense, savory pancake with various proteins cooked into the batter. The method these savory pancakes are served in okonomiyaki restaurants is also very different from sweet pancakes.

Okonomiyaki originated from a thin pancake from the Edo period called funoyaki that was served at Buddhist ceremonies. Later, during and after the war, when food was scarce in Japan, it became more and more common to eat wheat pancakes made with whatever was available on hand to mix into them.

It's a fairly staple food the originated in the Kansai region. The two most famous versions are Hiroshima (with the noodles) and Osaka (without, and more eggy/pancakey). It's a common enough dinner and lunch option. Having said that, Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is a popular festival street-stall food.