Okonomiyaki is a cabbage pancake covered with savory Okonomiyaki sauce. Okonomiyaki sauce is a Worcester-based sauce with some sweetener, similar to Tonkatsu Sauce, and it is the crucial flavor of this dish. Okonomiyaki with pork is the one of the most popular kinds, but Squid is also a staple item on the menu at Okonomiyaki restaurants in Japan. We recommend using raw squid because it will give the batter more flavor, but any squid you can find, such as calamari (not breaded), is fine.
You can read more about Okonomiyaki in our basic Okonomiyaki recipe which explains the ingredients used in the dish. Some of the ingredients are ones you may not be familiar with or hard to find at local stores, but all of them contribute to make one great flavor. So try to find as much as you can!
Okonomiyaki with Squid
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Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup Dashi
- 1 egg
- 3-4 Tbsp Nagaimo long yam, grated
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cabbage about 12 oz, chopped fine
- 3-4 green onions chopped fine
- 2-3 Tbsp pickled red ginger Benishoga chopped fine
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 3 oz squid or calamari, cut into 1/2" x 2" (1 cm x 5 cm) pieces
- Okonomiyaki sauce or Tonkatsu sauce
- mayonnaise
- dried green seaweed Aonori
- dried bonito flakes
Instructions
- In a big bowl, whisk flour and Dashi (fish broth) together until smooth. Stir egg and Nagaimo yam into the flour mixture. Season it with salt and soy sauce.
- Add chopped cabbage, onions, and ginger to the batter and mix. Add squid pieces and mix.
- Heat oil in a skillet, pour half of the pancake batter into an 8″ circle. Fry at medium heat until the bottom becomes golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
- Flip to fry the other side, about 5-7 minutes.
- Flip one more time, and spread Okonomiyaki sauce and mayo on the pancake.
- Sprinkle dried green seaweed, then dried bonito flakes over the pancake. Serve hot.