Okonomiyaki Recipe (with endless variations!)

So quick and easy to make, Okonomiyaki has always been a favorite in our family.When I was a little kid we used to call it "okonomi-yummy"!
This time I made it with bacon, however thinly sliced pork is the original version.
Scroll down past recipe to see more variations.

　Okonomiyaki (makes 4 large)

Essential Ingredients of Okonomiyaki:

• about 1/2 a large cabbage
• 1 1/3 cup flour (I use self-raising, my mother says plain flour)
• Approx 1 cup water
• 5 eggs
• 2 tsp dashi powder (can be replaced by chicken stock powder)
• Okonomi Sauce or Tonkatsu Sauce

Other ingredients I used tonight:

• About 6-8 short-cut bacon rashers (Thinly sliced pork is better but it's a little difficult to get in Australian supermarkets)
• 1 Tbsp beni-shouga (pickled ginger) chopped finely
• 1  large negi (shallots/scallions/spring onions) sliced thinly, 
• Japanese Mayonnaise
• 10g Katsuo-bushi
• Ao-nori
• Oil

1. Finely slice cabbage.  (After slicing, bruising it by squeezing in your hands also helps soften it)
2. Mix flour, watereggs in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in dashi, pickled ginger and some negi.  Add cabbage and combine well. 
3. Heat a little oil in a frypan.  Spoon Cabbage into the frypan, to make a circle about 22cm(9in) across and 1.5cm(3/4in) thick.  Make sure there's enough batter to hold it together.  Neaten the edges by using a spatula to push in the edges and any cabbage or batter that's sticking out.
4. Place thinly sliced pork on top (or bacon).  
5. Cook over med-low heat about 5 min.  Flip, then cook another 3-5 min.  When cooked through, turn onto a plate, meat side UP.
6. Spread sauce generously on top.  Decorate with Mayonnaise, Katsuobushi and Ao-nori.

I was shocked to see "Okonomiyaki" recipes on Taste dot com dot au, (Australia's #1 recipe site) which were nothing like okonomiyaki!  The three recipes had, without exception, too much flour and were more like a vegetable pancake (which Okonomiyaki is not, really.)

The essense of Okonomiyaki is Dashi (Japanese Katsuo fish stock), and then 

Cabbage, Eggs and only just enough flour to hold it together.  

I don't know how anyone could call something Okonomiyaki if it doesn't have Okonomi (or Tonkatsu) sauce spread on top!

Having said that, there are MANY variations of okonomiyaki.  Some of my favorites are:

Kaki Okonomiyaki (Oysters mixed into the batter, no meat on top)

Ebi Okonomiyaki (Prawns mixed into the batter, with or without pork on top)

Mochi Cheese Okonomiyaki (Put down a thin layer of cabbage mixture in the frypan, place thinly sliced mochi and a little grated cheese in the middle, and put some more cabbage mixture on top.  When it is done, it will have a mochi-mochi gooey centre.)

Hiroshima-yaki This one has a layer of yakisoba noodles and an egg on top

Modan-yaki Similar to Hiroshima-Yaki, but with the cabbage and batter mixed.

As long as you stick to my list of "Essential Ingredients of Okonomiyaki" I think you'll be pretty safe calling it okonomiyaki.

Have Fun!