Smoked tofu okonomiyaki recipe
Okonomiyaki is a kind of Japanese pancake, or even pizza... but neither of these terms really does justice to the knock-out flavours of this street food classic. Fantastic as a vegetarian dish (though traditionally made with seafood, bacon and vegetables), the smoked tofu here adds lovely dark flavours whether you are cooking it in a frying pan or on a proper teppanyaki plate.
This recipe is based on Osakan-style okonomiyaki (made from shredded cabbage) rather than Hiroshima-style (made from noodles). After you have made this once, you can start to get really creative with the toppings: it pairs well with seafood, mackerel, bacon, cheese... okonomiyaki literally means ‘however you like it’, so permission is ready-granted!
Tip: you can buy tonkatsu sauce and Japanese mayonnaise (like Kewpie) from the supermarket. If you don’t have Japanese mayonnaise, just stir 2 teaspoons of caster sugar into the same amount of regular mayonnaise.
Ingredients
For the okonomiyaki- 250 g plain (all-purpose) flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 300 ml water
- 4 large eggs
- 500 g shredded white cabbage
- 6 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
- 100 g sweetcorn (corn)
- 1 amount of vegetable oil, for frying
- 200 g smoked tofu, sliced into batons
- 150 ml Japanese mayonnaise
- 250 ml tonkatsu sauce
- 4 pinches finely ground nori
Details
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Recipe Type: Tofu
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 5 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Sift the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Gradually pour in the water, mixing until smooth. Crack in the eggs and whisk until fully combined.
- In another large bowl, mix together the cabbage, spring onions and sweetcorn.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry bowl and fold together. The cabbage will start to lose its volume and become heavy with the batter.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan (skillet) over a high heat and drizzle evenly with oil.
- Using a large serving spoon or ladle, scoop up a portion of batter and carefully place it into the pan, leaving at least 5cm/2 inches of space between each pancake and fitting 2–3 into the pan. Place pieces of the smoked tofu in their centres.
- Reduce the heat and cook for 2 minutes, until you see the edges of the pancakes start to crisp up and turn golden. Carefully flip the pancakes (two spatulas may be helpful!) and cook for a further 5 minutes, until cooked through.
- Flip the pancakes one more time and cook for a final minute.
- To finish, create a criss-cross pattern using the mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce, then sprinkle with nori. Serve immediately.
This recipe is from Tofu Tasty: Imaginative tofu recipes for every day by Bonnie Chung, published by Pavilion Books. Recipe photography by Yuki Sugiura.
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