Well I was, and that’s because what you see above is the real thing: that my wife, son and friend made at our table in Tokyo!
More on that later, but first, what is “Okonomiyaki?” Here’s how wikipedia describes it:
“Okonomiyaki is a Japanese teppanyaki, savory pancake dish consisting of wheat flour batter and other ingredients cooked on a teppan. Common additions include cabbage, meat, and seafood, and toppings include okonomiyaki sauce, aonori, katsuobushi, Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger.”
I will take you to the Tokyo restaurant where we made our “Okonomiyaki” in a minute, but first: I got to do it again – at home!
You see, imagine how happy I was when I went into a Japanese grocery store in West Los Angeles and saw this:
Yes, they sell Okonomiyaki kits in the store, so I had to grab a box and make some of this delicious dish at home!
Luckily, I had a bit of leftover steak and some garlic as well to offer a tasty addition to the dish – because this pancake is ready for anything you want to add to it!
I sliced my garlic and steak and cooked them together in a frying pan with some sesame oil:
he kit contains the batter mix, and you just add two eggs and a cup of water and mix it all together:
Once the garlic and steak were ready, it was time to add the batter to the pan and start the process of making the pancake:
I let it cook for about 5 minutes before it was time to flip it over…of course the goal is to have it maintain it’s perfect oval shape but that doesn’t always happen as you will see:
After you plate the pancake, it’s time to be creative with. your sauces!
I liberally sauced the Okonomiyaki pancake with Sriracha Mayo and some Japanese Kewpie Mayo, and I also added the sauce that came in the kit – the end result was delicious!
This savory pancake is delicious, and fun to make as well…you can decorate with anything you want, and I made it again using carrots, onion and diced broccoli as well…it’s gallup to you!
I love Asian flavors of all kinds, and when I was doing my “52 In 22” cooking challenge, I did an entire menu of Japanese pub food!
There was a LOT going on here – click on my story to see all of the recipes!
When my wife Alex, son Jeff and I were in Tokyo we ate all kinds of wild food, like sushi for breakfast!
Take a look at our view!
The sushi bars surrounding Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market serve sushi beginning at 6a – the market is a must-see for everyone going to Tokyo – it moved a bit further away from the city center – but it still exists so go see it!
Here is an inside look at the iconic market that was:
A bit more food and fun from Tokyo, you see my son befriends a Musician who worked in a bar and he played an original song for us!
This “Golden Gai” entertainment area is so much fun – see why by clicking on my story here!
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Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
This looks very nice, John. I didn’t see these when I was in Tokyo.
So much to see and do there Robbie that’s why we can’t wait to go back!
Love okonomiyaki! It’s on our to-cook-list, thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks for commenting, always great to hear from you!
Looking on with a big smile – have been making this for over half a century in many variations – TASTY . . . oops, I do confess to rather a lot, don’t I 🙂 !