Now THIS Is My Kind Of Food Ad!
When I came across this online, you know I was hooked – a unique burger that uses “okonomiyaki” buns! Wild, and you know I had to make it – so I did!
First, here’s the definition of “Okonomiyaki”:
Okonomiyaki, meaning “grilled as you like it,” is a savory Japanese pancake made with flour, eggs, and shredded cabbage, often containing meat, seafood, or other ingredients, and topped with sauce, mayonnaise, and bonito flakes.
This “savory pancake” is the one that my wife Alex and son Jeff made with me at a restaurant in Tokyo – more on that later!
And now, this delicious Japanese pancake has become a burger!
As the intrepid Reporters from SoraNews24.com reported, the Japanese hamburger chain Lotteria created this:
“Lotteria captures all the main ingredients found in okonomiyaki and serves it up in burger form, with a mound of shredded cabbage and pickled ginger at the bottom, a meat patty and egg on top, and okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and a sprinkling of bonito flakes providing distinctive mouthfuls of flavour.
The main draw, though, is the discs of okonomiyaki that sandwich the filling together in place of traditional buns, giving us a new take on Osaka’s popular soul food.“
And the key ingredients for this burger are “okonomiyaki pancake” buns and the greatest mayonnaise of all time:
Kewpie Synergy – And The Okonomiyaki Buns!
Oh, yes, KEWPIE Mayonnaise plays a crucial role in elevating this Okonomiyaki Burger to new heights!
Of course I had a bottle at the ready, so let’s make an Okonomiyaki Burger – with the specifically shaped pancakes as the bun!!
For Okonomiyaki Buns
- ¼ cup Okonomiyaki Mix*
- ¼ cup water
- 1 egg
- bonito flakes
- shredded seaweed
- sushi ginger
- Olive oil
For the Burgers
- fried egg
- Okonomiyaki sauce*
- KEWPIE Mayonnaise
- more sushi ginger
Directions
Prepare the Okonomiyaki patties: In a bowl, whisk together the Okonomiyaki mix, water, and egg until well combined.
Now, my secret weapon:
My Mini “Single Egg” Frying Pan!
This “mini pan” will make everything the exact same size! I heated 1 tsp. of olive oil in this perfectly shaped frying pan over medium heat. First I was going to cook up the egg that sits on top of the hamburger patty – here’s how it went:
If you watch the video, you will see that it’s a bit of a tight squeeze to work inside that mini-pan, but I did it!
With that done, it was time to make the okonomiyaki patties, including one very important addition:
Sushi Ginger!
Ginger is so healthy for you, and this pickled sushi ginger gives everything a nice pop of flavor – so I diced some up and it’s going into the okonomiyaki buns!
Here are all of the ingredients I added:
Ready to go? After whipping up this okanomiyaki pancake batter, it was time to cook our buns – in a very similar manner to how we made the egg:
I added a scoop of the okonomiyaki batter into my pan, and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Then I carefully flipped the Okonomiyaki pancake, and cook for another 2 minutes. Done!
Now, all I had to do was cook the hamburger, which as you know is so easy…but after I flipped it over I added more sushi ginger – which was a good idea!
Now, all I had to do was put this burger together and it was time to eat!
Here It Is!
First, the Okonomiyaki buns were delicious: umami from the seaweed, pickled deliciousness from the diced ginger: normally burger buns are tasteless, but these were great!
I decided to film a taste test if you are interested in watching me eat!
I was very happy with how this turned out – it took longer, but I never want to go back to plain, boring buns ever again!
I have also made traditional Okonomiyaki at home:
It’s not hard and it is delicious…see the recipe here:
As a lover of “all things Japanese”, I also had sushi for breakfast!
It happened when I went to Tokyo’s iconic Tsukiji fish market!
This panorama shot doesn’t come close to capturing how exciting and vibrant the world’s largest fish market is – but I tried to capture a bit more of it on video:
We were there right before it relocated, and is still gong strong – see the entire story and more of the tour + “sushi for breakfast” here!
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Burgers, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Food, Food Travel, Food Writing, Recipes, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
*laughing* I may not be a friend of burgers but love that little pan of yours!