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Vegan Okonomiyaki (大阪風お好み焼き), Osaka Style

Yields5 Servings

Osaka Style Okinomiyaki

Batter
 1 ¾ cups water
 ¼ cup soy sauce
 2 ½ cups white flour
 4 cups vegetables such as daikon, yamaimo, zucchinni, carrots, or radish
 1 cup cabbage
 1 cup green onions
 2 tsp baking powder
 ¼ lb tofu
Toppings
 1 cup tonkatsu sauce
 2 tbsp furikake
1

Chop the green onions into small pieces.

chopped scallions

2

Roughly chop about one cup of cabbage.

coarsely chop lettuce for vegan okonomiyaki

3

Spiralize 4 to 5 cups of vegetables. In this recipe, the green onions and cabbage are a must, but you have some flxibility in choosing other vegetables. I have used zuchinni alongisde traditional Japanese tubers: yamaimo and daikon. Other popular choices are carrots, peppers, and radish.

spiralized vegetables for vegan okonomiyaki

4

Put 1/4 lb of tofu in the food processor with 1/4 cup of soy sauce and 1 3/4 cups of water.

Tofu in food processor with soy sauce for 大阪風お好み焼き

5

Blend the tofu until it has a smooth consistency.

puree tofu in water and soy sauce

6

Mix 2 teaspoons of baking powder with 2 1/2 cups flour. Any flour will do, but cake flour gives this recipe an extra lift.

flour and baking soda

7

Mix the tofu blend into flour and baking soda mix and stir until the flour is dissolved. Minimal stirring is best to keep the pancakes fluffy.

Including tofu in the pancake batter gives this recipe a nutritional boost. Tofu is a good source of protein and contains all nine essential amino acids. It is also a valuable plant source of iron and calcium.

Mixing Bowl Okonomiyaki

8

Fold all of the vegetables into batter. Unlike Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, which is made in layers, Osaka okonomiyaki shuffles the ingredients conveniently together.

vegan okonomiyaki batter with vegetables mixed in for 大阪風お好み焼き

9

Heat an oil with a high smoke point, such as canola oil, on the pan. To test whether the oil is ready to use, leave a small fleck of vegetable in it. The oil is hot enough when bubbles appear around the vegetable.

heat oil on a pan

10

Pour a ladle of batter onto the hot oil. Swirl the batter with the underside of the ladle to expand the pancake into a circle.

Swirling vegan okonomiyaki pancake for 大阪風お好み焼き

11

Sprinkle a bit of furikake on top of the pancake batter. The roasted seaweed will give the okonomiyaki an appetizing, umami flavor.

Cook the pancake for about three minutes on medium heat on this side.

Note: Furikake (振り掛け) is a blend of seaweed, sesame seeds, and spices, but some brands will add fish, so read the ingredients carefully! I'm using Mishima brand Nori Komi Furikake.

sprinkle furikake onto oksaka vegan okonomiyaki

12

Flip the pancake and heat again for at least three minutes. If this is your first pancake in the batch, give it a poke to check whether it has cooked through.

The vegetables in the batter release water while cooking, making the cook time longer than you might expect. A common mistake with this recipe is to cook on slightly too high of heat, resulting in burned bottoms and raw insides. If this happens to you, lower the heat and increase the cook time.

flipped pancake

13

Give the thick pancake a final flip and heat it from the other side for about 30 seconds. Look at the nice texture the nori has added to the top!

almost finished vegan okonomiyaki

14

So far, the ingredients of this recipe are fairly bland and gentle. The dazzling flavor will come from the tonkatsu sauce, so drizzle it on generously.

Tonkatsu (豚カツ) is Japanese for deep fried pork cutlet, a specialty in my old hometown, Nagoya. But don't be fooled! Just as steak sauce has no steak in it, tonkatsu sauce is made of prunes, vegetables, and spices.

Serve the okonomiyaki hot, and enjoy!

Finished Osaka style vegan okonomiyaki

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Pancake

Servings 5