Savory Japanese BBQ Pancake
Japan has a long tradition of savory pancakes; these pancakes, or okonomiyaki, start with flour and egg and are served with a wide variety of vegetable and meat or seafood stuffings or toppings, and drizzled with at least one of several different sauces. We chose to top this with Japanese BBQ Sauce, which is sweet and tangy and has outstanding depth of flavor, and comes together in about 10 minutes. Our pancake was simply filled with cabbage and shallot, though we used panko instead of regular flour for a snappy bit of extra crunch. And we are 100% in favor of using pre-packaged, shredded coleslaw instead of pulling out a shredder and doing it yourself. Make it easy.
This will be a loose pancake when it first goes in your pan. Give the pancakes a good long time to set up in the pan before flipping to prevent them from breaking. If you feel more comfortable making the pancakes smaller and hence easier to flip, that works just as well with this recipe.
3 cups solidly packed finely shredded cabbage
1 large shallot, finely minced
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons Japanese BBQ Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
4 large eggs
Olive oil, for the pan
Pickled ginger, slivered green onions, or Toasted Sesame Seeds, for garnish
One batch Japanese BBQ Sauce
1. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, shallots, panko, Japanese BBQ Seasoning, and Kosher Sat.
2. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until fully combined.
3. Gently mix eggs into other ingredients until everything is fully coated. Let the pancakes sit for about 10 minutes to fully incorporate.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush with olive oil. Scoop pancake mixture into skillet, to create one large or two smaller pancakes. Press until mixture is no more than 1/2 inch thick. Leave alone in the pan for 4-5 minutes, until pancake is golden brown on one side.
5. To flip one large pancake, slide it out onto a plate. Cover with another plate, flip, and slide the inverted pancake back into the skillet to finish cooking. Smaller pancakes can be flipped with a large spatula. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, until browned and crispy.
6. Continue to cook remaining pancakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
7. Serve right away. Garnish with Japanese BBQ Sauce, scallions, Toasted Sesame Seed, or pickled ginger.
