Savoury pancakes
HIROSHIMA-STYLE OKONOMIYAKI
INGREDIENTS:
(Makes two okonomiyaki, which is actually likely to be enough for four people) 100g plain flour; 120ml dashi; 3 eggs; ½ hispi or flat cabbage, finely chopped; 100g bean sprouts; 150-200g tin of sweetcorn, drained; 4 spring onions, thinly sliced; about 40g beni shoga (pickled ginger, available on amazon); vegetable oil; 6 rashers streaky bacon; 200g prepared squid, scored and cut into 1-cm wide strips; 2 portions fresh yakisoba/egg noodles (or dried noodles, parboiled); about 150ml okonomi sauce (available on amazon); Kewpie mayo (100g mayo, ¼tsp dashi, ¼tsp Dijon mustard, salt and white pepper), as needed; a few pinches of aonori (dried seaweed); a few pinches of sesame seeds; handful of katsuobushi (dried smoked tuna, available on amazon).
METHOD:
1. Whisk together the flour, dashi and one egg to form a thin batter. In a separate bowl, toss together the cabbage, bean sprouts, sweetcorn, half of the spring onions and half of the beni shoga. Set the griddle on medium-high heat and add a little oil, spreading it out into a thin layer with a spatula.
2. Use a ladle to pour out two pancakes on the griddle, reserving about a third of the batter in the bowl. Top each pancake with the cabbage mixture, then drizzle the remaining batter on the top of each cabbage pile. Press down on the cabbage pile to flatten it slightly, and cook for about five minutes. Top each cabbage pile with three rashers of bacon, pressing them down, then deftly flip each pile so the bacon is on the bottom and the pancake is on top. Press everything down.
3. Stir-fry the squid in a separate space on the griddle and add the noodles on top of the squid. Toss them together with about a third of the okonomi sauce, then gather them into a circle the same diameter as each pancake. Transfer the pancake-cabbage pile to the top of each circle of noodles and cook for another five minutes or so (the noodles should be crisp on the bottom). 4. Meanwhile, fry two eggs on the griddle – typically the yolk is broken. When the eggs are cooked, transfer them to the top of each okonomiyaki, then cover in okonomi sauce, mayo, aonori, sesame seeds, the remaining beni shoga and spring onions and katsuobushi. Enjoy straight from the griddle, if possible.