Vegetarian okonomiyaki

Usually, okonomiyaki includes meat like bacon or prawns, and is topped with bonito flakes, but this is a vegetarian-friendly version. It's a highly tailorable dish, with a name that means "fried, as you like it."

Okonomiyaki Credit: Smith Street Books

• makes

  8

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 40 g (⅓ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 185 ml (¾ cup) vegetable stock
• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup pickled red ginger, plus extra to serve
• ½ medium white or savoy cabbage, finely sliced

To serve

• Okonomiyaki sauce (see note)
• Japanese mayonnaise
• 8 spring onions (scallions)

Resting time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornflour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Add the stock, whisk well and refrigerate the batter for 1 hour.

2. Preheat a hooded barbecue hotplate (griddle) to medium and lightly grease with oil.

3. Add the eggs and pickled ginger to the batter and mix well. Stir in the cabbage.

4. Pour ladles of batter onto the oiled hotplate to make eight pancakes. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until browned on the bottom. (The cover helps the thick pancake cook through to the centre.) Turn, cover and cook for 5 minutes until browned. Turn once more and cook, uncovered, for another 2 minutes.

5. To serve, drizzle with Okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayo and garnish with spring onion and pickled ginger.

Note: Okonomiyaki sauce is available from Asian grocery stores. A quick substitute sauce can be made by blending three tablespoons of tomato ketchup, 1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon mushroom soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Recipe from Feed The Man Meat (Smith Street Books).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.