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What is Okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a savory pancake-type dish made with a batter and filled with meat and vegetables. It’s usually topped with a delicious fruity okonomiyaki sauce and drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise.
It is mostly popular in Osaka and Hiroshima, and they always argue which one is authentic or better. There’s no compromise in this argument, after all, the word “okonomi” means “as you like” in Japanese. It depends on your own preference!
How I Developed This Recipe
When crafting this Osaka-style okonomiyaki recipe, my main motivation was to keep it as authentic as possible. Unlike the common practice in Japan of using store-bought okonomiyaki flour, I chose to make the batter from scratch, starting with homemade flour.
This approach added a unique touch to the dish, making it one of my top five favorite recipes.
The homemade batter truly elevates the flavor and texture. Give it a try!
Osaka vs Hiroshima-style
Although they have the same name and use similar ingredients, there are quite a few differences between Osaka and Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.
The main differences are:
| Osaka style | Hiroshima style | |
|---|---|---|
| Batter | Ingredients are mixed together beforehand | Ingredients are cooked and added one by one |
| Noodles | Doesn’t use noodles | Includes yakisoba |
| Sauce | More savory | Sweeter |
Well, there’s no deciding which is better for outsiders like me (I’m from Aichi so I don’t need to be loyal), thankfully I can appreciate both of them!
One of the beauties of Japanese food is that each region has different dishes and unique styles of food. So, if the battle between Osaka and Hiroshima lasts forever, that’s fine with a foodie like me! They’re both beautiful!
This is a recipe for Osaka-style okonomiyaki, but if you’re interested in Hiroshima style, please check out my Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki recipe here!
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
One of the best things about okonomiyaki is the freedom to choose ingredients, as the name “okonomi” (as you like) suggests. But you might still be unsure what to add to your okonomiyaki.
So, we’ll give you a list of ingredients that can be added to the popular Osaka-style okonomiyaki in Japan. We’ll share both standard and creative options, so try adding your favorite ingredients or combining what you have around you.
Basic protein options for okonomiyaki include pork belly, seafood, or both. But there are more ingredients you can try, which we’ll list here.
- Thinly sliced pork belly – The most popular option
- Mixed seafood – Squid and shrimp are the most common, but scallops, oysters, clams, and other shellfish may also be added.
- Beef sinew – This type of okonomiyaki, called “suji-tama,” is perfect with lots of green onions. The key is to cook it in advance with seasonings such as sugar, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and dashi.
- Bacon – If you have trouble finding thinly sliced pork belly, bacon can be a good substitute, but be aware that it might become saltier.
- Pork mince – It is not so common in Japan, but it is easy to make and tasty, so you may give it a try.
- Imitation crab sticks – If you want seafood okonomiyaki on a budget, crab sticks will do the trick!
Cabbage is absolutely essential in Osaka-style okonomiyaki. You could say it is more important than pork belly. However, many other things can be added to okonomiyaki besides cabbage. Let’s take a look at them.
- Cabbage – Absolutely essential.
- Japanese yam – Adding yam can make your okonomiyaki fluffier than usual, and it’s now a common ingredient, even in store-bought mixes. Just remember to grate the yam first. You can find “yam powder” specifically for okonomiyaki as well.
- Green onion – Adding a small amount as a supporting ingredient can add a lot of flavor that lingers.
- Beansprouts – The crunchy beansprouts add texture to the okonomiyaki, making it a different experience.
- Chinese chive – Adding chives enhances okonomiyaki’s aroma and improves its color by adding a dark green hue. Cut about 3 to 5 cm long before mixing into the batter.
- Kimchi – Kimchi is a Korean dish, but it actually works well with okonomiyaki. It is delicious chopped and mixed with the batter and cabbage, but keep it to a small amount as too much might make the kimchi flavor too overpowering.
- Sweet corn – It adds sweetness and is a popular ingredient for children.
Besides meat and vegetables, other ingredients help boost okonomiyaki’s flavor. Check out our recommendations!
- Sakura ebi (tiny dried shrimps) – The addition of sakura ebi improves the taste and aroma of the dish and makes it delicious. It is a very popular ingredient.
- Tenkasu (tempura flake) – Tenkasu adds a unique texture and flavor that makes okonomiyaki tastier, but be careful not to use too much because tenkasu is quite high in calories. This is another standard ingredient.
- Beni shoga (red ginger) – Beni shoga is a highly recommended ingredient to add a unique spicy, sour taste and texture.
- Cheese – Many people mix grated cheeses into the okonomiyaki filling, including gouda and cheddar. As it cooks, it melts and adds great texture to okonomiyaki. For an even richer flavor, camembert or cream cheese can also be used.
- Mochi (rice cake) – If you cut them into small dice and add them to the filling, the chewy texture accentuates the texture and increases the volume! But be careful not to overdo it!
- Mentaiko (cod roe) – Mentaiko goes well with cheese and rice cakes, so adding them as a set is recommended.
- Potato chips/crisps – If you want to add a junky, unique flavor, you can substitute salt-flavored potato chips for the tenkasu!
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Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Osaka-style Okonomiyaki at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
STEP
Make the batter
First, sift cake flour into a bowl. Sifting helps eliminate lumps of flour, and the air will help make the dough fluffy.
Why use cake flour?
Cake flour (weak flour) is recommended for okonomiyaki because of its low gluten content. This makes the batter light and soft and helps prevent it from becoming heavy or chewy. You could also use plain/all-purpose flour in a pinch.
Next, add the dashi, milk, tsuyu sauce and lightly whisk. Be careful not to overmix; it’s okay to leave a few lumps in the batter.
Make sure the dashi is cooled before adding it to the batter
Whether you use instant dashi, dashi packets, or homemade dashi, make sure it’s cool before adding it to the flour. If you use hot dashi, the gluten from the flour will be released, and the mixture will become very sticky and heavy once cooked.
See here for my homemade dashi recipe. I also have a vegetarian/vegan dashi recipe here.
Finally, cover the bowl and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
It is not essential, but some restaurants keep okonomiyaki batter in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This allows the moisture to spread evenly, making the batter even and fluffy. It also stops the batter from spreading too much when you add it to the pan, creating a thicker okonomiyaki.
In the meantime, let’s prepare the other ingredients!
STEP
Cut the cabbage (and other ingredients)
It is undeniable that cabbage is one of the most important ingredients for okonomiyaki, and it should be cut roughly yet finely. You could also use shredded cabbage if you like.
If you cut it too thin or finely, the moisture from the cabbage starts to leak out, negatively affecting the texture of your okonomiyaki. By cutting it small but rough, you can enjoy the texture of the cabbage and avoid making your batter sticky or watery.
Dry the cabbage
If you want to go the extra mile with cabbage, some professionals put the cut cabbage in the fridge for an hour to let it dry out before adding it to the batter, which also helps prevent watery/sticky okonomiyaki. You could do this while the batter is resting.
If using other vegetables, slice or cut them into bitesize pieces.
STEP
Make the okonomiyaki sauce
Mix Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, honey, and soy sauce in a small bowl and set it aside for later.
The measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page, but you can adapt the ingredient ratio to suit your tastes. For example, add more honey or ketchup if you want it sweeter. If you want it to be saltier, add more soy sauce or even a pinch of salt.
STEP
Mix the batter and ingredients
Before mixing the ingredients for the final batter, I recommend preheating your pan on a medium/medium-high setting. (If the batter is sitting out for too long while you wait for the pan to heat up, the cabbage and tenkasu will start to become soggy, and the ingredients will sink to the bottom of the bowl.)
Since this recipe is for two portions of okonomiyaki, I take the rested batter and divide it into two bowls. Place one bowl back in the fridge if you’re making two at the same time (in two frying pans).
You should mix the ingredients right before cooking to prevent soggy ingredients and watery batter.
Add all of your ingredients to the bowl and mix. I use cabbage, egg, tenkasu (tempura bits) and benishoga (pickled ginger). Add anything you like, but make sure it’s finely chopped so it’s easier to mix.
Mix gently yet thoroughly to ensure all the ingredients are evenly distributed through the batter. I say “gently” because vigorous over-mixing can cause the gluten in the flour to react, making the batter too thick and heavy.
Use whipped egg whites for an extra fluffy okonomiyaki (highly optional)
Although it is sometimes considered heresy and takes extra effort, separating the eggs and making meringue with the egg whites can make the batter extremely fluffy.
Many people use this method instead of adding sticky yams, a good option if you can’t get hold of them.
STEP
Fry
Add oil to the pan and swirl until evenly coated. Pour your okonomiyaki batter into the center of the pan and use a spatula to neaten the edges and make it perfectly round (as you can see, I forgot to do this).
How thick should okonomiyaki be?
It is always tricky to think how big and thick okonomiyaki should be. Some restaurants have small and thick ones, while others have large thin ones. Similar to deep pan pizza vs thin crust pizza, it entirely depends on preference.
However, according to interesting research by a famous Japanese TV show, “Wafu Sohonke (和風総本家),” the average thickness and size are: diameter of 16.4cm, thickness of 1.9cm. Again, you don’t have to be precise like that, but it’s interesting to know!
Lay the pork belly (if using) over the top of the wet batter and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Once the bottom of the okonomiyaki is brown and crispy, carefully flip it over.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and place a lid on top. Leave to cook for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, pierce the okonomiyaki with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it’s cooked all the way through. If there’s wet batter on the toothpick, cook it with the lid for a little longer. (Check the bottom to make sure it’s not burning; you might need to reduce the heat at this point.)
STEP
Add toppings
Once it’s cooked all through, flip it over and coat the top with half of the okonomi sauce you made earlier.
Drizzle with Japanese mayonnaise.
Finally, sprinkle with a generous helping of katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and aonori.
Cut it into bitesize pieces before serving. (Tip: I often use a pizza cutter for this!)
Repeat these steps with the second bowl of batter. (You can eat the first one while the second one is cooking.)
And enjoy!
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Troubleshooting
In this section, I will round up common problems while making okonomiyaki and solutions to avoid them.
Inside of the pancake is raw
This is probably by far the biggest problem in making okonomiyaki. I have experienced this countless times in my life, from being impatient.
To check the “doneness,” you can use a toothpick or wooden chopsticks to check if the okonomiyaki’s center is cooked. Stick it into okonomiyaki; if it comes out clean, it is most likely done.
Alternatively, if the toothpick feels warm or hot, it’s likely cooked through.
This problem of okonomiyaki being raw in the middle comes from cooking it with too high heat. If you cook it over high heat, only the surface will be cooked quickly, and the surface will be burnt when it’s cooked all the way through.
So make sure to cook it over medium heat until firm inside.
Solutions
So you’ve served up your okonomiyaki, covered it in topping, and cut into it… only to find it’s still raw in the middle!
Even if your okonomiyaki was not done enough, don’t throw it away! You can fix the okonomiyaki by either returning it to the frying pan or teppanyaki and cooking over low heat with a lid on in a frying pan or cooking it in a microwave (600W) for 1 minute with cling film over the top.
Following these techniques will save your okonomiyaki, although the appearance might be a bit compromised.
Okonomiyaki is too soft / soggy
This problem comes from only one reason: too much water content. This does not simply mean the water you put in the batter, but also because of the moisture from your ingredients, such as cabbages or yams.
Solutions
Try to avoid using too many watery vegetables. If you use ingredients with high water content, you might need to reduce the amount of dashi you add to the batter.
Mixing the ingredients right before frying is another way to prevent wet/soggy okonomiyaki. If the ingredients are soaking in the batter for too long, the moisture can leak out into the batter. This is especially relevant to ingredients like cabbage or yams.
Finally, be sure to use a medium heat on the stove. If you set the heat too low, the okonomiyaki will start to steam and this can also make it soggy.
It’s too crumbly
This problem is often to do with either not enough eggs / not using eggs at all.
If the amount of egg is not enough, the batter will fall apart easily, and the okonomiyaki may not set properly. If you use small eggs, maybe it’s worth using one more.
Eggs kind of act as glue that holds the batter and ingredients together, so without eggs, the ingredients tend to flake off and fall out when the pancake is done.
So if you forget to add eggs, the okonomiyaki may not set properly.
FAQ
What is the origin of Okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki traces its origins to the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), when tea ceremony master Sen no Rikyu created “fu-no-yaki,” an early version made by baking a mixture of flour and water, topped with miso, and folded like a crepe.
The dish evolved in the late Edo period (1603-1867) when it began to be cooked on griddles. By the late Meiji period (1868-1912), okonomiyaki, now featuring meriken flour, cabbage, and sauce, had transformed into a more complex dish with diverse ingredients like pork and vegetables.
Initially popular in a “layered style,” the “maze-yaki” method—mixing ingredients directly into the batter—also gained popularity. Okonomiyaki became a renowned Osaka specialty in the late 1940s and ’50s, thanks to the promotional efforts of chain restaurants.
What’s the difference between takoyaki and okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake with pork and cabbage, whereas takoyaki is a small dumpling made from a thin batter and octopus, which is cooked in a special circular mold to become a round ball shape.
What is okonomiyaki flour?
Store-bought okonomiyaki flour is a simple mixture of cake flour (with low gluten content), dashi powder, starch and yam powder. It’s easy to use but not essential for making okonomiyaki.
How do you heat okonomiyaki?
In Japan, okonomiyaki is often cooked on a teppan, a large iron griddle, sometimes directly in front of customers. Some restaurants offer a fun, interactive experience where diners cook their own meal on a teppan at their table. This cooking style is known as “teppanyaki,” which includes various dishes like okonomiyaki, monjayaki, yakisoba, and steak. The term “yaki” means to grill or fry in Japanese.
What do you eat with okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki is very filling and we often eat it on its own. We also enjoy it with other teppanyaki dishes such as yakisoba, tonpei yaki or monjayaki.
I hope you enjoy this Authentic Osaka-style Okonomiyaki recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers.Thank you!
More Japanese Pork Recipes
- Pork Chop Teriyaki with Lemon
- Subuta (Japanese Style Sweet And Sour Pork)
- Buta no Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork)
- Katsudon (Japanese Pork Cutlet Bowl)
- Tonteki (Japanese Pork Chop Steak)
Want more inspiration? Explore my Pork Recipe Roundup Post for a carefully selected collection of tasty recipe ideas to spark your next meal!
Authentic Osaka Style Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Pancake)
5 from 6 votes
By Yuto Omura
Osaka style Okonomiyaki is an iconic Japanese street food. A delicious savory pancake topped with a rich sauce, mayonnaise and other various toppings. Not only does it taste great, but you can also make it from scratch at home!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Chilling time30 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr
Course Main Course, Street food
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 3 servings
Calories 452
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 20 minutes mins
Chilling time: 30 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr
Course: Main Course, Street food
Cuisine: Japanese
Servings: 3 servings
Calories: 452
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Ingredients
Batter
- 100 g cake flour see note
- 75 ml dashi stock
- 1 tsp milk
- 1 tsp tsuyu sauce
- 1 medium egg(s)
Okonomiyaki Sauce
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Fillings (see in post for more ideas)
- 150 g green cabbage white cabbage or pointed cabbage
- 2 tbsp tempura flakes tempura bits (optional)
- 2 tsp red pickled ginger benishoga (optional)
- 100 g pork belly thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp cooking oil neutural flavor
- 2 medium eggs
Toppings (see in post for more ideas)
- 1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp bonito flakes katsuobushi (optional)
- 1 tsp dried green laver powder aonori
Instructions
Batter
Sift 100 g cake flour into a large bowl. and add the 75 ml dashi stock, 1 tsp milk, 1 tsp tsuyu sauce and 1 medium egg(s) to the bowl. Mix until the ingredients are well incorporated, but be careful not to over mix. (A few lumps in the batter is okay.)
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Okonomiyaki Sauce
Take a small bowl and add the 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tbsp honey and 1 tsp soy sauce. Mix well and set aside for later.
Fillings
Cut the 150 g green cabbage into into small rough pieces.
Once the batter has been resting for 30 minutes, divide it into two bowls and place one of them back in the fridge for later. (Alternatively, make two at the same time in two frying pans.)
Preheat your pan on a medium/medium-high setting.
Once the pan is hot, add half of the cabbage, 1 tbsp tempura flakes, 1 tsp red pickled ginger and 1 egg to each bowl of the batter and mix well.(If you want to add other ingredients such as cheese, kimchi, mochi etc add them here. See in post for more ideas.)
Add the oil to the pan and swirl around until evenly coated. Pour the okonomiyaki mixture into the center of the pan and use a spatula to neaten up the edges.
Lay the slices of pork belly over the top of the wet mixture and fry the okonomiyaki until the bottom starts to become brown and crispy.
Carefully flip it over and place a lid on the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to fry with the lid for about 5 minutes or until cooked all the way through.
Pierce the middle with a toothpick to make sure it’s cooked. If the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, continue to cook on a low heat and check it every few minutes until it’s done.
Once it’s cooked through, flip it over again and pour half of the sauce over the top. Use a pastry brush or spoon to spread it evenly. (You can do this while it’s still in the pan or transfer it to a plate first.)
Drizzle with mayonnaise and sprinkle generously with bonito flakes and aonori.
Repeat the process again from step 4 with the remaining ingredients. (Tip: You can eat the first one while the second one is cooking.)
Enjoy!
Video
Keyword japanese savory pancake, okonomiyaki, osaka okonomiyaki
Notes
If you can get okonomiyaki flour, then you can replace the dashi stock for plain water. Check the package for more detailed instructions.
This recipe makes two okonomiyaki pancakes, which should be enough for 3-4 people.
Nutrition
Calories: 452kcal | Carbohydrates: 40.96g | Protein: 11.63g | Fat: 28.6g | Saturated Fat: 6.98g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.97g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 896.66mg | Fiber: 2.26g
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