Firstly, I’d like everyone to note that there is now a specific category for Grad Student Eating in Style! Hopefully I will get a few more recipes in there soon.
Every time I tell someone I’m making Okonomiyaki, they ALWAYS look at me with an eyebrow up and say “what’s THAT”?
Except for MicroDoc, who taught me the recipe. She says “mmm, I am coming over for dinner then?”
Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake from Japan. It’s super easy to make (at least, by my recipe, which isn’t what everyone else does), really tasty, filling, and a fun thing to make together with friends.
You will need:
2 eggs
2 cups flour (I use whole grain, but most people use regular)
1 cup of water
Shredded cabbage
Shredded imitation crab meat (optional)
Tonkatsu Sauce (I’ll cover this in a minute)
Mayonnaise (optional)
Pan spray
Fish flakes (optional)
Take the two eggs and the flour and the water. Beat them together until you’ve got a nice smooth batter. Mix in your shredded cabbage, a good few handfuls (this one is really something you throw together, I really like more cabbage, but opinions vary). Spray down a small nonstick frying pan, and put a small glop of your dough in there (I like my stove med to med-high). Flatten out your glop with a spatula (use a plastic one if you have one, the metal ones get REALLY goopy). Add your crap meat on top. Make like a pancake, flipping over until it’s all done and nice and brown.
Serve with Tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise.
NOTE: DO NOT let your pancake get too thick! You’ll have the worst time getting it to cook all the way through.
Final result will look like this:
Now: Tonkatsu sauce. This is a veggie and fruit based sauce that is kind of thick, and completely delicious.
Price Breakdown for the Hungry Grad Student:
(someone pointed out to me by email that prices are highly relative, and the dude is probably right. That said, I can still do something approximate, to give you an idea as to how much this makes for a rough price.)
Eggs: $2.00
Flour: $2.99 for a large amount
Cabbage (pre-shredded): $2.69 or so for a bag of the stuff. You get enough to make two full batches of this easy.
Fake crab meat: $1.74
Tonkatsu sauce: $4.69, but you’ll use it forever
Mayonnaise: $2.99 for a bunch of it (I always skip the mayo)
Pan spray: $3.99 (you’ll use it forever)
Total: $21.09, less if you skip the mayo. The recipe serves 4 pancakes, but if you buy everything fresh you will have enough for two recipes worth, so that’s $21.09 for 8 cakes. Not so bad!
