A Little Blog

The easiest way would be to buy a mix for making okonomiyaki, and follow the instructions on it.

(the wonders of camera-rotation..) You would have to add just an egg and some water, in addition to the cabbage and toppings.

Otherwise, for a very basic version:
100g flour
1 egg
100ml water or dashi stock

150g cabbage, finely chopped
toppings eg bacon, prawn, ham, squid

1. Mix flour, egg, water. Add cabbage and mix. You can mix in rest of toppings at this point if you like.
2. Heat pan, oil surface. Pour in batter mixture, shape into round flat cake. Place toppings on top if you haven’t.
3. When bottom is cooked flip the cake over and cook further till both sides done.

Put okonomiyaki sauce, mayonaisse, bonito flakes on top and serve. You can also put dried seaweed or aonori (青のり).

As the name okonomiyaki implies, you can place whatever toppings / fillings you like. Variations include cheese, pork, vegetables, and even Japanese mochi.

The above recipe would be what’s usually known as the kansai style.

If you can find something that’s called a mountain potato (yamaimo or 山芋）add about 1-2 tablespoon grated to the wet mixture. You won’t really need this if you bought a mix that contains yamaimo as part of the ingredients.

Some say yamaimo is an essential ingredient in okonomiyaki. I have seen an okonomiyaki mix that has no yamaimo at a Japanese supermarket. I wondered whether to buy the mix. Then I bought the mix, with 山いも, as pictured above. (”Yamaimo, aplenty”)

And yes, you can find grated yamaimo in some Japanese supermarket stores.