VEGAN: Okonomiyaki – Cabbage Carrot Pancakes
A delicious and authentic Japanese Okonomiyaki made vegan.
For those new to Okonomiyaki, it’s a Japanese savoury pancake. It’s usually made with egg but as always, all it takes is a little creativity to come up with a vegan alternative.
Fortunately this dish is delicious AND easy to make – just toss the veg and the mix into a frying pan and in around 25 minutes it’s ready to eat.
In addition to making the pancakes you’ll find instructions on making home made tonkatsu sauce – which is an absolute treat to the taste-buds. If you’ve got kids around they’ll love it.
Check out the recipe below.
Okonomiyaki – Cabbage Carrot Pancakes
Ingredients:
Making the Pancakes:
½ head of cabbage
¾ cup carrots
½ red or green bell pepper
2 tbsp scallions
1 inch ginger, minced
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp miso (optional)
⅛ tsp Indian black salt (kala namak)- optional
2 tsp crumbled nori sheets or ½ tsp togarashi – optional
¾ cup unbleached white flour
¼ cup chickpea flour
½ tsp baking powder optional
2 to 4 tablespoons water
Homemade Tonkatsu sauce:
Ketchup – 1 tablespoon
Vegan Worcestershire sauce – 1 tablespoon
Sugar – ½ teaspoon
Water – 3-4 teaspoons
Step-by-step guide:
- Shred the vegetables & add to a large bowl.
- Add the vinegar to the bowl, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Be sure to add through the nori sheets & then keep aside for 10 minutes.
- Mix in the flours and baking powder.
- Add a pan to the stove, add some oil and allow to warm to a medium heat.
- While the pan is heating, add water (just a little) to the bowl until the mix has the right consistency to spread (remember that the vegetables will release water when cooked, so don’t add too much).
- Once the pan is eated, add the contents of the bowl and spread it out evenly. The aim is to make a pancake around 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
- Leave in the pan for around 5-7 minutes per side.
- While cooking, mix all of the sauce ingredients into a small bowl until they are combined and then serve.
- For a nice finish consider adding pickled ginger.
A very big thank you to veganricha.com for this awesome Japanese dish.