Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake made with a variety of ingredients. The name literally means add whatever you like and grill it. This batter based pancake is a popular street food.
As per Wiki, the name of this dish is derived from the Japanese word okonomi which means "how you like" or "what you like", and yaki refers to "grill". Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with the Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, though it is now widely available throughout the country. Again as with any street food, the toppings and batters tend to vary according to the region.
Okonomiyaki is sometimes nicknamed a ‘Japanese pancake’ because, like a pancake, it is prepared on a griddle. It is also referred as Japanese Pizza as some versions have cheese included. Okonomiyaki is most often prepared ‘Kansai Style,’ with the ingredients mixed together and then poured on the grill. The dish can also be cooked ‘Hiroshima Style’ in which the batter and other ingredients are cooked separately, and then served on top of yakisoba noodles. In both styles, however, the finished dish is usually topped with dried seaweed, pickled red ginger, mayonnaise, and savoury okonomiyaki sauce.
I went with the Kansai area version, where all the toppings are added to the batter and then cooked. Again since all the versions have flour, eggs, vegetables along meat, I simply replaced the eggs with chickpea flour and made this a vegan. I was inspired by this recipe and adapted it to what I could add to it.
So Okonomiyaki was my choice for O in the A to Z International Street Foods. The other O was Oudnine el Kadi, which was a sweet dish. If you are interested to know the Flatbread for O, check this post. I am elated that today marks 15 days of this Mega Marathon! 
In this A to Z International Street Foods:
A for Arancini
B for Bunny Chow
C for Chatamari
D for Dürüm
E for Empanada
F for Fataa’ir Farmaajo
G for Gilgeori Toast
H for Hua Juan Bao
I for Imqarrun il-Forn
J for Jasuben's Pizza
K for Khachapuri
L for Lángos
M for Mofo Anana
N for Nachos Supreme
Step By Step Pictures for making Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki ~ Vegan Japanese Savory Pancake
Ingredients
For the Flour
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Chickpea Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder optional
2 to 4 tablespoons water
Salt to taste
Pepper to Taste
1/8 tsp Kala Namak Black Salt- optional
For the Vegetables
1/2 cup Cabbage
1 /4 cup Carrots
1/ 4 Capsicum
2 tbsp Spring Onions/scallions
1/ 4 cup Onions
1 /2 inch Ginger minced
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Soy Sauce
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast (I skipped)
1 tsp Miso optional
1 tsp Nori sheets optional
For the Vegetables
Shred all the vegetables very fine. Add rest of the ingredients listed and let it sit for 10 minutes.
For the Batter
Mix the flours together along with salt, pepper and baking powder. Slowly add water to make a smooth batter. Don’t add too much as the vegetables will also let out water.
Making the Pancake
When you are ready to make the pancake, add the vegetables to the batter, whisk well.
When the pan is hot, drizzle few drops of oil, pout a ladleful of batter and spread well.
Cook on both sides for about 5 to 6 mins each.
Serve with tonkatsu sauce, vegan mayo and pickled ginger if you have some.
I served with a spicy Tomato Condiment.
Recipe
Okonomiyaki ~ Vegan Japanese Savory Pancake
Ingredients
For the Flour
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Chickpea Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 to 4 tbsp Water
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to Taste
- 1/8 tsp Kala Namak Black Salt- optional
For the Vegetables
- 1/2 cup Cabbage
- 1 /4 cup Carrots
- 1/ 4 Capsicum
- 2 tbsp Spring Onions /scallions
- 1/ 4 cup Onions
- 1 /2 inch Ginger minced
- 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast I skipped
- 1 tsp Miso optional
- 1 tsp Nori Sheets optional
Instructions
For the Vegetables
- Shred all the vegetables very fine. Add rest of the ingredients listed and let it sit for 10 minutes.
For the Batter
- Mix the flours together along with salt, pepper and baking powder. Slowly add water to make a smooth batter. Don’t add too much as the vegetables will also let out water.
Making the Pancake
- When you are ready to make the pancake, add the vegetables to the batter, whisk well.
- When the pan is hot, drizzle few drops of oil, pout a ladleful of batter and spread well.
- Cook on both sides for about 5 to 6 mins each.
- Serve with tonkatsu sauce, vegan mayo and pickled ginger if you have some.
- I served with a spicy Tomato Condiment.
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Priya Suresh says
Okonomiyaki without eggs that seriously fabulous and love that variation you have gave to this Japanese pancake. Wonderful idea of replacing egg with chickpea flour. You rock Valli.
Kalyani says
Good pick valli ! I had these shortlisted but never came around to making them. These have such a lovely colour ..nicely done 🙂
vaishalisabnani says
Okonomiyaki Is a delicious pancake , we must have them
On all our visits to Japan , though we have them in a restaurant . The restaurant guys give us all the ingredients , we are supposed to sit on floor and we have a low griddle which acts as a table too . We cook the Okonomiyaki ourselves and enjoy it ! Egg is not used in this restaurant , they use just rice flour and a bit of cornflour along with veggies .
A very good attempt on this delicious pancake , now you have reminded me of the Japanese Restaurant !
srividhya says
Replacing eggs with chikpea flour is brilliant. Never explorer Japanese cuisine much except sushi. Your post is inspiring me to explore now.
Pavani says
That is our very own Cheela with veggies 🙂 Okonomiyaki has been on my to-make list for a very long time. I have to try this one out some time soon.Your vegan version looks delicious.
Sandhiya says
Okonomiyaki looks delicious and love how you replace egg with besan!!! Wonderful adaptation & kind of looks like cheela !!!
Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner says
Couldnt spell the name of the pancakes but they look super yummy!!
Harini says
That is a brilliant adaptation, Valli. An awesome pick as well.
Gayathri Kumar says
This is such a versatile batter. Love this veggies filled version and love the fact that is vegan too. Okonomiyaki Looks so good Valli..
mayurisjikoni says
A healthy and filling pancake. I would love to try the one with eggs in it. I don't know much about Japanese cuisine except for sushi.
manjulabharathkumar2016 says
Wow such an interesting pancake and the name is a tongue twister , loved the veggies added to the pancake makes it more yummier and I think I should get the nutritional yeast and give it a try . It is excellent idea to replace egg with chickpea flour ..such an wonderful recipe choice for the letter O valli..
Priya Srinivasan says
I remember making this for one of Mega BM. A perfect choice for ‘O’, similar to our dosa, just read Vaishali’s comment, it sounds so interesting!! Pairing it with tomato condiment sounds delicious valli!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Japanese cuisine is something I have not really explored because of the lack of vegetarian dishes. Love this egg less omelet and this would be a great one for breakfast!
cookingwithsapana says
Love this new avatar of our own humble cheela. The addition of vinegar, and nutritional yeast sounds very interesting twist.
Suma Gandlur says
Okonomiyaki have always tempted me whenever I saw them on other Japanese food blogs but had to pull myself back because of the ingredients that go into it. I am loving how you are customizing the dishes according to your preferences in this series.
Padmajha PJ says
I serious can't pronounce it but liked the meaning of it! This looks like our besan cheela loaded with veggies! So nice that you have converted the dishes to suit out preferences.
Simply Tadka says
Love the new version of pancakes.. Addition of vinegar, yeast makes more interesting and tasty.