Okono-minute, the quickest ‘yaki’

That’s a casual way to make a snack okonomiyaki at home.
Just make crepes, and garnish them with okonomiyaki toppings : kezuriboshi (dry fish flakes), aonori seaweed, negi leek and beni-shoga (pickled ginger). You can also use sakura-ebi (small dried shrimps). And you can skip any that you don’t want, of course.

It’s freely adapted from this recipe gottsuo-yaki. The author says that her grandmother was making this for children and she was wrapping it in a piece of paper so the kids could take it away to go play.

The crepe : blend or whip 1/2 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of water to get a thick liquid. Adjust quantities. Add a pinch of salt. And a handful of cut negi leeks (the white part).

These negi, Japanese Spring onion, leeks, scallions… are never far away from a Japanese kitchen.

Make a small thick crepe.

Garnish and drizzle shoyu (soy sauce).

Well here, I put a pile of crepes, to be garnished on the table.
The “take out” style is to paint the top of the crepe with shoyu in the pan, garnish and fold, so the sauce is all inside.

Tofu no masago-age, beach sand croquettes

Masago means beach sand, and it’s used for food with a sandy texture. Here it’s fried scrambled tofu, a retro Japanese family dish. You get a golden crust, with a creamy crumbly filling and many colorful crunchy bits…

It’s cotton tofu (momen, firm). It is mashed with a fork into a sand like texture. Add 1 tbs of potato or corn starch for a cup. Flavor to taste with soy sauce and mirin (or soy sauce, sake and little sugar).

Add “pebbles”. Some recipes use minced chicken meat, some diced shrimps. You can just take blanched veggies like here : carrot, bell pepper, garlic stalks, onion, negi leeks and edamame beans.

Then form balls or patties. Pass them in starch and fry at 170 degrees Celcius. I like mines with a little lemon juice or chili sauce.