Emi’s okonomiyaki

Each family of Osaka has its secret recipe of okonomiyaki. This post is pure spying. I am going to reveal you how my friend Emi makes hers. It’s a delicious simple version very rich in eggs. Before you start, make you sure you have tasty farm eggs.

Then, you need thinly shredded cabbage. She cuts it with her big knife. The flavors are tenkasu (tempura crumbs) and thin slices of pork breast.

The batter : It’s about a tbs of grated yama imo (Japanese yam), water and flour. Whip.
In a bowl, mix batter, cabbage, some tempura crumbs and an egg.

To be always ready, Emi has a reserve of servings of grated yama imo in her freezer.

On the oiled hot plate, first some batter-cabbage mix. Then slices of pork. Then more batter. Then flip.

Then… Why that ? The goal is to make the surface uneven so the sauces will stay on top.

Garnishing : the sauces are poured on top and layered with a brush. Then she puts fish flakes.
So the sauce are :
-okonomiyaki sauce (a mix of the thick sauce and of the more liquid Worcester sauce)
-mayonnaise
And in between ?

Do you recognized ? It’s mustard that gives a spicy tone to the sauces.

So you know all the tricks, you can enjoy it at home too.

Fresh green open sandwich

A fresh plant-based tea sandwich. I’m liking more and more vegetable sandwiches. Like these :

carrot sands

It’s a cuke sand’ today… Kyuri, Japanese cucumbers have a thin skin, and thin seeds. Everything is edible.

A thin slice of shokupan (Japanese bread) with the crust cut out. Coconut cream and grainy mustard spread on it. A handful of cress. Sliced cucumbers.

Black pepper and Sichuan pepper freshly ground on top.

Serve very fresh.

Easy little carbonade, with early Autumn market’s basket…

The inspiration is the Belgian dish carbonade flamande, a beef stew with dark beer. It’s hugely adapted to my local ingredients. I had that alcohol free beer to finish and some frozen beef meat leftover. And season’s produce waiting to be cooked. All that took us away from the rich original Winter dish, but that’s ideal for now as weather is hot (versus sooo hot before).

I’ve started by pan-frying a sliced onion till they get a golden color. Added beef thinly cut (2/3 defrost), a chunk of kurozato black sugar, thyme, a little fresh ginger, a piece of dry chili pepper and 2/3 of a can of beer (alcohol free). Covered. Let 15 minutes on low heat. The meat is so thin that it cuts very quickly.

I’ve added croutons made of toasted abura age (fried tofu pockets) with mustard spread on it, a little water, salt, pepper. Let 15 more minutes.

Served with more croutons and thyme on top. And I had veggies :

Small long satsuma imo sweet potatoes.

I steamed them with kabocha pumpkin and small potatoes.

Freshly boiled black edamame.

‘Not dog’ garden sandwich

Weirds sausages in a green wrap. They are easy to make and really yummy.

The basic ingredients. The beans are boiled of course. I mashed them together with a fork.

Spices, lots of paprika powder, a little garlic (grated) and black miso. They have no case, just formed by hand. But they could used some support :

Ninniku no me (garlic stalks). I passed them into, on the model of sausages formed around a bone.
Then baked the sausages (painted with oil) during about 20 minutes.

Enjoy in a wrap of sanchu (Korean lettuce) with carrot, and some chunky mustard.

Warm kintoki red bean terrine, with creamy yellow sauce

Today a red veggieful terrine served warm with a creamy sunny sauce that sparkles on the tongue. For a contrast of texture, I ate it with crunchy boiled renkon (lotus root) and a fresh quick tsukemono (grated cabbage, turnip, onion, salt, combined 30 minutes before).
You’ve seen bean terrines before on this blog and you’ll see more because they are very convenient. I can prepare several different ones, bake them together and I have a little stock.

Today’s bean, already boiled of course :

Taisho kintoki mame

This terrine is made of : mashed beans with onion, garlic, miso, paprika and oats for the binding mass.
Inside : whole beans, dices of red and yellow bell pepper, minced onions.

Then, it’s baked and let cool 48 hours before cutting thick slices. They can be reheated in a steamer or the micro-wave.

The sauce is extremely easy to prepare and surpringly refined :
Mix : 1/2 coconut cream, 1/2 coconut milk, a little potato starch, a pinch of curry spice mix (powdered), a good amount of powdered turmeric, 1/4 cup of cut yellow paprika.
Heat 2 minutes in the micro-wave.
Add very strong fine mustard to taste.