Comments on: Japanese Recipe: Okonomiyaki

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:14:07 +0000

Mhmmm, I agree carrots would make a poor substitute if the binding ingredient in the Osaka-style is the nagaimo. But, it’s a good change of pace from the cabbage, and adds a nice natural sweetness. My experience with nagaimo is nil, something I’ll be changing soon (they sell the nagaimo at the Asian grocery up the street). Time to get slimy!

And the tapioca flour sounds nice. It also is a goopy addition. So gloop= bounce? Must experiment with this in other food stuffs….

By: Naomi

Naomi — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:54:28 +0000

@Rachel regarding Tokyo-style — it’s basically the same as Osaka style except they don’t use the nagaimo.

Nagaimo when grated becomes a really sticky, gooey mass. You couldn’t duplicate what it does with just any root vegetable, certainly not potatoes or carrots.

That said, there are some other roots in the world that might work. Cassava, aka tapioca or yucca, could do the trick — I find this root in Mexican markets. You could grate it fresh or use tapioca flour.

I’ve used tapioca flour to make an oatmeal-based okonomiyaki and it definitely gives the batter a lot of bounciness.

–Naomi

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:24:59 +0000

@Deshi, I’ve read about the nagaimo, but never tried out. However, I have made this with carrots when I didn’t have cabbage handy. I must admit the okonomiyaki rocked uber hard with carrot and a tiny dash of baking powder (as suggested by someone from Kyushu), much, much better than the cabbage. It had that “bounce” you speak of. I wonder if root vegetables add that certain something that cabbage just lacks.

Try it with the carrot and I’ll see if I can find the nagaimo. I’ll get back to you how it compares to carrot unless you find out first!

By: Deshi

Deshi — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:37:43 +0000

you might want to try (for the purpose of this recipie) reducing the flour to half cup and add half cup grated Nagaimo for the “crust” it is the Osakan way to make it, and adds a bouncy texture to the dough that makes it soo much better in my opinion. That is if you can get nagaimo, it looks like a very long root, but is usually cut into smaller peices to sell, most international farmer’s markets that carry typical Japanese stuff should have it though, its fairly common. I’ve read Potato can be substituted for a slightly better texture than flour alone, but is not nearly as good as the real thing. I used to make it similar to this recipe for a long time until I happened to come across the recipie on JustHungry, trust me the nagaimo makes a huge difference!

By: fween

fween — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:40:46 +0000

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By: Retena

Retena — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:48:34 +0000

it is good! i couldn’t believe
how much i fell in love with it^^
Thank you!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:10:28 +0000

@dan, there are many varieties of okonomiyaki according to region; just like in the US where there’s a huge difference in pizza according to region. What’s Tokyo style? Is it more like Kansai where they layer the okonomiyaki?

By: dan

dan — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:16:21 +0000

this is not the same kind of okonomiyaki that they have in the tokyo area but if its as good as that it should be good stuff. i may have to try to make it

By: David

David — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:54:48 +0000

If by “burnt” you mean “dark golden brown”, then I guess you’re right LOL!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 19:15:39 +0000

Ten, I figure if someone can make pancakes and fry a burger they can make Okonomiyaki. It really wasn’t too hard, but then again some people don’t know how to make pancakes without burning them… *cough* David *cough*