Vegetarian Okonomiyaki - Japanese Pancakes

I very deeply believe that recipes come looking for me and not the other way around.  Social media may help with that, but as I scroll down looking for Bull Terrier pictures, I get flashes of beautiful things I had no idea existed.  These things take over my brain until I give in and recreate them my way.  Okonomiyaki is one of those things.  I thought I was familiar with Japanese cuisine, but seeing an image of this wonder made me realize that all I've ever experienced concerning Japanese food is what I've been able to try at restaurants.  I know absolutely nothing about Japanese street food.  Actually, the words "Japanese Street Food" never crossed my mind.  If I was asked what I thought it was, I would guess some teriyaki meat on a stick or things along those lines.  Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure food on a stick is a big thing in Japan.

Anyway, this little treasure absolutely needed to be born of my hands.. and so it was..

Serves 4 (1/2 per person or 4 smaller pancakes)

Ingredients

3 eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp miso

160mL mushroom water (or broth or water)

100g flour

few tablespoons oil for cooking

300g shredded cabbage

2 large handfuls dried shitake mushrooms, soaked int hot water, then sliced

1 carrot, peeled and grated

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

3 green onions, chopped

 Garnish:

toasted sesame seeds

picked sliced ginger

dried seaweed (I rehydrated mine)

sliced cherry tomatoes

Sauce:

sesame oil

thick dark soy sauce

glassy balsamic vinegar

Sriracha

Japanese spicy mayonnaise (I didn't have)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, place all the vegetables until evenly distributed with each other.

2.  In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, miso, water (I used the cooled water from the mushroom soaking), and flour.

3.  Pour the batter onto the vegetables and stir until all mixed together.  This should not be liquidy.. think hash browns.  Do not over mix, just coat.

4.  On a skillet or plancha, squirt a bit of oil and heat to high.  Divide the battered vegetables into 2 for mega Okonomiyakis or 4 for individual sized ones.  

I only had 2 medium pans.. this would be best on a large habachi style grill or plancha.  I did what I could to satisfy my urge.  I seriously thought I'd be making 1 per person, but it turned out to be a bit overwhelming in portion size.

Shape them into round pancake like things.

5.  Cook for about 3 minutes on high, then flip and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes.  I'm not a crazy person that tries to flip things in the air and catch them back in the pan.  If you are one of those.. go right ahead and give it a shot.  I covered the pan with a plate, flipped onto the plate, then slid the pancake back into the pan to limit the possible damage.

I also had 2 different pans, one stone and one ceramic.  The ceramic gave me a char and cooked quicker than the stone.  Interesting!

6.  Add your garnish, then try to make something pretty with all your sauces.

Serve hot or warm.. but not cold.  This is a right here right now type of thing.

The amount of cooking is very subjective and personal, but I enjoyed the charred one better than the custardish one.  It tasted more.. finished.

This dish is just as interesting to eat as it is to look at.  It's something completely customizable so there isn't really a fixed recipe.  The basics are that you need cabbage, need something meaty, need batter, and need need need toppings and sauce.  Crunchy toppings, fresh toppings, pickled toppings.. but toppings.  Sauce should be tangy, spicy, and a bit sweet.

Now I know why this Okonomiyaki spoke to me in the first place.  It is completely the way I let my desires develop in my the kitchen...

Miso Butter

Miso happy miso hungry miso h...

Hehe

There is something about miso that is comforting and almost addictive.  I know I'll eat miso soup even when it's 100° outside just because I crave that sublty salty earthy umami flavor which knows no season nor temperature.  So then I bought miso paste and used it once...and then had no idea what to do with it because apparently, miso soup is NOT just miso paste and water with floating goodies and seaweed.  It's not even vegetarian, contrary to what I had always thought.  If you want to make it homemade, you'd better have a lot of time and also a Japanese market near you for all those other ingredients you've never heard of...unless you're Japanese..or more culturally aware than I am.

So when I discovered you can mix butter and miso paste together and cook meat and vegetables in it, a whole new path with several doors appeared in front of me!  Today I'm opening 2 and trying it on chicken breast for grilling, and veggies with soba noodles for tossing.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp softened butter

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp brown miso paste

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1 inch piece ginger

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

Directions:

1.  Blend everything but the sesame together until smooth.

2.  Stir in the sesame

3.  Use as marinade or for stir frying veggies or tossing soba noodles or all of the above.

The meat method was a big hit!  So much flavor!!!!

Business Tripping

I'm armed and dangerous with a pound of shrimp, a Kent mango, cilantro, lime, and feta...

Watch out Marseille, I'm also here for Pleasure...

Mmm shrimp, I will always love you.. Please stay on earth forever!

And Kyo on Avenue Prado is probably the best sushi I've had (in France)

 Here we have some Toro, Shake, Unagi, Ebi, Miso, Wakame and the sushi near the rice is sea urchin.  What's that you say? Yes, sea urchin, which I recommend eating right out of the shell rather than on a bed of sushi rice.  Reallty it is a magnificent creature, but needs to be enjoyed within minutes of shell cracking... not like this.  When "dégusté" the way it was meant to be, and in the correct company, it will definately send you to Euphoria Ln.

I didn't photograph the Green Tea Mochi dessert, but oh does the memory linger on...

mmMMmmMM!!!!

Who needs to go out for Fête de la Musique when you have goodies straight from India,  Joe Bonamassa's whole discography, and Nirvana Unplugged on Vinyl?

Green Tea in Dessert

Top: Slices of sweet potato, green tea, and chestnut cake

Bottom: Green tea tiramisu

I'm not one for desserts, but the ones at Kyo Sushi in Marseille are intriguing and suprisingly not too sweet.  I love the bitterness green tea adds to dessert.  This makes me want to experiment.  There's a sort of balance that makes it work in many different ways. Maybe some green tea cookies? aaaahh I think I'd like that!
Green tea also adds a magic touch in things like soba or ice cream.  Mmm!!

Their appetizers are also wonderful..

Miso soup with turnips and carrots and without mushrooms (whaaa???) but sooo good!

Wakame salad - always a winner

Strange octopus cheese balls which were interesting.

I didn't get the rest of the meal.. oops, ate too quickly.  Their sashimi and maki are top quality that you can feel sliding down your throat.  The chefs come straight from Japan, and the blond Frenchie waitor even speaks Japanese.  It's a modern type of restaurant, but the sushi is the real thing.  I think I finally found a worthy sushi restaurant in France.  Why does it have to be a 3 hour drive from where I live?
Same goes for Namaste, the Indian restaurant in Marseille.
I just might have to move...

Soba

My Epicier had real Japanese soba.  So real that the instructions on the package are in Japanese, so I have to wing it.  The soba are green!  I love the stuff from that place.  I always come home with something new and exciting.  There is always something in hand to stimulate one or more of my 8 senses.
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 small package soba (100g)

handful leftover cooked chicken

1/2 zucchini, julienned

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 grated clove of garlic
juice from 1/2 lemon

1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 tsp sesame oil
fresh ground pepper
splash of soy sauce
splashe of sriracha thai sauce
Directions:
1.  Place everything but the soba in a bowl and let marinate.

 2.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the soba 3 minutes, then transfer to iced water (to stop the cooking).

3.   In a wok, cook the marinating mixture about 5 minutes (just to heat through and make the zucchini tender)
4.  Drain the soba and add to the wok.  Stir fry a bit, then breath in the lovely aroma of ginger and garlic.

Eat with chopsticks.  Very important.  If you don't know how to eat with chopsticks, LEARN!