Hiroshima okonomiyaki with tuna

This popular Japanese savoury street food translates to ‘things you like’, which refers to adding your favourite ingredients to fill the pancake.

Credit: Benito Martin

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  18 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

This version is made in the Hiroshima style, which layers the pancake ingredients (instead of adding them to the batter) and also has a layer of crispy noodles that give the pancake extra body. It’s finished with a tangy okonomi or barbecue sauce and mayonnaise. It may look like a small portion for one but it’s densely packed with ingredients. Timing and temperature is key to the cooking. Have all your ingredients laid out and ready to go and don’t worry if your fillings fall out when you flip it - practice makes perfect.

Ingredients

Batter

• 75 g (½ cup) plain flour
• 125 ml (½ cup) water
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch sea salt

Filling

• 1½ tbsp cooking oil
• 200 g Chinese cabbage (wombok) or white cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 x 95 g cans Sirena Tuna - Teriyaki, drained
• 8 thin slices round pancetta (about 70 g) (see Tip)
• 180 g cooked yakisoba or thin egg noodles
• 2 tsp okonomi sauce
• 2 tbsp (20 g) small dried shrimp
• 2 eggs

Toppings

• 2 tbsp okonomi sauce
• Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
• crushed seasoned seaweed
• 1 pinch roasted chilli powder

Instructions

1. For the batter, combine the ingredients in a bowl and gently whisk until just smooth and lump-free.
   
   
2. Make the pancake Heat 1 tsp oil in large non-stick frying pan over medium heat until very hot. Set a timer for 4 minutes. Pour in ¼ cup batter into the centre of the pan and use the back of the ladle to quickly spread into a 14 cm-diameter circle.
   
   
3. Immediately pile half of the cabbage neatly over the pancake, then the tuna. It looks like a lot of filling but don’t worry, it will wilt. Place the pancetta around the circumference, slightly overlapping, on top - essentially you want to create a band that will help hold the pancake together. Pour over ¼ cup batter around the circumference and in the centre - this will help bind the filling.
   
   
4. Continue cooking for the 4 minutes or until the bottom is golden but not burnt. (Turn off the heat if you are not ready for the next step.)
   
   
5. Flip the pancake Using a large, wide spatula, quickly, but carefully, flip the pancake. Press any of the fillings back into the pancake and cook for another 4 minutes or until the pancetta is crisp but not burnt.
   
   
6. Crisp up the noodles Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil in another large non-stick frying over high heat until very hot. Set another timer for 4 minutes. Add the noodles and stir-fry for 30 seconds to coat in the oil. Add the sauce and stir-fry for 30 seconds to coat. Shape the noodles into a circle about the same size as the pancake. Scatter the dried shrimp over the circle. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking for the 4 minutes or until the base is crispy but not burnt. Turn off the heat.
   
   
7. Carefully place the pancake (batter-side up), using the spatula, on top of the noodles in the other pan.
   
   
8. Fry the egg In the pan you used to cook the pancake, heat 1 tsp oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Carefully crack in an egg, run a spatula through the yolk to break it and form the egg into a circle about the same size as the pancake.
   
   
9. Immediately place the pancake and noodle stack (batter-side up) on top the egg and cook for 30 seconds. Using a large, wide spatula, carefully transfer to a serving plate.
   
   
10. Repeat Lift the pancake up and tuck any of the fillings back in. Keep warm and repeat with the remaining ingredients to make a second okonomiyaki.
    
    
11. Top the pancakes Brush each pancake with the okonomi sauce, drizzle over the mayonnaise, and scatter over the seaweed, spring onion and chilli powder. 
    
    

Tip

• You can buy the Japanese ingredients from Asian supermarkets. The yakisoba noodles are found in the dried noodle section. The dried shrimp are found in the spice section. The crushed seasoned seaweed is a Korean product but is usually sold in Japanese stores in the seaweed section. It comes seasoned with salt and other flavourings (sometimes sesame seeds or chilli) and comes crushed, ready for sprinkling, or in small sheets - buy the crushed version.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Lynsey Fryers. Food preparation by Tammi Kwok. Creative concept by Belinda So.

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Australians have been enjoying the unrivalled taste and quality of SIRENA tuna since 1956. Sirena tuna is made only with the highest quality ingredients, including our premium oil blends and high specification tuna. All of Sirena's tuna products are delicious, healthy, suitable for different moments of your day, and can be enjoyed on their own or as an ingredient in meals. For more recipes from our SBS collection of SIRENA tuna recipes, go here. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

This version is made in the Hiroshima style, which layers the pancake ingredients (instead of adding them to the batter) and also has a layer of crispy noodles that give the pancake extra body. It’s finished with a tangy okonomi or barbecue sauce and mayonnaise. It may look like a small portion for one but it’s densely packed with ingredients. Timing and temperature is key to the cooking. Have all your ingredients laid out and ready to go and don’t worry if your fillings fall out when you flip it - practice makes perfect.