I believe I mentioned once that I have a friend who doesn't know how to bake, and that I was teaching her to bake, and that she, in turn, would teach me how to make Japanese food. Well, a little while back, we went over to her house, and she taught me how to make 'okonomiyaki', which means pretty much 'put whatever you want together and grill it'. At least, that is my understanding. :)
We started by shredding (I can't really call it chopping...it was the tiniest I've ever had to chop anything. Ever.) some cabbage, then chopping some green onion. To this, we added egg, flour, and water, enough to make a pancake like batter, which we then fried on a skillet. Once the batter had been poured onto the hot pan, we pressed shrimp that had been salted and peppered into the top. You can also chop the shrimp (or beef, bacon, pork, chicken...you get the idea) and add it to the batter, if you'd like.
Once the pancake was done, we squirted some Japanese mayo and some other sauce that I can't remember the name of for the life of me on top, sprinkled some ginger, bonito flakes, and some green onion on top, and enjoyed!
It was so easy! Whenever you look at pictures of ethnic food, (ok, so whenever I look at pictures of ethnic food) it always looks so complicated, which usually deters me from trying to make it. Obviously not a good thing! I'll be making okonomiyaki again, for sure. And trying it many different ways, including many different ingredients!
