Asian delight - Japanese Pancake

The stickiness of yamaimo helps to give this classic Japanese pancake its thick shape and robust texture.You can make the batter more substantial and vary its flavour by adding and substituting other shredded or chopped vegetables, such as carrot,sweet corn, leek, and so on.

INGREDIENTS:

• White cabbage - 100g,finely shredded
• Spring Onion (scallions) - 2, thinly sliced
• Cooking oil - 1Tbsp
• Streaky bacon - 4 slices
• Japenese dried saweed flakes Okonomiyaki or tonkatsu sauce - to taste

Batter

• Water - 125ml
• Grated peeled yamaimo - 3 Tbsp, about 45g
• Cake flour - 60g, sifted
• Egg - 1
• Freshly ground black papper - 3/4 tsp
• Salt - 3/4 tsp

METHOD

• Prepare batter.Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk into a thick, smooth batter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Stir cabbage and spring onions into batter until evenly mixed just before cooking.
• Heat oil in a 20 cm (8-in) non stick frying pan over medium heat. Add cabbage mixture to pan, spreading it out into a thick pancake. Lay bacon strips evenly across pancake, then reduce heat to medium-low cover and cook for 4-5 minutes or until underside is golden brown.
• Slide pancake onto a plate and cover with inverted pan, then turn over so plate is inverted and pancake falls back into a pan, uncooked side down.
• Increase heat to medium and fry for 4-5 minutes more or until bacon is browned and cabbage is cooked through.
• Transfer okonmiyaki to a serving plate,bacon side up. Garnish with seaweed and sauce of choice. Serve immediately