Book of Days Tales

Each year on this date, Sengakuji Temple holds a festival commemorating the 47-Ronin event (the most famous example of the samurai code of honor courage, and loyalty—bushido—and now a national legend). The graves of Asano Takumi no Kami Naganori and his former samurai are there. This is where these rōnin committed ritual suicide after avenging their master’s death. Their graves are a popular site of pilgrimage to this day.

Near the temple you can find numerous places selling Okonomiyaki, a pancake stuffed with various ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning “what you like” or “what you want”, and yaki meaning “grilled” or “cooked” (cf. yakitori and yakisoba). Kansai- or Osaka-style okonomiyaki is the predominant version of the dish, found throughout most of Japan. The batter is made of flour, grated nagaimo (a type of yam), water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (usually thin pork belly), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, konjac, mochi or cheese.

Ingredients

For the batter

40 gm plain flour
10 gm cornflour, or potato starch (or 50g plain flour)
¼ tsp fine salt
¼ tsp sugar
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk, beaten
4 tbsp strong dashi stock, or water
25 gm yamaimo (Japanese mountain yam; optional)

For the topping

175 gm green cabbage, finely shredded
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced, white and green parts separated
4 thin slices pork belly (optional)
4 tbsp okonomi sauce, or 2 tbsp ketchup mixed with 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, to serve
Japanese mayonnaise, to serve
Beni shoga (red pickled ginger), to serve (optional)
Aonori (kelp powder), to serve (optional)
Katsuobushi (bonito flakes), to serve (optional)

Instructions

Whisk the flours, salt and sugar in a smallish bowl, then add the eggs and stock.

Peel the yam, if using (use gloves, because it can irritate skin), then finely grate into the bowl. Stir everything to make a thickish batter, cover and, if possible, leave somewhere cool for at least 30 minutes.

When you’re ready to cook, put the cabbage and white parts of the spring onion into a large bowl, pour over three-quarters of the batter and mix just until the vegetables are well coated.

Line a smallish, ideally light and nonstick, 20 cm frying pan with the slices of pork (or other toppings, though if you’re using something less fatty, heat a tablespoon of neutral oil in the pan first).

Pour on the cabbage mixture, tilt the pan so it covers the pork, then pour the remaining quarter of the batter on top. Put the pan on a medium-low heat, cover and cook for about eight minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to ensure the mix doesn’t stick.

Pour off any excess fat, carefully flip the pancake, cover again and cook for about another five minutes, until set but still a bit soft in the middle.

Turn out on to a serving plate, cut into quarters and push these back together again. Serve topped with generous amounts of okonomi sauce and mayonnaise, followed by ginger, kelp powder, spring onion greens and, finally, a handful of bonito flakes, if using.