Before I blog all things Japanese and vegan, let me share a brief comment on the weather in Australia right now for the benefit of my international readers. Holy shit it's hot. We're in the middle of a heatwave almost completely covering the nation - we're experiencing the hottest and longest heatwave since the 1930's.
I'm not enjoying the hot weather, especially the hot nights. I've been overheated, cranky and sleep deprived all week. Even the cats that normally have a go at each other have been too tired to bother taking a swipe as they walk past. It's "I hate you but can't be stuffed punching you" hot... which for a cat is scorching.
It was a struggle to summon the energy to cook this week, especially as I knew that cooking involved switching on either the stove or oven, and nobody in Australia has any desire to warm up their house this week!
I really love Japanese food - there's elements of everything from the modern, fusion type food you get at Wagamama (by the way guys - awesome job on labelling the vegan items on your menu, it's greatly appreciated) to the ceremonial attitude towards food and eating; the tea ceremonies, the neat little bowls and the "rice and three sides" model. I also love the rich savoury umami flavours, just about anything served in a bento format, vegan sushi and inari.
I've loved Japanese food since I was a teenager - during the many years I spent studying the Japanese/American Karate style (Black Dragon Kenpo) I tried to soak up a few elements of Japanese culture beyond the fighting style, and honourable/warrior type folk lore. I watched manga and even read the Hagakurae.
Growing up in Melbourne I was spoiled - especially after starting university with the cute Japanese cafes on Swanston St - every Friday night after study and work I would traipse in and order either my favourite bowl of noodles, with the vegetables all lightly steamed and arranged beautifully and separately on top of delicious buckwheat noodles... or my favourite bento box, with agadeshi tofu, rice, miso soup, crisp salad, a potato croquette and fried greens in teriyaki sauce.
I thought carefully through my favourite Japanese vegan foods; fighting against lethargy from the heat and reduced apatite sapping my will to walk into the kitchen.
But then I fondly remembered something I used to always order at Japanese take-away shops before I became vegan (but was vegetarian); Okonomiyaki. I just love saying and typing that word... what a cool word, there is literally no English translation for Okonomiyaki; which are essentially a Japanese vegetable pancake. Normally they're made with a rather eggy pancake batter, hence why the take-away version isn't vegan. I made Okonomiyaki at home this week, and my partner tried some as well. She says I'm allowed to make them again, which is generally a good thing.
Here's how you can make your own Okonomiyaki; my recipe makes 4 good sized pancakes, you'll need:
1/4 a green cabbage (either a good sized quarter, or half of a little cabbage)
1 cup mixed frozen veggies (ie the peas, corn and tiny little cubes of carrot type)
1/2 a bunch of spring onions
1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 cups soy milk (start with 1 cup and add the rest if you need it - will depend on the moisture content of your vegetables)
vegetable oil for frying (I used rice bran oil)
Teriyaki sauce
Mayonaise - squirty bottle preferred (if you don't want to spring extra cash for one with "vegan" written on the label, check the ingredient list on the 97% fat free and 99% fat free - they are made of 'fake' and are vegan!)
The first thing you need to do is finely slice/shred the cabbage. Remove the outer leaves, and the 'heart' at the centre and give it a good wash. It's really important that you shred it as finely as you can - you want the little strips of cabbage to be at most a couple of millimetres across.
Place your shredded cabbage in a large mixing bowl with the cup of frozen veggies. I mixed these veggies by hand - mainly because it was hot and I wanted an excuse to touch something frozen. a spoon would also work fine.
Add the flour, then 1 cup of the soy milk. Stir the mixture gently with a wooden spoon until it's well combined - it should look like it's majority cabbage, with the other vegetables poking out there and there, and mostly holding together as a batter type mixture.
Apply a generous amount of oil to the pan and heat up to a medium-high temperature. You need the oil to completely cover the bottom of the pan, otherwise they'll stick, even with a non-stick pan.
Place a quarter of the mix into the hot pan - spreading and shaping until you have a 'pancake' that's about 1.5cm thick and as close to a round shape as you can get. They do need to be completely cooked through - so that is about 5 minutes per side. If you find that it's catching or getting a bit too dark too quickly, just reduce the heat a bit. It's important that they're cooked through, as the texture of raw cabbage inside the pancake will reduce your enjoyment of the final product.
Place each cooked pancake aside, then wash and finely slice the spring onions. Pat them dry with a tea towel, then fry them off in the hot oil - using the same pan and oil from the pancakes is fine, no need to do more dishes than you absolutely have to.
To serve (the word plate is not a verb) the Okonomiyaki, top each pancake with a generous amount of teriyaki sauce, then squirt a generous squiggle or spiral of mayo over each pancake. Finally top with a sprinkle of the fried spring onions.
This is my favourite type of Japanese fast food, I hope you give it a go and enjoy it as well.
I can't remember what country I'm going to do next week - it will be a surprise for all of us when I check my diary tomorrow.
Until then, stay cool :-).
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