Vegan okonomiyaki! These savory Japanese cabbage carrot pancakes are packed with veggies and so delicious served with sweet and sour homemade tonkatsu sauce. (nut-free with soy-free and gluten-free options)
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Total time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 3
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
For the Pancakes
- 1/2 head of cabbage
- 3/4 cup carrots
- 1/2 red or green bell pepper
- 2 tbsp scallions
- 1 inch ginger (minced)
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp miso (optional)
- 1/8 tsp Indian black salt (kala namak- optional)
- 2 tsp crumbled nori sheets (or 1/2 tsp togarashi - optional)
- 1/2 cup unbleached white flour (ap flour) (or a mix of rice flour and all purpose flour)
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder optional
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water
For the Easy Tonkatsu Sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce (or whatever sauce as we refer to it in my house;))
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- a few tsp water
Method
Make the okonomiyaki.
- Shred all the veggies. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, salt, white pepper, nutritional yeast, miso, black salt, and crumbled nori sheets. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Mix the flours and baking powder into the bowl and mix in. Add a little water to make a mix that can spread. You might not need much, as the veggies leak a lot of water, depending on how you shred them.
- Heat a pan over medium heat, and add the oil. Spread the batter to even it out into 1/4" to 1/2" thick pancake,and cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side.
- Serve with the tonkatsu sauce, vegan mayo and pickled ginger if you have some. You can also sprinkle on some green onion and sesame seeds.
Make the tonkatsu sauce.
- Mix all the ingredients until well combined, and serve.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.