Gyoza Update 2 Okonomiyaki

             So, in my previous post I discussed how I used the leftover gyoza filling for a stuffed cabbage.  Today I will tell you what I did with the rest of the filling.  For this I have to thank Ellie from Home Cooking in Montana.  She gave me a recipe idea that I'd never heard of.  She told me of a dish called Okonomiyaki.  It's a Japanese style pancake and means "what you like cooked/grilled".  You can read more about it here.

              It was a perfect solution for my left over filling.  You basically make a pancake batter that includes whatever filling you want.  In this case it was my gyoza filling, and cabbage.



Ingredients

1. 1/2 Cup flour
2. 1/3 Cup water
3. 1 egg
4. 1 1/2 Cup of gyoza filling (you can use sausage, or left over chicken, etc.)
5. 1 1/2 Cup finely chopped cabbage

I made a sauce to accompany this.  Okonomiyaki are topped with sauces.  One of which is a Tonkatsu style sauce.  I have made a version of this sauce for a long time that I got out of a KIWI magazine.  My husband and I think it goes great with rice, chicken cutlets, noodles, steak, you get the idea.

It's simple to make.

Ingredients for sauce

1. 2 Tbl butter
2. 2 Tbl low sodium soy sauce
3. 2 Tbl apple cider vinegar (or rice)
4. 2 Tbl ketchup

Just put all the ingredients in a microwave safe dish, or in a small saucepan.  Cook in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Take out and stir until the butter is dissolved.  If cooking stove top, just stir on low heat until the butter is melted.  That's it.

For the pancakes, first combine the flour and water.   Then stir in the egg.

Cook the meat in a pan until the pink is all gone.

 Then add your cabbage and meat to the pancake mix and stir.

Lightly oil a pan or spray it with cooking spray.  Keep the heat on medium.  Place the pancake batter in the pan and cook on the one side for about 3-4 minutes.

The cabbage will brown on the bottom.   Then flip the pancake and cook the other side for also about 3- 4 minutes.

Remove the pancake from the pan and top with the sauce.  I was totally shocked when I tasted it.  I wanted more.  My husband was surprised as well.  He couldn't believe that this worked.  It was really, really good.  The cabbage was crispy, the sauce complimented the meat and cabbage.  What a find.  What an interesting way to cook leftovers!  I bet you can do this with noodles too.

This will not be my last experiment with Okonomiyaki, although I hope it's the last time I need to spell it.  You need to try this!