Traditional Japanese Street Food, Part 2 of 2 – Vegan Okonomiyaki (Savory Japanese Pancake) with Vegan Bacon

In today’s show, we will show you how to make kombu broth and how to use dried and fresh shiitake mushrooms to add flavor to the dish. Let’s now begin making our delicious vegan meal by preparing the vegetables. First, take four fresh shiitake mushrooms and slice them into thin pieces half a centimeter in thickness.

Now we’ll prepare the vegan kombu broth which is called dashi in Japanese. For this, we have pre-soaked five grams of dried kombu in 200 milliters of water till it becomes soft and flexible. Now pour the water and kombu into a pot and bring the water to a boil at medium heat. Remove the kombu from the pot as soon as the water starts to boil and leave the broth standing to cool; we will use it later in making the pancake batter.

To make the batter, add 200 grams of all-purpose flour to a large mixing bowl, then slowly pour in the vegan broth we just made and stir. Keep stirring until the mixture becomes a smooth batter, free of lumps. Using the kombu broth instead of water gives the Vegan Okonomiyaki a deeper flavor and taste. Preheat some vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. When the oil is sufficiently heated, pour in half of the batter, as we have prepared the ingredients for two servings. Use a spatula to shape the pancake so that it has a flat round shape of five to six inches in diameter. Gently press the batter into shape as we want a fluffy pancake. Continue frying for another three minutes.

Now we can add the two slices of vegan bacon on the top of the pancake so that the vegan bacon sticks to the batter. Cover it with a lid for another three minutes to allow for the batter and cabbage to cook through.

The pancake is now cooked, so we will transfer it onto a plate, with the vegan bacon on the topside. Squeeze the vegan mayonnaise with a squeezy bottle, forming wriggly lines horizontally across. Then using a knife or a chopstick, draw straight vertical lines from top to bottom to create a wave-like pattern. Then sprinkle some seaweed powder evenly on the vegan mayonnaise decoration. Finally, to enhance the flavor of the vegan pancake, we will add some grated dried shiitake mushroom using a microplane grater. There you have it, a deliciously mouth-watering Vegan Okonomiyaki with Vegan Bacon!