Eat Y'self Fitter

The finished product - photo by VikingChild

We're having Okonomiyaki for tea. The name means something like "whatever you want - cooked" and it's almost like Japanese comfort food. Somewhere between a pancake and a pizza, (more like the former) it probably originated in the area around Osaka after WWII when rice was in short supply. Much in the same way as pancakes were meant to use up things before Lent, okonimiyaki can empty your fridge!

In many restaurants you get the mixture and cook it yourself on a hot plate so it's not hard to cook it at home, provided you get the right ingredients (again, not too difficult given the proliferation of Asian supermarkets - hoorah!). There's even an okonomiyaki artistry page, showing how you can finish it off with mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce.

We love Japanese food, from sushi and sashimi to katsudon and various places in between. This is maybe the easiest to make at home. Recipe follows:

• 14 oz plain flour
• 7 fl oz water
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Pinch of salt
• 4 chopped spring onions
• 14 oz finely chopped (white) cabbage
• okonomiyaki sauce (could make do with Worcestershire)
• mayonnaise
• kezuri-bushi (dried fish flakes)
• ao nori (seaweed flakes - optional, could use chives or similar for taste)
• beni-shoga (red ginger pickle - optional)
• Toppings - can use chicken, prawns, quorn chunks - anything really.

1) Mix flour and water, add beaten eggs and salt and beat together.
2) Add finely chopped spring onions and some of the cabbage and mix well. Keep adding cabbage until it's all mixed in together.
3) In a heavy frying pan at a high temperature, add oil. As it starts to smoke, remove from heat and turn the heat back to medium.
4) Ladle in some of the mix and flatten it down to make a circle about an inch thick.
5) Add some of the topping to the top of the cake and press it into the mix.
6) Once the edge of the pancake is cooked, turn it. Press it into the pan.
7) The bottom should be cooked in about 2-3 minutes, so turn over to check.
8) Once cooked, turn so that toppings are on the top (!!). First add the okonomiyaki sauce and spread it over the surface, then mayonnaise (nice lines are good!) Sprinkle with kezuri-bushi and ao-nori, then place on plate and serve with a sprinkling of beni-shoga.

Aaaaah! Turn off the TV, look at a book, pick up the phone, fix some food...