Popular Japanese meal OKONOMIYAKI is essentially a savory, crepe-like pancake prepared with shredded cabbage, shallots and Worcestershire sauce. Actually, okonomi means “however you like” and yaki means cooked over direct heat. This means, there is no "one" way to prepare okonomiyaki and no "one" recipe that defines it - it is very much up to the chef what it ultimately looks and tastes like.
Chef Janine prepares her version of okonomiyaki with seasonal cabbage. In place of regular wheat flour, she uses keto friendly almond flour. Addition of dashi (umami broth) and bonito flakes gives this delicious dish the perfectly elevated umami taste. She loads her okonomiyaki with shrimps and bacon, and finishes it with her house made Japanese style delicious sugar-free okonomiyaki bbq sauce and also house made avocado oil mayonnaise. This fantastic dish is then garnished with fine chopped green onion and seaweed flakes.
There are many regional versions of this popular dish. The origins of today’s okonomiyaki date back to the 16th century Edo period in Japan. Back then, it was served to the monks during Buddhist ceremonies.
In the 1930s, an Osaka restaurant created the official savory version of okonomiyaki. This dish in it's different variations started to become more popular during the WWII when rice became scarce and Japanese people had to be creative in using other more readily available ingredients.
While Osaka is most known for okonomiyaki around the world, Hiroshima has the most okonomiyaki restaurants in the country. There is even a village called Okonomimura in Hiroshima which is home to over two dozen okonomiyaki restaurants.
Japanese cuisine is not a cuisine of savant blend of flavors like Chinese cuisine or French cuisine. Japanese cuisine rests on bringing out the best of the natural flavors from roots, seaweed and fermented foods, all full of umami flavor. Japanese food is about showcasing the natural flavors and textures at their best. And Chef Janine nails this balance perfectly with this dish.
Chef Janine's perfectly keto Okonomiyaki is on the first menu of 2023. Please follow the link below in order to place your online order.
Shokuyoku ōsei !!!
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