A big name for a tasty dish. The Japanese name translates “okonomi” meaning “anything you like” and “yaki” meaning “grilled”. Take that very literally and mix anything you like into this fritter. Traditionally it’s served as one large pancake cut up into slices to share or enjoy all to yourself. I love the idea of making these into smaller bite-size fritters to have a party with. The flavor of this recipe is OUT OF THIS WORLD! A crispy edge from seared cabbage with a soft chewy interior then glazed with this sweet sauce and topped with creamy mayo. My goal for this recipe was to Americanize some key components to make it more approachable for the average American who may have never heard of this. Crispy bacon and fresh corn off the cob add this incredible salty crunchy to every bite, then glaze it with barbecue sauce if you’re just trying these for the first time. Everyone always says to me if it’s coated in barbecue sauce, how bad can it be?

There are three main components to this recipe: the batter, the fillings, and the glaze. The mayo is a MUST. Cabbage is the base vegetable of okonomiyaki. It’s cheap, nutritious, and acts as the structure of the fritter. The batter is the glue to the mix-ins and the cabbage. Traditionally the batter is made with Japanese sweet potato which adds a certain texture to the batter that we will achieve with chicken broth and flour. If you’re looking for a gluten-free version I would check out the sweet potato version. The glaze is what makes this fritter special and gives the contrast to all the salty flavors going on. This is called the okonomiyaki sauce. In most Asian grocery stores you can buy this sauce, but it’s also really easy to make it at home with a few common Asian ingredients. This is the part you can substitute for barbecue sauce, ESPECIALLY if you are testing these out with picky eaters. It’s a guarantee they will fall in love with these.

Kewpie mayo may be your only foreign ingredient, but it’s just mayo in a squeeze bottle. Easy to substitute for Hellman’s mayo in a Ziploc bag with a tiny corner cut off for piping. Even if you don’t have oyster sauce, just mix more honey, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Theirs always a solution to Asian ingredients when you have soy sauce around.

Let’s talk about toppings. I’ve seen a lot of recipes with bonito flakes mounted on top of these fritters, but for beginners to this recipe, I don’t think they want to try dried fish flakes. I LOVE green onion, so that was what I mounted on top of my okonomiyaki with some toasted sesame seeds. The seeds look cute and also add extra crunchy sesame flavor. It all works, looks traditional, and tastes like a million bucks with bacon.

These fritters taste good the day of, these fritters taste good the next day, and can even be repurposed in a bowl of fried rice that week. You have no excuse to try these now. These bites WILL get you excited about cabbage again!