OKONOMIYAKI – JAPANESE FUSION CORNBREAD CAKES WITH SHRIMP AND BACON

Asian|Award Winner|Pork|Seafood

Ingredients

The Pancakes:

1, 7 ounce package (1 ½ cups) Martha White Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix

¼ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 small sweet onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced and rough chopped

⅓ cup scallions, chopped

12 ounces large U16/20 shrimp, peeled, deveined, and rough chopped

3 eggs

4 tablespoons olive oil

½ pound raw bacon slices, cut into 3” pieces

The Shrimp Toppers:

1 pound extra-large U8/12 shrimp, peeled, deveined, but tails left on

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons soy sauce

The Okonomiyaki Sauce:

3 tablespoons ketchup

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

The Other Toppings:

2 ounces arugula microgreens

1 cup sriracha mayonnaise (preferably in a squeeze bottle for best presentation)

1 cup Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise (preferably in a squeeze bottle for best presentation)

½ cup scallions, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

To make the pancake batter, combine the corn bread mix, flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the water and soy sauce and whisk until smooth.

Add the onions, cabbage, and scallions, to the bowl and stir to combine so everything is coated and evenly distributed.

Add the chopped shrimp and mix again. Crack the eggs into the bowl. Fold them into the mixture. Do not overmix but stir until the eggs and shrimp are evenly woven throughout.

Heat your olive oil in a large Lodge cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Scoop out heaping half cups full of the batter into the hot oil. Do not press the pancakes down, but just evenly distribute the filling into 6” pancakes. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side until golden brown. While they are cooking place the raw bacon strip pieces over the top (on the raw batter) to cover each pancake.

Flip the pancakes over and cook for 4-5 minutes more on the second side until bacon is crispy and pancakes are lightly puffed and cooked through in the center. Place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the sauce and shrimp toppers. Reserve the pan drippings to cook the shrimp for the tops of the pancakes.

To make the shrimp ‘toppers’, pat the shrimp dry with paper towels and then toss the shrimp in a small bowl with the salt, black pepper, and soy sauce. Heat the pan with the drippings from the pancakes over medium high heat. Add the shrimp to the hot pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side until they begin to curl and turn pink. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes on the second side until they are just cooked through. Remove to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

To make the okonomiyaki glaze, combine all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a low bowl and whisk until the sauce thickens to coat the back of a spoon, about 2-3 minutes.

When you are ready to plate the dish, remove the pancakes from the oven and place one on the center of a plate. Place a small mound of the microgreens in the center of the pancake and then drizzle the sriracha mayo and kewpie mayo across the pancake in ‘decorative stripes’. Place 2 or 3 of the seared shrimps on top of the microgreens in the center of the pancake (I like to ‘link’ the tails for pretty presentation). Drizzle the okonomiyaki sauce all over and garnish with the chopped scallions and more of the microgreens. DEVOUR!!!

*If you can’t find Kewpie Japanese mayo, substitute your favorite regular mayo.