I had leftover roasted tomatoes on hand last night, along with most of a cabbage, so I did a BLT take on okonomiyaki. (Technically, there should be a C in there, since this is a cabbage pancake.) To go more traditional, skip the cheese / tomatoes and top the sauced pancake with bonito flakes, furikake, extra pickled ginger, and green onion. Okonomiyaki literally means cooked how you like, so you can toss shrimp into the batter, sub sliced pork belly or mushrooms for the bacon (vegetarian option!), etc. I tend to skip the nagaimo, because I find it hard to work with and it doesn’t add that much to the flavor. We keep granulated dashi and pre-packaged okonomi sauce in the fridge.

2” piece nagaimo (mountain yam), grated – optional
1 c. okonomiyaki flour (can sub all-purpose flour)
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. baking powder
¾ cup dashi
4 large eggs
½ c. tenkasu (tempura scraps)
¼ c. pickled red ginger
6 c. cabbage, shredded
9 strips bacon, halved
12 slow roasted roma tomatoes, halved
Olive oil, for greasing pan
okonomi sauce, for serving
Japanese mayonnaise, for serving
Cheddar cheese, shredded, for serving
green onions, for serving

Place the nagaimo, okonomiyaki flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and dashi in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and add the eggs, tempura scraps, and pickled red ginger. Mix thoroughly. Add the cabbage in three separate additions, mixing well between each. Place 2 tablespoons of oil in a shallow pan or skillet with a lid. When the oil glistens, spread appx. a cup of batter in a circle on the pan. Place 3 pieces of sliced bacon and 4 pieces of the roasted tomatoes on the batter in even rows. Place the lid on the skillet and cook, covered, until the bottom of the pancake is browned (about 5 minutes). Flip the pancake and cook until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and spread okonomi sauce on the bacon-covered side of the pancake. Drizzle the Japanese Mayo in lines across the pancake. Add cheese and green onions and serve warm.