My wife spent a few months living in Japan during her high school years. She brought back a lot of memories, and a love for the food and culture of the country. She lived with a host family near Osaka, and experienced much of what the area had to offer.

One such specialty of the area is a particular street-food style of cabbage pancake called okonomiyaki. Normally you would find this dish made to order on a large griddle at a place specializing in just this dish. Numerous items like green onions, meat, seafood, or vegetables are mixed in to the batter or layered on top as it cooks. There are two main schools of okonomiyaki, the mix-it-all-into-the-batter style of Osaka, and the layered variety popularized in Hiroshima.

Because of where she lived, my wife wanted to make Osaka-style okonomiyaki, and it turned out to be easy and delicious. The batter can be as simple as eggs, flour and water, but you can make it more authentic and delicious by using dashi in place of water and grated yam in place of some of the flour.

Basic Okonomiyaki Batter
This proportion should be split and made into two pancakes, which will serve 2-4 people. It can be halved or multiplied easily.

• 2 c flour
• 1 1/2 c water
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 or more of a cabbage (green or napa), finely shredded

1. Mix together the flour, water, and eggs.
2. Stir in the cabbage, and season with salt and pepper.

As I mentioned before, you could also stir in some chopped green onions, some ground meat, shrimp, squid, or other vegetables.

Basic Okonomiyaki Preparation

• oil (vegetable, olive, doesn’t matter much)
• 1/2 of the basic batter
• 4 slices of bacon
• okonomiyaki sauce
• Kewpie mayonnaise
• bonito flakes

1. Heat a 10-12 inch shallow-sided pan over medium heat. I like my cast iron griddle for this.
2. Spread a film of oil on the pan.
3. Pour on the batter and spread into a large circle (mine nearly fills the pan).
4. Lay bacon slices on top of the okonomiyaki. Press down to bind them to the batter.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom has browned.
6. Flip. This is much easier said than done. Use two spatulas and don’t worry too much about it breaking, you’ll cover up any mistakes later.
7. Cook on the second side for another 5 minutes, or until the bacon and any other raw meat in the batter is fully cooked.
8. Remove to a plate and garnish with sauce, mayo, and bonito flakes.

We like to smear some okonomiyaki sauce all over, then squirt the Kewpie mayo all over. Toss on some bonito flakes (also known as katsuobushi) and watch them dance in the heat from the okonomiyaki.

While it can be a meal all on its own, I served it with some daikon, peeled, cut into rounds, beveled the edges (a process known as mentori), and simmered in a kelp/dashi/soy broth until tender. Refer to this recipe for “furofuki daikon” from Recipezaar.

Okonomiyaki Sauce
from The Japanese Kitchen
You may be able to find okonomiyaki sauce at a local ethnic store, but it’s just a variation on steak sauce. Make your own by mixing the following and simmer for 3 minutes:

• 1/4 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon smooth French mustard
• 2 Tablespoons mirin
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

A note on Kewpie mayonnaise (sometimes referred to as QP mayonnaise). You may be tempted to pull out your typical mayo, but this soft, squeezable bottle dispenses a tangier version of the white gooey condiment. It’s made with rice vinegar or cider vinegar, which gives it a little sweeter flavor unlike the simpler creamy flavor of American mayo.

If you’re a subscriber (and why wouldn’t you be?), then you should see no issues. If you visit this blog via a bookmark or other link, I’d really like it if you update your bookmarks to http://www.cleverfoodblog.com. This will allow me to better prepare for any future changes, including changing blog platforms (no plans yet, but who knows).

Coming soon to this blog: okonomiyaki and some non-recipe posts.
Coming soon on Smile Politely: an easy dessert that you can make with stuff you already have.

Last fall, I was tasked with cooking up some dishes for a Romanian-inspired dinner for a church-related event. I, along with the other members of the committee in charge, prepared goulash, polenta, and numerous other dishes for a group of about 45. It was quite an experience for me, being the first time I was cooking (mostly me alone at the stove) for such a large group. It was a lovely event, and we got a lot of positive feedback about the food. We do a large dinner like this every year as a fundraising effort, alternating between Romanian and Indian cuisine. I’m looking forward to helping with this year’s Indian feast.

After the large dinner event, we were tasked with providing refreshments for after the Sunday services. I researched a lot of Romanian resources on the web, learning a lot about the culinary history of the country. The place has been controlled at various times by the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the USSR, and all of these cultures have left their mark. There are not a lot of recipes labeled as Romanian on the net, but there is one site attempting to be a fairly complete Romanian Cookbook.

The site has hundreds of recipes in categories ranging from appetizers to beverages, veal roasts to vegetable sour soups. I made some variations on deviled eggs (the site refers to them as “stuffed eggs“) that went over well. The star dish that went faster than anything else was a simple eggplant dip.

You can make this dip fancy, add some roasted peppers, maybe some lemon juice or finely chopped herbs, but it really doesn’t need it. There are just a few essential ingredients, and they’ll make a great dip, but make it your own with a few extra additions.

Your Own Eggplant Dip

The Essentials

• 2 medium-large eggplants
• 1/2 to 1 onion, diced
• 2-8 T extra virgin olive oil

Optional Additions

• finely chopped herbs (chives, parsley, cilantro)
• lemon juice
• roasted peppers
• diced tomatoes
• garlic
• tahini (like baba ganoush)

1. Roast the eggplants until soft. I do this by putting them under a broiler, turning occasionally, until the skin blackens and becomes brittle, about 10-15 minutes total.
2. Let the eggplants cool, then harvest the innards of the berry (yep, it’s a fruit, who knew?). You won’t be peeling them so much as scraping the meat off the charred exterior.
3. Mash the eggplant in a bowl. Clean hands make this part more fun.
4. Stir in the onion, add salt and pepper, then add some of the olive oil.
5. Stir in the olive oil until it emulsifies with everything else.
6. Taste it and see if it needs more of anything. You’ll probably want to add more salt and more oil.

That’s it–some broiling, mashing, and stirring. It’s good, really good, but you can add any of the optional additions I suggest, or whatever you can imagine. You could caramelize the onions before adding them, though raw onions offer a delightful crunch that offsets the creamy eggplant. You could also put this into a food processor or use an immersion blender to make a completely smooth spread. Eat it with pita chips, spread it on bread, put it in a quiche or tart.

I can’t tell you how many people were astonished that this dip was so simple. When you serve it, go ahead, tell them it’s your own recipe. Let me know in the comments what you come up with to make it yours.

It’s been a while since my last post, and the main reason is that I was invited to contribute to the local online magazine, Smile Politely. I wrote about our family trip to the Mansfield Mushroom Festival. You can find my story there, cleverly titled (by my editor) “Morel mushroom madness close to home.” Here’s a video of the morel auctioneer:

Meanwhile, tons of pictures and post ideas have backed up. I’m going to review Michael Ruhlman’s new book, Ratio. I have some recipes that I’ve developed from that book, as well as some other cooking experiences to share. I’d love to hear what you want me to write about. Send me an email or leave a comment with your suggestions.

Now, you may have seen my stuffed chicken recipe from a previous post. That same weekend, I made a classic dish that I remember fondly from my childhood. When I was a kid, my mom would get Chicken Kiev from our school’s Market Day sale. Every once in a while, we’d pop one out of the freezer, and after waiting far too long, the crunchy tube of chicken emerged from the oven. These things were amazing–crunchy (even better if it was a little over-done), with an obscene amount of buttery goodness inside. It was best when it didn’t leak out, so you could sop it up with whatever else you had on your plate.

Chicken Kiev

It’s a classic dish, so there are plenty of recipes out there for it. I’m sure the dish of my childhood was made with processed, mechanically re-formed meat. Don’t get me wrong, it was still delicious, but this is a slightly more natural version.

Compound butter

• 1 stick (or 8T or 4 oz.) butter, slightly softened
• 0-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• 1t salt (less if using salted butter)

Breading & frying

• 4 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded flat
• 2 eggs
• 2T water
• 2 c panko breadcrumbs (regular breadcrumbs are fine)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• peanut or vegetable oil, for shallow frying

1. Put all the compound butter ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended.
2. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.
3. Beat eggs, water, and salt and pepper, to taste, in a shallow dish.
4. In another shallow dish, season panko with salt and pepper.
5. Lay one chicken breast flat, put 2T of the compound butter on it in a log shape.
6. Wrap the breast around the butter, enclosing it completely.
7. Dip the chicken in the eggs, to coat, then roll in the breadcrumbs to coat. Repeat once more.
8. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
9. Heat 1/2 – 1″ of oil in a skillet over medium heat to around 375 deg F.
10. Carefully put chicken in the pan, avoid overcrowding.
11. Cook 4-5 minutes a side, or until internal temperature is over 165 deg F.

I served it with some sauteed kale that I had also picked up at the Prairie Fruits Farm sale. Sure, you could probably bake these to make them a little healthier, but you do realize that they’re filled with butter, right? Speaking of which, compound butters are great for many purposes. I had extra from making this and tossed it in with some steamed potatoes. Yum.