This is one of my favorite recipes. It’s a loose interpretation of the traditional Japanese Vegetable Pancake (okonomiyaki). I omit the sweet sauce that usually accompanies the pancake, to cut back on added sugars. This makes a great meal or snack. They freeze well too! Think of this as a cross between a fritter and a very vegetable-heavy omelette.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1/2 small head of cabbage, diced (1 lb or 5-6 cups)
- 4 medium carrots, diced
- 2 scallions, chopped into 1/4″ long pieces
- 1 tsp sea salt (I like Redmond Real Salt)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
- Olive oil or avocado oil for pan frying
Instructions
- Toss cabbage, carrot, scallions and salt together in a large bowl. Toss mixture with flour so it coats all of the vegetables. Stir in the eggs. Heat a large, heavy skillet (I recommend cast iron.) on medium high heat. Coat the bottom with 1 Tbsp. oil and heat that too.
- To make a large pancake, add 1/4 of the vegetable mixture to the skillet, pressing it out into a 1/2″ – 3/4″ pancake. Gently press the pancake down flat. Cook until the edges are beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Thirty seconds to 1 minute later, flip the pancake with a large spatula.
- Cook on the other side until the edges brown, and then again up to a minute more (you can peek to make sure the color is right underneath).
- To make small pancakes, you can use deposit piles on the skillet, to form 3-4 pancakes. Press down gently with a spatula so they flatten slightly, but no need to spread them much. Cook for 3 minutes, or until the edges brown. Flip the pancakes and cook them again until brown underneath.
- Regardless of pancake size, you can keep them warm on a tray in the oven at 200 – 250 degrees until needed.
Variations
You can swap out the vegetables with different ones you have on hand. If using a watery vegetable (e.g. zucchini), make sure you salt it beforehand and squeeze out some water before making the batter.
Storage Notes
Extra pancakes will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, or can be spread on a tray in the freezer until frozen, then combined in a freezer bag to be stored until needed. Reheat on a baking sheet in a hot oven until crisp again.
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from SmittenKitchen.com