Most people call Okonomiyaki a Japanese pizza. I think it’s more like a Japanese pancake. A good thing is that you can have both pancake and pizza for breakfast.

Okonomiyaki’s main ingredients are cabbage, flour, eggs, bacon and a lot of toppings like mayo, sweet sauce, seaweed and fish flakes. Here, I’m mixing cabbage with fennel for more aroma, using rice and tapioca flour instead of wheat flour, ditching the bacon for some sprinkles of smoked paprika and making my own homemade avocado mayo.

This is the kind of recipe that looks like it’s not going to work, in all sorts of ways. You will wonder if eggs and cabbage make a good food combination or how will all the veggies stick together to form a solid pancake. Let me give you a few tips on the latter.

First, your cabbage and fennel have to be very finely shredded. If you don’t own a food processor you have to put your knife skills to use. Then, it is crucial to have everything very well mixed before cooking, and last, a non-stick frying pan is recommended (much better than a cast iron one).

Japanese pancake - Okonomiyaki

2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cup finely sliced fennel
1/2 cup rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, organic preferably
Olive oil

Mix the cabbage, fennel, flours and salt in a bowl, until the vegetables are well dusted with the flour. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly and add them to the vegetables. Stir very well, until all the flour is incroporated. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and pour the mixture, pressing and flatening well all over the pan with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Let it cook at medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until golden. Grab a plate and slide the pancake to the plate, flip it over and return it to the frying pan to cook the other side.

Avocado mayo

1 avocado, ripe
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. If needed add some olive oil to achieve the consistency of mayo. Pour into a squeezing bottle and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve

Toasted flaked almonds
Fresh chives, finely chopped
Smoked paprika

Drizzle the avocado mayo on top of you pancake, sprinkle with the toasted almonds, chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Serve immediatly.

Serves 1-2