A Spanish Potato Omelette and an Osaka Cabbage Pancake Share One Pan
Slow-fried onion and potato go inside a thick cabbage pancake, then bonito flakes, garlic aioli and lemon. It takes an hour and tastes like both kitchens.
It is a quarter past three and the pan is still warm. In Osaka a cabbage pancake is usually a quick, loud thing. Here it slows down. Onion softens in olive oil for twenty-five minutes, potato slumps in beside it, and the cabbage holds the whole thing up. Bonito flakes lean into the steam and start to wave. The aioli is a spoon of mayonnaise and one grated clove. Lemon goes on last. You cut it in wedges and nobody says anything for a while.
For anyone awake who wants a dinner that asks for an hour and gives back a quiet kitchen.
Tortilla-okonomiyaki: thick cabbage pancake with slow-fried potato and onion, bonito, garlic aioli and lemon
Shopping list
For the filling
- 120 ml olive oil
- 500 g waxy potatoes, peeled and sliced 3 mm thick
- 2 large onions (about 300 g), thinly sliced
- 1 tsp fine salt
For the batter
- 100 ml hot water mixed with 1 tsp instant dashi granules, cooled to warm
- 100 g plain flour
- 5 large eggs
- 250 g white cabbage, very finely shredded
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
For the aioli
- 4 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice
To finish
- 10 g bonito flakes
- 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
Method
- Warm the olive oil in a 26 cm non-stick, lidded frying pan over medium-low heat for 1 minute.
- Add the potatoes, onions and salt, and stir to coat in the oil.
- Cook, stirring every few minutes, for 25 minutes until the potatoes are completely tender and the onions are soft and pale gold. Do not let them brown hard.
- Tip everything into a sieve set over a bowl and drain for 5 minutes. Keep the oil.
- Whisk the dashi water, flour and eggs in a large bowl until smooth.
- Fold in the cabbage, spring onions and the drained potato and onion until every strand is coated.
- Wipe out the pan, add 2 tbsp of the saved oil and heat over medium-low for 1 minute.
- Pour in the mixture, press it flat with a spatula, cover, and cook for 10 minutes until the underside is deep golden and the top looks mostly set.
- Slide the pancake onto a large plate, add a little more oil to the pan, then invert the pancake back into the pan.
- Cook uncovered for 8 minutes more until the second side is golden and a skewer in the centre comes out hot and clean.
- While it cooks, stir the mayonnaise, garlic and lemon juice together to make the aioli.
- Turn the pancake out onto a board. Zigzag the aioli over the top, scatter on the bonito flakes and cut into 4 wedges.
- Serve at once with a lemon wedge on each plate, to squeeze over just before eating.
Tip. Drain the potato and onion well and keep the leftover oil. It is excellent for frying eggs or dressing a salad the next day. For a vegetarian version, use kombu dashi and swap the bonito for toasted sesame seeds.
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