cabbage meal #3 - okonomiyaki

I have a recipe from an American women's magazine (can't remember which one now) from many years ago for "noodle pancakes", which called for cooked ramen, shredded zucchini and carrots, and a dipping sauce made from equal parts soy sauce and lemon juice.

I've never actually made it that way, though, because I've been in Japan since 2001, right after I got hitched to my British blokey, and I started making them the (semi-) Japanese way - these pancake-thingies are called okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki is made different ways in different areas of Japan, depending on the local products (various kinds of seafood or pork, etc.).

You know, I still had some of that cabbage left and needed to put more of a dent in it.

I'll give you the magazine recipe and then tell you how I changed it:

1 package (3 oz.) any flavor ramen noodle soup mix
1 medium zucchini, shredded
2 scallions, cut in long, narrow strips
1 medium carrot, shredded
2 large eggs, beaten
2 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. oil
2 T. each lite soy sauce and lemon juice

1. Break the noodles into four pieces. Cook like the package says and then drain. Keep the seasoning packet handy (though my ramen already had the seasoning built in).
2. Put the cooked noodles in a bowl and add the veggies, eggs, flour, and 1/2 the seasoning packet (if you have one).
3. Heat 1 T. oil in a large nonstick skillet, spoon some of the mixture in and fry like pancakes until brown. (Should make 6 or so.)
4. Mix soy sauce and lemon juice and serve with pancakes.

I've never been taught the "proper" way to make Japanese okonomiyaki, but I've eaten them enough to know I LOVE 'em, and this is what I did to adapt the above recipe for a more eastern taste: Omit the zucchini and use cabbage instead (yea, cabbage!), omit the scallions, I still added the carrot (though a Japanese person wouldn't do that), I chopped some bacon and fried it separately and added it in, and then instead of using that dipping sauce, I used Japanese tonkatsu sauce (very similar to a special topping for okonomiyaki - like a sweet sticky brown sauce).

I served it with sesame'd kabocha and we were good to go!