Happy Call Pan - Okonomiyaki Noodles

Teh:

I decided to try cook this Jap street food because my little sister brought me to eat the one at Takashimaya basement 2. Apparently she is a fan of it. After standing there and watching the chef stir fry the noodles, crack the egg, sprinkle the cheese and do all the necessary flipping, i decided i can do that too! Armed with the Happy Call Pan that is perfect for this flipping job (no oil!), all i needed to do was get the Okonomiyaki sauce and the necessary ingredients. Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
- Yellow noodles (as much as you want to eat) (I know the right noodles to use is the yakisoba but yellow noodles works fine too!)
- Cabbage (same rule as above, as much as you want to eat)
- Meat (Any type of meat you want for your noodles. You can even put mock meat. Whatever pleases you!)
- Okomomiyaki Sauce (I got mine from Isetan Supermarket. $5.90 for 300g. I'm sure it is easily available at any Jap mart.)
- Japanese Mayonnaise
- Egg (optional)
- Mozarella Cheese (optional)
- Plain flour 1 tbsp (for the base batter)
- Water

Okonomiyaki Sauce (Left), Jap Mayo (Right)

This is the sauce i was talking about. I'm quite sure this is the authentic taste! The jap mayo really gave this dish a boost in flavour. These two definitely go together.

Noodles with Cabbage and Meat

First, pan fry any meat you are using in the happy call pan until it is cooked. Next, throw in the cabbage to stir fry and soak up any of the meat juice left. I added some Okonomiyaki sauce to the cabbage to enhance its flavour. If you like the taste to be stronger, add more sauce. Cook the cabbage until soft. Take note to have minimum liquid in the pan when you add the noodles next. Having too much liquid in the pan will cause the noodles to soften too much. Throw in the meat to stir fry everything together. Add Okonomiyaki sauce for flavour.

Base batter

The ratio i used is 1 part flour to 4 parts water. So with 1 tbsp of flour, add 4 tbsp of water. Stir well to eliminate any lumps. When you are ready to cook, pour part of the batter onto the hot pan.

Batter, noodles, eggs and morzarella cheese

When the batter is set, add noodles onto it. If you want egg, make a small well in the middle of the noodles and crack an egg in. Break it and let it ooze through the noodles. If you want cheese, spread the shredded morzarella cheese on top.

Okomomiya Noodles after flipping

Next comes the tricky part if you are not using the Happy Call Pan. You need to flip the noodles over so that the cheese can melt! I suggest you try to do that with 2 frying spatula like the chefs do at Taka basement. If you aren't confident, start with a smaller mass of noodles. If all else fails, do it like the carrot cake man. Flip portion by portion. If you are using the Happy Call Pan, close the pan and flip it over. It takes about 2 minutes or less for the cheese to melt and brown. Turn off the fire.

Okonomiyaki Noodles

For the final touch, add mayo in top of the melted cheese (or egg). The mayo will be thick. Just smear it around with the back of the soup. Add a layer of Okonomiyaki Sauce on top. Serve immediately.

There are some other things you can serve with the leftover Okonomiyaki sauce and mayo. Like Panko Eggs or Potato Coquette. That'll be another recipe for another time!