Osaka-Style Okonomiyaki

Make 240 ml Dashi — steep kombu and bonito flakes, or stir dashi granules into hot water — and let it cool to room temperature. Hot dashi will cook the flour into lumps. Peel and grate 100 g Chinese yam on the finest holes of a box grater until you have a sticky, gluey paste — it should cling to the back of a spoon. This is what keeps the pancake custardy inside.

⚠ Tip: If you can't find nagaimo, use a tablespoon of potato starch and add an extra egg; the texture will be a little less pillowy but it will hold.

Shred 600 g Cabbage as finely as you can with a knife or mandoline — aim for threads, not chunks. Toss with a big pinch of salt and set aside. Finely slice 4 Spring onions.

⚠ Tip: Thick shreds won't cook through in the middle; this is the one step where a shortcut ruins the pancake.

Whisk 140 g Plain flour with the cooled cool dashi and 2 Eggs until just combined — lumps are fine; overworking makes the pancake tough. Fold in the grated yam paste. The batter should be thin enough to ribbon off the whisk. Add the shredded cabbage, the sliced Spring onions, and 30 g Tenkasu if using. Fold gently until everything is barely coated — you want a loose, shaggy pile, not a smooth batter.

⚠ Tip: Resist the urge to stir hard. The cabbage should still look like cabbage, only barely held together.

Heat a flat griddle or large heavy frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes, then film it with 2 tbsp Neutral oil. Test with a drop of batter: it should sizzle gently, not snap.

⚠ Tip: Medium heat, not high. Okonomiyaki are thick and need the middle to steam-cook before the outside burns.

Ladle a quarter of the mix onto the griddle and shape it into a thick round about 2 cm high — don't press it down. Lay a quarter of the 120 g Thin-sliced pork belly over the top, cover with a lid or foil, and cook for 5 min. The underside should be deep golden and the top starting to look set.

⚠ Tip: If it smells like it's catching, slide the pancake onto a spare plate, wipe the pan, and lower the heat before continuing.

Flip the pancake with two spatulas, pork side down, and press gently with the back of a spatula to help it set. Cover and cook for another 4 min, until the pork is browned and crisp and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Slide the finished pancake onto a plate and repeat with the remaining mix and pork — you should get four in total. Keep the cooked ones warm under foil while you finish the rest.

Brush or squeeze 80 ml Okonomiyaki sauce generously over the top of each hot pancake in zigzags — it should melt and gloss against the heat.

Zigzag 60 ml Japanese mayonnaise over the sauce in the other direction, then scatter 2 tsp Aonori, a heap of Bonito flakes and a pinch of Beni shoga if you like. Serve immediately, while the bonito flakes are still waving in the heat.

⚠ Tip: Eat straight from the plate with a spatula, not a knife and fork — and don't cut it too small or the middle goes cold fast.