Okonomiyaki - Japanese Savory Pancakes with Nettles

I've been wanting to attempt Okonomiyaki for years, and finally decided to try a version from the Smitten Kitchen. I've never had Okonomiyaki before, and clearly this recipe is less traditional because they are small and less batter-y. She (the Smitten Kitchen blogger) calls them more latke-like. It was an easy recipe to make GF, and I found them quite tasty, especially with the tangy sauce and mayo. Yum. 

I gathered a bucket of nettles this week, so I added them along with the cabbage, carrot and scallions. I opted to steam them first because I wasn't sure if they would cook enough otherwise to eliminate the stinging edges. I also halved her recipe and that is what I list below. The first half of the batch I ate plain (with the sauce and mayo), and the next night I ate the leftovers with some bacon wrapped sardines. Yum! (They reheated really nicely on a baking sheet in the oven.)

Pancakes
1/4 small head cabbage, very thinly sliced (2-3 cups shreds) *I used a mandoline
2 medium carrots, peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
1 c of loosely packed steamed nettles, chopped (after measuring, squeeze all the excess water out)
2 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 heaping cup gluten free flour (I used a gf blend, but oat flour or chickpea flour would work well)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Coconut oil or bacon grease for frying

Make the pancakes:
Toss cabbage, carrot, nettles, scallions and salt together in a large bowl. Toss mixture with flour so it coats all of the vegetables. (The nettles might clump a bit because they are wet and squished together from getting the water out. Separate them so they are mixed throughout the other veggies.) Stir in the eggs. Heat a large heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Coat the bottom with oil and heat that too.

I used my fingers to grab little piles of batter, depositing them on the skillet to form 3 to 4 pancakes. Press down gently with a spatula so they flatten slightly. Cook for 3 minutes, or until the edges brown. Flip the pancakes and cook them again until brown underneath. Keep them warm in a 250 degree oven until they are all cooked. (And again, these saved just fine in the fridge for me to reheat on a baking sheet later.)

Tangy Sauce
2 T ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (or sub fish sauce)
1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp tamari2 tsp honey
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until smooth and thick. (I think you can probably do this without cooking and it will be just fine! My ketchup was pretty thick, so I only simmered mine a couple of minutes, and it seemed unnecessary.)

Paleo Sushi

Last weekend I bought some wild coho salmon from the Seward because it was on sale, and in deciding how to prepare it, My Charming Companion was urging sashimi. Which then created a desire for some sushi rolls to go with. The amazing thing was I had all my fave sushi ingredients in the cupboard and fridge - even some pickled ginger - so impromptu sushi dinner it was. In my pre-paleo days I ate homemade sushi pretty often. I had looked at various paleo sushi options online over the last few years, never seeing anything I was excited about. But Studio Snacks had a version recently that included a one-egg omelette-like layer in lieu of rice that I found intriguing. So that is what I tried - it turned out amazing! And was actually much easier than traditional rice sushi because the egg is way less fussier than the rice. This would work for all kinds of sushi rolls, but here are the two I made.

Paleo California Roll
Nori sheets
cucumber, sliced lengthwise
carrots, sliced lengthwise
homemade mayo (opt)
1 egg per sushi roll
coconut aminos
avocado, sliced
sesame seeds (opt)

Paleo Salmon Roll
Thin slice of quality raw salmon
1 egg per sushi roll
coconut aminos
homemade mayo (opt)
cucumber, sliced lengthwise
sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds (opt)





1. Prep all veggies/fish - slice them and have them ready to lay in roll.
2. Make egg "sheets":To prepare them you will need one egg per roll. Ideally you want a pan that is 8-9" wide that is either a well oiled cast iron, or a non-stick pan. Heat the pan on med, with just a bit of coconut oil on the bottom (I replenished the coconut oil for each egg sheet). While pan is heating, mix one egg with a splash of coconut aminos. When pan is hot, pour egg into pan and swish around so that the egg layer covers the entire pan. You want the heat setting so that it cooks the egg pretty quickly, but not immediately. I tried two techniques next: either flip the egg to cook the other side (this takes about 10 seconds since it will be mostly cooked through), or just cook it all the way on side one. Either method works - just be somewhat careful because the egg sheet is quite thin, and you want it mostly intact to lay on the nori paper.
3. Assemble rolls: Lay one sheet of nori down. Spread a thin layer of mayo (if using) along bottom half of the nori. Lay your egg "sheet" on top - it should cover much of the nori. Then make one layer of your veggies/fish. Experiment with how much to fill. Roll up, using a bit of water to "seal" the nori to itself. (Studio Snacks has some photos about how this looks step by step.)
*One note is that because the egg sheets are round they will inherently have a less tight roll at the ends. You could cut the sheets into squares, or just trim one part of the circle and place it on the edges of the roll to make this more even. I just used the egg as is and had slightly uneven ends!
4. Slice sushi rolls. If you made the raw salmon ones, drizzle some toasted sesame oil over the top. Sprinkle rolls with toasted sesame seeds if you want, and serve with coconut aminos, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

The photo shows the full spread, including the sashimi of salmon with ginger (beautifully cut and arranged by My Charming Companion). Another endeavor I hope to try is to pickle my own ginger, maybe with a little honey. I found a couple of fermented versions, so I'll post that when I get around to trying it.