MCCLURE'S KRAUT OKONOMIYAKI

The lovely finished okonomiyaki, ready to devour!

Man, do we love a pickle. So much so, that we made up a couple recipes with our friends at McClure’s Pickles. You can grab the first one for Spicy Pickled Burgers in Issue #15.

We’re big fans of Okonomiyaki, a large, savory Japanese pancake made with cabbage. It can be sliced up like a pie to share for brunch or as a dinner appetizer. The batter is usually constituted with fishy dashi. To avoid waste, we’ve substituted it with the brine that comes from McClure’s sauerkraut.

–Jenn de la Vega, Editor-at-Large

MCCLURE’S KRAUT OKONOMIYAKI

2 cups of McClure’s sauerkraut, loosely packed
1 scallion, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 large egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Kewpie mayonnaise or mayo mixed with a dash of pickle brine and a little sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Cook the bacon in a frying pan on medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon and let rest on a paper towel. Leave the grease in the pan. Drain the sauerkraut and make sure to squeeze out as much liquid as you can, set aside the brine. Whip the egg with the brine and flour. Add enough water to make it pancake consistency, thick enough to coat a spoon but still pourable. Fold in the sauerkraut and cooked bacon.

Reheat the pan with the bacon grease on medium heat. Pour in all of the pancake batter and let cook for 10 minutes. Occasionally, scoot and pack the edges toward the center of the pancake. Lower the heat if you see the edges pulling away and browning too soon. Shake and bang the pan on the stove every couple of minutes to help loosen it. To flip it, pour off any excess bacon fat into a ramekin. Place a large plate or pan lid on top. Invert the pan and make sure the whole pancake landed on the plate. Pour the excess fat back into the pan and slide the pancake in, wet side down.

Cook for 5 to 8 minutes more, tilting the pan to check if the batter is still runny. When it’s done, transfer to a new plate and top with stripes of mayo, sprinkle of sesame seeds and scallion.

If you make this recipe, please make sure to tag both @PutaEggOnIt and @McCluresPickles on Instagram.