Japanese chicken pancake

Ingredients for Japanese chicken pancake:

Batter:

• 5 slightly heaped tablespoons flour
• 30 ml (about 1 oz) dashi (Japanese stock, home-made or instant) or milk or a mixture of both
• 1 egg
• 3 cm/about 1,2 in grated mountain yam (yamaimo) (can be omitted, but then less flour should be added)
• salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• (pepper)

Filling:

• 4 – 5 big white cabbage leaves chopped or finely cubed (the hard central “vein” removed)
• 1 chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 8 thin slices of smoked streaky bacon, cut into bite-sized squares
• (3 tablespoons dried tiny Japanese shrimp (sakura ebi); I don’t advise other types of shrimp or dried shrimp from other countries: they might be chewy and tough)

Topping:

• dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
• okonomiyaki sauce (or a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce)
• mayonnaise
• chopped chives or spring onions
• 2 tablespoons oil
• (chili paste, oil or sauce, such as Taberu Rayu)

Preparation of Japanese chicken pancakes:

Cut up the chicken breast into small cubes (1 cm x 1 cm). Season with salt and pepper, fry until golden brown and put aside.
In a big bowl combine the batter ingredients. Add the filling ingredients (except for the bacon!) and adjust their amount (the mixture should be very thick, not liquid and the batter should only bind the ingredients together and not dominate them).
Heat one tablespoon oil in a frying pan or on a smooth grill (called teppanyaki grill or la plancha).
Put half of the okonomiyaki mixture in a more or less round-shaped heap (you can adjust it on the pan).
Put the bacon slices on top, flatten delicately the pancake, but not too much. Otherwise, it might fall into pieces when you turn it over. (My okonomiyaki is max. 1,5 cm/about 1/2 inch high)
Cover the pan and let it fry at medium heat for 5 – 10 minutes.
Turn the pancake over, cover once more and fry for another 5 minutes.
Repeat the same with the remaining batter.
Serve the bacon side up, topped with mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, chives, dried bonito flakes, and chili sauce/oil or paste.