Recipe: Fluffy Grilled Mushrooms and Cheese Yaki (Patreon)

So here's an interesting and yummy riff off of okonomiyaki. There's no meat, but you can add some if you'd like -- I bet shrimp would be great. I'm a mushroom fan and a cheese fan and a slimy yama imo (mountain yam) fan, and this recipe literally has all those things, so I don't even miss the meat you'd find in a regular okonomiyaki. It's also much lighter.

Okay. I made it twice. Followed the original recipe (link here) somewhat. But I still felt it needed something, so did a Revenge of the Fluffy Grilled Mushrooms and Cheese Yaki the next day.

First, a question. Is it possible to get yama imo where you are? I'm not even sure if it's available outside Japan. I'm tentatively guessing...yes? It's coming up on the season, so maybe it'll start popping up.

 fingers crossedHere are the results.

Original Recipe (my tweaked version -- I added more mushrooms and an egg and better cheese):

Enoki mushrooms (100 grams, one bunch)

Shimeji (clam shell) mushrooms (170 grams, one bunch)

Yama imo/mountain yam grated (280 grams)

1 egg

5 Tablespoons mentsuyu (Soba or undon soup base--sake, mirin, soy sauce, dried bonito flakes)

Cheese (I used white cheddar) 100 grams

Katakuriko/potato starch (5 Tablespoons) -- corn starch should work, too

splash of sesame oil at the end for fragrance

Mushrooms (usually enoki are white, but I found golden ones, so that's why the off color).

Here's a yama imo. Well, four actually.

And peeled. Dark photo, sorry. VERY slimy. it'll slip right out of your hand, careful! Good for your gut! All that slime.

So everything goes in a bowl (below). Oh, I added some oba leaves (I think they were in the original recipe), but couldn't really even taste them. I also coarsely grated the yama imo. I think it would work this way or finely grated like the original.

Mix all the ingredients together and make a thin okonomiyaki sized layer in a lightly oiled frypan.

#pretty

Cooked on medium, then low heat for quite awhile. I just wanted to get the bottom crispy, but also cook through the mushrooms. Yama imo is eaten raw all the time, so okay if a little nuru nuru still. Oh, I guess the egg needs to cook. I'm not sure it added anything though, could be left out per original recipe.

Flipped!

Nice!

The original recipe said you don't need a topping, it's flavorful enough. But I didn't think so. I felt it needed something...it is healthy though.

I also didn't think the crispiness held up.

The next day with Part Two, I added a half cup of all purpose flour (making it more like okonomiyaki), MORE cheese, and some salt.

It looks pretty much the same, but tasted a lot better.

A part of me still felt it needed something, so a little okonomiyaki or tonkatsu sauce did the trick!

I feel there are still variations of this that can be experimented with. I used to love okonomiyaki, but these days feel it can be heavy with the flour. This recipe uses a lot more yama imo as the base, so it a lot lighter. I like that. I guess it's basically okonomiyaki without the cabbage. But then it loses the sweetness of the cabbage. But the mushrooms and cheese ramp up the umami. So there's that.

What do you think? I'm trying to brainstorm a way to make it better. Next time I'll try a topping of finely chopped spring onions...Oh! Maybe instead of okonomiyaki sauce, some kind of dipping sauce, like Korean chijimi?

Below chijimi. Yum! 

And lastly,

✨One week until our trip to the States! The next three podcasts have been recorded and blog posts and artwork made. I'm going to be posting Bedtime Stories soon, too.✨Letters with postcards and stickers for August and September go out tomorrow. Today is the Autumnal Equinox so post office is closed. Drats.

✨Bigger news: I officially signed the contract for the next book. It's aimed at middle grade-aged kids and will be a bit like The Book of Japanese Folklore, but I am adding sections on some creation myth deities and ghosts! So fewer yōkai, but you get more of a mix up of supernatural entities. I've seen the work of the artist they'll be using and she's super neat AND Japanese. I'm very excited to see what she comes up with. Since it's for a younger audience there will be more pictures.

 ✨Working on the new book and the upcoming trip has slowed down my own middle grade book progress, but I had gotten far along on it before it was sidelined. Once I come back from the States, I'll be able to dive back in. Fresh eyes will help, too. I'm still hopeful for a solid first draft before the end of the year.

Geez. Feels like a hundred more things to say, but as this is already long, I'll let you go for now. I might put up an extra post about the autumnal equinox and how it's celebrated here. Pretty low key but with awesome sweets. Everyone stay safe and well, love you all, XOXO 💕!

t