How To Make Vegan Okonomiyaki With Sourdough Discard

Vegan Okonomiyaki with sourdough discard. I made this recipe because of my current project which is to make my own sourdough starter, hence this recipe is about okonomiyaki using a discard of my sourdough starter.

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I hope I am not confusing you when I mentioned sourdough starter and discard. To give you a brief background and idea, a sourdough starter is a process of combining flour and water to make your own leaven which you will use in making your own bread and add flavor to your bread.

Do check this gift guide for Vegans and Plantbased

Now the discard is the part of your sourdough starter which you have to remove before feeding again your starter.  The reason for removing the discard is to be able to maintain the same amount of flour and water you feed your starter because if not, you’ll end up feeding it more.

Having a sourdough starter is like having a pet that you need to check and feed especially on the first 5 to 7 days or up to 14 days depending on how warm or cold your area is and where you store your sourdough starter.

My sourdough starter is made of bread flour and water mixed together. The discard that I use for vegan okonomiyaki is from day 8  of my sourdough starter stored in a glass container which I keep inside the fridge. It is an unfed sourdough starter that can be kept for a few days in the fridge.

I only recommend to keep it for a few days or few weeks because since it is unfed it will also get hungry and therefore will create hooch ( a black liquid color) that you see on top of your discard which you can also remove but if not it will eventually have molds if totally neglected.

What is Okonomiyaki?

Okonomiyaki is a “Japanese savory pancake” that is made with flour based batter which is wheat flour. The word okonomi means “ what you like” while “yaki” means “grill” but here in this process, we’ll just fry. 

There are two main styles of making Okonomiyaki. Osaka-Kansai style and Hiroshima although Okonomiyaki is widely available in  Japan especially on the streets. And this makes me miss Osaka style Okonomiyaki.

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Osaka-Kansai Style Okonomiyaki – consists of flour, nagaimo (long type of yam), water, eggs, cabbage, onion, water, meat of your choice ( usually pork), seafood.  The batter is mixed first then adding all ingredients and mix again before frying or grilling.

Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki – instead of mixing the ingredients it is cooked in a layering style and topped with yakisoba noodles.  The ingredients are batter, cabbage, pork, with optional squid and prawn top with noodles (udon or yakisoba) and a fried egg. It is served with okonomiyaki sauce.

For now, I did the Osaka style Okonomiyaki pancake and soon will try Hiroshima style too.

But what if you only have leftover vegetables, then this recipe is for you. The good thing about okonomiyaki, it is very versatile that you can put in any vegetables you have and still enjoy this meal from Japan at the comfort of your home.

Vegan Okonomiyaki with Sourdough discard

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sourdough discard
• 1 cup  Shredded cabbage
• 2 pcs Green chili / Jalapeño (optional)
• 1 1/2 cup carrot (grated)
• 1 tsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp flaxseed (optional)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp oil (for cooking)

Sauce and toppings

• Vegan Mayo
• Ketchup
• Spring onions
• Sesame seeds
• A mix of 3 tbsp  ketchup, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

1. Cut/Shred cabbage into small pieces.
2. Grate carrot.
3. Chop Jalapeno/Green chili into small pieces.
4. In a medium-size bowl mix together sourdough discard, soy sauce, and baking soda. Wait to create some bubbles.
5. Add vegetables cabbage, chili and carrots into the batter and mix well.
6. Heat the pan or skillet and put oil when it’s already hot. Pour mixture into the pan creating a pancake-like shape.
7.  Cook for about 5 minutes under low heat and until golden brown.
8. Once cooked flip and cook the other side for 5 minutes.
9. Transfer to a plate and drizzle with mayo and sauce of your choice.
10. Top with some scallions or sesame seeds.
11. It’s now ready to serve.

Notes

• I use my homemade vegan mayo for this recipe. This recipe is so versatile you can try to create your own sauce.
• The vegetables to be used can vary as long as it can be cooked easily even under low heat.
• For the sauce just mix ketchup, soy sauce, maple syrup and Worcestershire sauce.

Nutrition

318 calories calories per serving | Total Fat 14.3g | Saturated Fat 1.2g | Cholesterol 0mg | Sodium 568mg | Total Carbohydrate 42.1g | Dietary Fiber 2.3g | Total Sugars 13.9g | Protein 5.4g | Calcium 30mg | Iron 3mg | Potassium 228mg

Nutrition calculation is based using an online calculator (verywellfit) and for reference use only. 

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