Okonomipotato

One of my favourite Japanese foods is okonomiyaki, a kind of Japanese savoury pancake where the batter is mixed with whatever toppings take your fancy. But the toppings used with okonomiyaki are also fantastic in a baked potato. Try these with bacon and cheese, grilled prawns or any leftovers you may have in the fridge.

Credit: Hachette

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  1:10 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 6 large potatoes, freshly scrubbed
• 1 cup Otafuku sauce (see Note)
• 2 sheets nori, thinly sliced
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and
• finely sliced
• 4 tbsp toasted sesame seeds,
• lightly crushed
• handful bonito flakes (optional)
• Japanese mayonnaise, to serve

Pork filling (optional)

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 300 g pork belly, roughly chopped, or pork mince
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• ½ tsp caster sugar

Instructions

Heat the oven to 200°C. Wrap the potatoes individually in foil and bake for 60 minutes or until tender. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For the pork filling, heat the oil in a frypan over high heat and fry the pork until well browned. Add the soy sauce, sake and caster sugar and toss until the sugar is caramelised.

Split each potato in a cross nearly all the way through. Open the potato and fill the centre with pork and drizzle with Otafuku sauce. Scatter with the nori, spring onion, sesame seeds and bonito flakes (if using), and drizzle everything generously with mayonnaise.

Note

• Otafuku sauce is available from Japanese grocers. Alternatively you can make your own version by mixing together ½ cup tomato sauce, ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp caster sugar and 1 tsp English mustard.

Recipe and image from Adam's Big Pot by Adam Liaw (Hachette, $39.99, pbk)

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.