Okonomiyaki

I'm clearing out the fridge. Inspired by Primal Chat's recent twitter questions asking for ideas on how to save money, I'm trying to not throw any food away. Everyone always says organic produce is too expensive or that Paleo foods are too expensive (check the links to see otherwise), but if you don't eat what you buy, you're literally throwing money away. Part of saving money is simply not wasting it.

That's where fridge clearing dishes come in. What do you do when all you have left is 1/4 head of cabbage, 3 eggs, an onion, and a couple strips of bacon? You make Okonomiyaki! This is one of those it looks weird, but I promise it tastes good dishes, so trust me on this one.

From Okonomiyaki

You're probably sick of hearing about it, but my fiance and I discovered a ton of really cool food while traveling around Asia and some of it fits perfectly into a Paleo way of eating. Okonomiyaki is one of those dishes. It's kind of like a veggie heavy omelet, but a little more savory.

From Okonomiyaki

Here is what you need: 1 small yellow onion ($0.25), 1/4 head of cabbage($0.50), 5 green onions ($0.50), 4-5 strips of bacon ($1.60)and 3 eggs ($1.00). That's $3.85 for 1 XL or 2 medium sized servings

From Okonomiyaki

Start off by cutting a few slices of bacon into a pan. We added some olive oil to make sure nothing stuck. You probably don't need as much as we used.

From Okonomiyaki

Slice up the onion and add it to the bacon in the pan. Put that on medium-low heat.

From Okonomiyaki

Next, take your 1/4 head of cabbage and take out the core by slicing into the cabbage at an angle. Chop it up into strips and cut 3 of the green onions into small pieces.

From Okonomiyaki

From Okonomiyaki

In a mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs and add just a little water (like 1/2 a second under a faucet). Toss the cabbage, green onions, and eggs together, trying to get at least a little egg on every piece of cabbage.

From Okonomiyaki

By now, the bacon should be about half done. You don't want it to be all the way cooked yet because the pan is staying on the stove for quite a while longer. Add the cabbage mix on top of the bacon and onions. Don't mix it together, just let it sit on top. The egg will drip through and make a bacon-onion crust on the bottom.

From Okonomiyaki

From Okonomiyaki

When it looks like it's starting to brown around the edges, give it a flip. Good luck keeping it in one piece.

From Okonomiyaki

It may take almost 8-10 minutes on each side, so be patient. The egg in the center should steam while the bottom crust is forming. When you're finished, garnish it with some green onions. I had some olive oil mayo and spicy Thai sauce (no sugar!) that I mixed together to make a tangy sauce for dipping. Traditional okonomiyaki is topped with bonito flakes. Bonito flakes are smoked fish shavings that smell like a barn and are really delicious. The coolest thing is that when they are over steam, the shavings move like they're alive. It's a really cool ingredient worth checking out if you have time and access to an Asian market. Ok, enough geeking out on food. Check out the video under this picture to see our last okonomiyaki in South Korea!

From Okonomiyaki

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