Okonomiyaki Sauce, essential for enjoying Okonomiyaki, can be easily made at home even when commercially available options are not on hand. Let's enjoy okonomiyaki with this rich, slightly sweet, and thick sauce.
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What is Okonomiyaki Sauce?
Okonomiyaki Sauce is a specialized sauce used for Okonomiyaki. Typically, it has low acidity and a rich, slightly sweet, and thick consistency. The reason it has these characteristics is influenced by the history of how okonomiyaki came to be in its current form.
Originally, okonomiyaki was a dish made by mixing wheat flour with water and then cooking it with toppings such as green onions and other ingredients, a style known as "Issen Yoshoku." While Worcestershire sauce was initially used in this dish, the thin consistency of Worcestershire sauce made it soak into the batter, and its acidity was too strong, so there was a growing demand for a milder-flavored sauce that would blend well with the batter. In response to these requests, a sauce with low acidity, high sugar content, and viscosity was created.
Around the time "Issen Yoshoku" evolved into today's "Okonomiyaki," this sauce also came to be called "Okonomiyaki Sauce." In other words, okonomiyaki sauce is now defined as a sauce that is sweeter, thicker, and less acidic compared to Worcestershire sauce.
Make it from scratch?
Attempting to make this sauce from scratch, like the store-bought versions, can be quite challenging.
Okonomiyaki sauce is derived from Japanese Worcestershire sauce, which is made by combining various vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, apples, prunes, dates, as well as a variety of spices. In other words, to make okonomiyaki sauce from scratch, you would need to start by gathering and simmering these ingredients. This requires a lot of effort.
Therefore, when making this sauce at home, it is recommended to use commercially available Japanese Worcestershire sauce as a base. Using this sauce allows you to skip the process of gathering and simmering vegetables, fruits, and spices, making it very easy to create.
Many Japanese sauces are based on Worcestershire sauce, so if you have Japanese Worcestershire sauce on hand, you can easily make not only okonomiyaki sauce but also Yakisoba Sauce, Takoyaki Sauce, Tonkatsu Sauce, and more at home.
Role of the ingredients used
You can make homemade okonomiyaki sauce with just three ingredients as follows:
• Japanese Worcestershire sauce
This serves as the base for the sauce. Worcestershire sauce made in Japan is suitable for this sauce due to its lower acidity. Outside of Japan, Worcestershire sauce tends to be more acidic, so I recommend using Japanese brands like Kagome or Bulldog.
• Sugar
It adds sweetness to the sauce.
• Ketchup
It provides thickness and flavor to the sauce. If you feel the sauce lacks thickness with ketchup alone, feel free to add some starch dissolved in water to adjust the consistency.
Simply mixing these ingredients will result in a slightly acidic taste. Therefore, by heating the mixture to reduce the acidity, your homemade okonomiyaki sauce will be ready.
📋Step-by-step recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Japanese Worcestershire sauce (such as Kagome or Bull-Dog brand)
- 1 ½ Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
🕒 Total: 2 mins
Step 1
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients (Japanese Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and sugar). Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave it on medium power (500W) for 30 seconds.
To Store
You can keep it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Recipe card
Homemade Okonomiyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Japanese Worcestershire sauce (such as Kagome or Bull-Dog brand)
- 1 ½ Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients (Japanese Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and sugar). Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave it on medium power (500W) for 30 seconds.
Notes
- You can keep it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to a month.
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