Okonomiyaki, Japanese-filled crepes, have found their way across the Pacific to the Islands, but still are not yet widely known. This post-war dish wasn't in the repertoire of Japanese immigrants here in the plantation era, so our grandparents and parents probably didn't prepare it. It arrived here in recent years at Japanese bistros.

But in Japan, every housewife knows how to make okonomiyaki and regards the dish somewhat as we do casseroles and white sauce dishes: a way to use up leftover meats and vegetables, or make a quick dinner (provided you've got the ingredients in the fridge).

Here's how to make okonomiyaki at home.

This okonomiyaki recipe, from a 2008 post in www.justhungry.com, is for Chibo (Tokyo, Kansai, Osaka-style) okonomiyaki, a bit easier to make than Hiroshima-style. However, given the number of Islanders with roots in Hiroshima, it's not surprising that Hiroshima style is more popular here.

From this recipe, you get two very generously sized okonomiyaki, yielding two entree servings each. Or cut each pancake into four pieces and serve as a pupu. For foodies, an okonomiyaki pupu party would be great fun, especially if you got everyone involved with the prep and cooking.

In Japanese okonomiyaki restaurants, it's customary to select the filling ingredients you want; the batter is then prepared and presented to you in a bowl, so you can be sure you're getting what you ordered. Once you give the OK, the crepe is prepared, either in the kitchen or in front of you on a tabletop griddle.

Two tools make this preparation much easier: a griddle (large, flat, heated surface) and a pair of wide, offset spatulas. (An offset spatula is one in which the working surface is a step down from the handle; a sort of zig-zag shape that enables the cook to flip ingredients without coming into contact with the cooking surface.) Griddles come in three forms: built-in surfaces generally not found in home kitchens; countertop units that plug into the wall, and flat stovetop griddles that fit over two burners at once. If you don't have a griddle, use your largest frying pans: one for the crepe, one for the filling, one for the egg.

Essential to making okonomiyaki is okonomiyaki sauce, which is like a lighter, sweet version of tonkatsu. If you don't want to make a trip to a Japanese supply store, you can use supermarket tonkatsu but thin it with a little mayonnaise.

OKONOMIYAKI, HOME-STYLE

• 4 ounces grated nagaimo or yamaimo powder

• 4-5 tablespoons dashi (liquid fish stock) or water with a pinch of dashi powder

• 2 ounces all-purpose flour, sifted or whisked

• 2 large eggs

• 2-3 tablespoons beni shoga (pickled shaved ginger)

• 4 tablespoons tenkasu (tempura crumbs; optional, or use bits of fried batter)

• 2 cups packed, roughly chopped cabbage (or cabbage and bean sprouts)

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion

• 1 tablespoon tiny ama ebi (dried shrimp), called sakura ebi (optional)

• 6-8 rashers very thinly sliced pork belly or bacon

For the garnish: Katsuoboshi (shaved bonito), furikake (seaweed seasoning mixture) or aonori (green seaweed condiment), okonomiyaki or tonkatsu sauce thinned with Japanese-style mayonnaise (i.e. Kewpie, in the squeeze bottle)

Wearing gloves (because the vegetable can cause an itchy skin reaction), peel and grate the nagaimo or yamaimo. In a large bowl, mix yam with dashi and flour; beat in eggs. Add the chopped cabbage. Add beni shoga, tenkasu, green onion, ama ebi. Mix lightly. Heat griddle or very large frying pan on medium-low. With an oil-soaked paper towel or oil spray, thinly oil griddle or pan. Scoop one-third to one-half of the batter into an even circle on the griddle. Place 2 to 3 strips of pork on top of batter. Perch a pan lid on top of crepe and let it steam-cook 5-6 minutes. When the pork turns color, it's time to flip. Use two long, wide, offset spatulas. Slip a spatula under the crepe from each side, then lift and turn. You may need to lower heat if crepe is getting too brown. Do not press down on pancake. Drizzle or brush with okonomiyaki or tonkatsu sauce and sprinkle on katsuoboshi and aonori liberally.

Serve immediately; one crepe feeds two or four.

If you wish to make Hiroshima okonomiyaki, the kind favored in the Islands, make the following changes to the recipe:

• Fry crepe separately while other ingredients are frying. Pour batter into a thin circle and drag the corner edge of a spatula through it gently to thin it in a sort of bull's-eye pattern.

• Fry vegetable ingredients (about a cup or so per serving); pile them directly on the griddle and sprinkle with a little water so they steam and flavors meld a little.

• Fry one egg per serving; make a broken sunny-side-up egg — break egg onto griddle, gently push on the yolk with the edge of a spatula so the yolk is broken and spread, but not scrambled.

• Fry 3 to 4 paper-thin slices of pork belly per serving, or, if desired, bacon. You can find thin-sliced pork belly in Japanese groceries (such as Don Quijote) or Korean grocery stores (i.e. Queen's or Palama markets). Or ask the butcher to cut it.

• Fry a couple of ounces of yakisoba noodles per serving, placing a mound directly on the griddle.

• To assemble, place vegetables on top of crepe, noodles on top of vegetables, bacon on top of noodles, egg on top of bacon. Then flip.

You can make the crepe batter from scratch, as suggested in this recipe. The heart of the batter is nagaimo, a gelatinous form of white yam, or yamaimo; use grated fresh or buy yamaimo powder. Or take a shortcut by using a prepared okonomiyaki crepe mix. Find yamaimo powder or okonomiyaki crepe batter mix at Marukai, Shirokiya or Don Quijote stores.