We have been wanting to tell you about okonomiyaki for a long time, one of the dishes we like the most in all of Asia, AND originating in Japan. What’s more, it is in the top 10 and shares a place with others such as khao soi or som tam, two Thai dishes, and malai kofta or baingan bharta, from Indian cuisine.
But okonomiyaki has something that makes it very special and draws us impulsively to the restaurants where it is served. The way it is prepared may have something to do with it.
Some say it is like an omelette, a pancake or a Japanese pizza, because like these, okonomiyaki is a dish to which the diner can add ingredients of his or her choice to a base.
Going by etymology, okonomi means “to taste” and yaki, as you may know from other Japanese dishes, “grilled”. So obviously it is a dish grilled to the individual’s taste and also in front of the customer (or by him/her if he/she knows how to do it) and with an endless amount of ingredients to choose from… delicious, delicious!
The base is usually a dough made of flour or grated yam with egg and cabbage to which you can add almost anything: vegetables, cheese, shrimp, octopus, fish, meat, seaweed… The definitive flavor is given by the okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi shavings.
The base is usually a dough made of flour or grated yam with egg and cabbage to which you can add almost anything: vegetables, cheese, shrimp, octopus, fish, meat, seaweed… The definitive flavor is given by the okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi shavings.
Of course not. The taste lies in the variety and creativity of the chef.
Basically, you can find two ways to prepare it: Osaka style, where all the ingredients are mixed together and then cooked, so the final appearance is more like an omelet, and Hiroshima style, where you add the rest of the ingredients on top of the cooked dough.
However, what differentiates them the most is the presence of noodles in the second style, something that surprised us the first time we saw it…
As we have already mentioned, the origins of okonomiyaki are contested between two regions- Osaka and Hiroshima– hence the two distinct cooking styles. Hiroshima is certainly a good place to try it, especially at the Nagata-ya restaurant, which was one of the ones we liked the most in the whole country as far as okonomiyakis are concerned (and we tried quite a few).
And if you declare yourself a die-hard fan of this dish, you can’t miss the Wood Egg Okonomiyaki, a very special museum/factory in Hiroshima that opened in 2008.
Here, in addition to visiting one of the most famous companies in the production of the “magic” sauce that should accompany any good okonomiyaki, you can attend cooking classes and, of course, taste them.
The shape of the building that houses the museum is what gives it its name. You’ll understand when you see it…
The great thing about okonomiyaki is that you can enjoy it not only in its places of origin, but luckily you can find it all over Japan. You just have to keep in mind that not all restaurants offer it and you will usually have to look for those that have teppanyaki grills built into the table.
Finding them is as easy as doing a quick search on the internet.
The university area of Kyoto was the first place we tried it, and our poker face must have been very funny when we saw the dish for the first time, because we didn’t even know it existed and thought we had just been served an omelet noodle…
And of course, a whole franchise empire has also been born, extending the product beyond its original region. In fact, you can find it in European cities due to its appeal to our taste buds, a clear example of this is Abeno in London.
Are you hungry? If you ever find a Japanese restaurant that serves it, don’t hesitate to try it. Enjoy!
