Often called Japanese pizza or pancake, Okonomiyaki is one of the most popular casual pan-fried dishes in Japan. Just as the name (“okonomi” literally “to one’s liking”) indicates, you can use your favorite ingredients, any kind of meat and seafood, along with a mixture of cabbage, flour and water to bake them into a flat, round-shaped dish.

While okonomiyaki is available all over Japan, the dish is particularly popular in Hiroshima and Osaka, each with their own styles of cooking. Living in Yokosuka City, I have noticed the Osaka-style okonomiyaki is more popular in the Kanto region.

While some specialized restaurants have their chefs prepare okonomiyaki and serve them ready to eat, other restaurants let customers do the cooking.

My family recently visited a Yokosuka restaurant of the okonomiyaki chain Dotonbori to enjoy the dish in both Osaka and Hiroshima styles. Dotonbori is a casual restaurant that lets customers cook various types of okonomiyaki by themselves using recipes provided on paper.

When we sat at a dining table equipped with an iron griddle, we began our okonomiyaki dinner by ordering ingredients for Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

We followed the recipe that came with the ingredients and cooked sliced bacon, shredded cabbage, yakisoba noodles and egg step by step. Since ingredients of the Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki should not be mixed in a bowl, we cooked the batter into a thin crepe first, then placed shredded cabbage and sliced bacon on top along with a coating of brown broth. We then put the thin batter onto yakisoba noodles, followed by a whipped egg. Frankly, it was our first time cooking Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki!

When we broke off pieces with a spatula on the griddle to eat, we saw the dish was filled with rich, complicated flavors and had a slightly chewy texture, which reminded us of sampling a high-end French dish.

Then, we ordered the ingredients for the Osaka-style okonomiyaki. Different from the Hiroshima-style, the ingredients (flour, water, pork, eggs, cabbage, bacon and squid) were brought in a bowl. We mixed them well before pouring them onto the hot griddle. After flipping it when one side was sufficiently cooked, we applied brown sauce with a brush and finally sprinkled on mayonnaise, bonito flakes and dried seaweed.

The Osaka-style okonomiyaki was blessed with a soft yet fluffy texture and a rather less-salty savory flavor.

We found both okonomiyaki styles to be very tasty, and truly enjoyed making the pan-fried dish by ourselves.

Okonomiyaki is quite easy to make at home, as well. So, challenge yourself to the popular Japanese pan-fried dish in different variations and see which style you like better!

Dotonbori (Okonomiyaki restaurant Chain)

https://dohtonbori.com/?lang=en

Japanese

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