Okonomiyaki

I'm sure I've already posted about okonomiyaki, because it's one of our favorite things to eat here. Okonomiyaki is a popular pan fried food that consists of batter and cabbage. Ingredients and toppings are added and vary greatly depending on your preferences. Joe prefers the mixed seafood variety with shrimp, squid, and octopus; while I prefer the pork and cheese kind. I read that "okonomi" literally means "to one's liking," so you can pretty much order it however you want it. It's usually topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, green onion, dried seaweed powder, tempura crumbs and occasionally ginger. It's widely available at all festivals throughout Japan, too.

Okonomiyaki is known as a Japanese pancake. But even though it's cooked on a griddle and consists of batter, it is nothing like the fluffy sweet pancakes that we know so well in the U.S. Okonomiyaki is available all throughout Japan, but each region has their own specialty version. We've even had it cooked with noodles, which is more of a Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki dish.

The restaurant in the picture above is right across the street from our apartment. Very convenient! My friends Miyoko and Akemi have also taught me how to make this dish at home. With all the right ingredients, it's actually pretty simple. I've made it several times, but am still working on perfecting and making it the right consistency throughout.