Most of you probably have heard about Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き). Some people call it the Japanese Pancake, others called it the Japanese Pizza. The name came from the word okonomi (to one's liking) and yaki (grill/cook). As the name implies, you could put whatever ingredients you want (cabbage, egg, cheese, meat, shrimp, scallop, pork, kimchi, etc) and cook it on top of an iron griddle called teppan.
Although there are many kinds of toppings and ingredients involved, you could separate okonomiyaki into two types, Osaka (or Kansai) Okonomiyaki and Hiroshima Okonomiyaki. In Osaka, we mix the batter and ingredients first inside a bowl and then cook it on the teppan. In Hiroshima, we layer the ingredients one by one on the teppan and then press it down together while cooking. If the Hiroshima okonomiyaki is served with a layer of noodles (either yakisoba or udon), the dish is called modanyaki (modern yaki).
Most restaurants in Tokyo serve the Osaka style Okonomiyaki. Recently, I had a chance to go to Hiroshima and taste the 'real' Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki.
If you're looking for a reasonable (read: cheap and delicious) Okonomiyaki restaurant in Hiroshima, the Okonomi Monogatari Eki Mae Hiroba (お好み物語駅前ひろば) is my recommendation. It is on the 6th floor of Full Focus Building, across the street from JR Hiroshima station. There are around 20 okonomiyaki restaurants that you could choose. Price is about 900 yen.
There is also another place called the Okonomi Mura (お好み村) close to Hatchobori tram stop, but unfortunately I didn't have time to visit it.
Anyway, we decided to eat in Kyabetsu (きゃべつ). They serve lots of cabbages on their okonomiyaki.
Time to watch him cook.
First, put some cooking oil and batter on the teppan. As a note, we ordered two okonomiyaki.
Add cabbage, bean sprout, meat, shrimp, scallop, etc.
Flip it, press it down.
Add some soba or udon.
Add eggs, lots of okonomiyaki sauce, and onion. Press it again.
And there you go, the Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. What about the taste ?
It was soooo GOOD ! A must try if you go to Hiroshima.
I want to eat this ! looks so yummy :9
ReplyDelete@Mei : super yummy :D
ReplyDeletehmm interesting. Is the difference in the batter? For this style it seems like the batter is cooked separately from the other ingredients while the osaka style mixes everything with the batter and is then cooked.
ReplyDeletethe ingredients (including the batter) are quite similar. it's just the way they cook it. Mixes everything or layer it one by one. And the Osaka style doesn't use noodle.
ReplyDeleteHalf the fun of okonomiyaki is making it yourself IMO. I tend to avoid the ones where cooks make it for me =P
ReplyDelete@Protocol Snow: It's fun to make Okonomiyaki by yourself. But there are times when you would like someone to make it for you, especially if you're eating alone. Don't you think so ? ;)
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