Monday, April 06, 2009

Okonomi-yaki, Hiroshima and New York Style

My creation
Hiroshima okonomi-yaki on the right; New York (Village Yokocho) okonomi-yaki on the left

One of the best meals on my trip to Japan involved cooking my own okonomi-yaki (basically a Japanese pancake, topped with delicious-ness) in Hiroshima at Misasa. Wanting to relive the memory, I ordered okonomi-yaki at Village Yokocho, forgetting that the Hiroshima version of this comfort food differs from the style found in the rest of Japan. Don't get me wrong--they're both delicious. Yet the Hiroshima-style is comprised of a very thin, crepe-like pancake, topped with cabbage, pork, noodles and a fried egg, while the Yokocho version was a thick frittata, studded with shrimp, cabbage, and more. Fortunately, I received an okonomi-yaki "expert" certificate in Hiroshima and a bottle of the restaurant's special sauce, so I will soon recreate the Hiroshima version here in my own kitchen. Meanwhile, a step-by-step Hiroshima-style guide is below.

Making the Pancake

Our instructor making the thin crepe-like pancake.

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After the pancake cooks for a few minutes, top it with cabbage and bean sprouts.

Mmmmm..Pork

Then, add the pork and a bit more pancake batter before you flip it.

Time to Flip

With two spatulas and a steady hand, carefully flip your pancake to cook down your cabbage until sweet and soft, full of porky goodness.

A Successful Flip

A successful flip.

Breaking the Yolk

Frying the egg. You break the yolk with the spatula, then move your pancake on top of the egg, flip, and you're almost ready to eat.

The Finished Product

Top the pancake with the sweet okonomi-yaki sauce, bonito flakes and seaweed powder. Enjoy!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My recollection of Osaka-style Okonomi-yaki is that the shredded cabbage is integral with the 'pancake' batter, not added separately. Also, it seems I remember ordering a couple of different toppings - kind of like ordering a pizza.

Dad

Shayne said...

oh this looks like a new kinda yummy. I love trying new things like this and hope to get a chance sometime. thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

So, can somebody can tell me where I could get best/good Okonomiyaki in NYC?

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