Okonomiyaki!

Although it might sound like a place, or even a person, okonomiyaki is a food, regarded as the special food of Hiroshima. Apparently it became popular in the 1950s in postwar Hiroshima at a downtown food stall, although it was also a children’s snack just before the war. But now it is very popular and so I decided I could not leave Hiroshima without trying it.

That wasn’t too hard, with almost a thousand places serving okonomiyaki in the city. They generally look like this, with people seated around a teppanyaki-like counter (hotplate) on which it is cooked (and eaten). All kinds of people: younger people, older people, business people after work, groups of people, single people and even tourists …

Making it is half the fun, and a good chance for banter between chef and clients. It starts of course with a beer, but also a pancake mixture. Followed by a handful of cabbage. In some places, you cook your own, but in my case, the chef did it for us. the beer was very welcome after my day trip.

Next comes the next ingredients, placed on top, comprising firstly some tempura chips and then some bacon.

After a while the mixture is flipped over (which looked pretty tricky and I was pleased that I was not doing the cooking). Some soba noodles (thin spaghetti-like noodles) are lightly boiled and then fried, and while that is happening there is even time to capture a photo of my skilful chef:

Then comes the egg – which I missed photographing, too interested in my beer. But here is a photo of an adjacent chef, cooking three okonomiyaki at once at the egg stage. (As well as doing that he was able to engage in conversation with his three clients and with me about the forthcoming football match between Japan and Australia … multi-tasking!) The soba noodles are put on top, and the pile flipped again, ready for the egg to be added after it is cooked a bit.

The last steps involve adding a distinctive rich brown sauce and a sprinkling of seaweed or other stuff on top, to get the finished product shown in the picture at the top of this blog.

Then comes the adventure of eating the okonomiyaki. The implements provided are a hera and chopsticks. I had read that the hera is used both for cutting off bits (like a pizza knife) but also for eating them (like a spoon), although some people cut off bits and placed them on their plate and then used the chopsticks. There did not seem to be strict rules of etiquette fortunately, and people are very tolerant of the incompetence of beginners and visitors.

Here is my meal, part-way through. It was absolutely delicious, or, as they say here in Japan, oishi! I won’t show you my plate, however, which was a bit messy!

Mine was just a basic okonomiyaki … but more than enough to fill me up and a nice complement to my beer. More elaborate versions have other things added on top it to them, such as oysters (very popular here), more eggs, cheese, etc. The chef next door was making one with egg and two with cheese for a group of three young men sitting next to me. The cheese needed melting (with  a blow torch):

Haute cuisine? Certainly not, but great fun and pretty nutritious, as well as being very delicious. Close to what some would call ‘peasant food’, but an excellent meal for me!  I guess you could ‘try this at home’ but it’s much more fun in a group and I was pleased that I managed to experience it here before I left Hiroshima. Thoroughly recommended if you are ever in these parts. The last snap is of my chef and a couple of other customers, all reflecting the generally friendly and bubbly atmosphere.