August 11

The food in Japan really left a mark on us. I think that it was largely because before we went our idea of what Japanese food was pretty much sushi. So, the process of discovering all sorts of wonderful food was always an adventure.

One of the most special meals that we associate with Japan is the first time we ate Okonomiyaki. We were in Hiroshima and were told by our hostel that we had to go to this multi-level building that had multiple food stations that all served Okonomiyaki, a specialty of the city. Of course, we went, and randomly chose a stool at one of the stalls. Luckily, I was able to get the vegetarian version of the dish. We sat there, watching the chef make Okonomiyaki like a pro, I can’t imagine how many he has made in his lifetime.

Unlike other types of okonomiyaki (which I later read about, but at the time didn’t know existed), Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima in unique because it layers a number of ingredients, rather than mixing all of them together in a pancake batter and cooking it as one big pancake. I remember them placing this huge mound of food in front and me thinking, how in the world I was supposed to eat it with chopsticks. Luckily, they also provided us with a little spatula that we could kind of use as a knife and we managed to get through the whole thing (not very elegantly of course). Despite the fact that it was so very tasty, it never occurred to me to try and make it at home.


When you break the dish down, it’s quite simple. A layer of savory pancake, fried noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts, egg and slathered with okonomiyaki sauce, japanese mayonnaise and green onion (they also often include bacon). What prompted me to try this at home was a series of events. First, seeing and then purchasing a bottle of okonomiyaki sauce at our Asian grocery stores few months ago, planting the idea in my head. More recently, a friend of ours brought us back Japanese mayonnaise after returning from a trip to Japan. And even more recently, I got some cabbage in our CSA box. Basically, the food gods were telling me that this was the week to make okonomiyaki.

I thought that this dish would be a giant pain to make, given that you are flipping and moving around a giant layered concoction, but really, it wasn’t as messy as I thought. Yes, the cabbage fell out from the sides a bit but it didn’t fall apart at all. The noodles and the pancake hold it together pretty sturdily. I was also concerned that the cabbage would turn out raw but it cooks pretty quickly from the steam in the pan (especially since it is so thinly sliced). It tasted just like I remembered.