Home Made Okonomiyaki お好み焼き

Japanese food is great stuff and I'm loving the fact that it's everywhere here in Japan! Funny how that seems to work. You'd think that's a no-brainer, but for some expats, Japanese food is something they only eat when they go out to dine. Within the confines of their own apartments or houses, 'Western' cuisine or that of their own native countries is what they consume on a day to day basis.

when I lived in South Korea years ago, I attempted making Korean food at home. Normally it ended up a disaster and it took my stomach years to forgive me for it. I'm sure it was the gochujeong (hot pepper paste) that I toyed with in such a haphazard way that really did me in.

Japanese food seems to be far more forgiving. At least, when I attempt to cook it at home, it is relatively edible. Luckily, my wonderful wife (who happens to be Japanese) is a kick-ass cook. We normally take turns cooking. On Sunday night she whipped up a batch of one of my favorite Japanese foods and a point of pride for the people of Osaka; okonomiyaki.

According to Wikipedia, okonomiyaki お好み焼き, is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba). Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

Osaka Okonomiyaki - Kansai (Osaka)-style okonomiyaki is the predominant style of the dish, found throughout most of Japan. The batter is made of flour, grated yam, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese. Okonomiyaki is sometimes compared to an omelette or a pancake and may be referred to as "a Japanese pancake", or even "Osaka soul food"
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Let's take a look at what was happening in my kitchen last Sunday night and a few of the things you need to do okonomiyaki (Kansai style) right.



Some of the toppings (once the okonomiyaki is cooked) include "tonkatsu" sauce. This sauce is normally poured on top of "tonkatsu" which is a breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet.


"Karashi" or Japanese mustard. it has a lot more kick that American style "French's" mustard! You mix it with the sauces that you pour on the cooked okonomiyaki.


Japanese folks love mayonaise (the white bottle). We also mixed "ousta" sauce (I think it's like Worcestershire sauce)with the tonkatsu sauce.



Okonomiyaki wouldn't be complete with a healthy sprinkling of dried sea weed (nori) flakes on top!




"Bonita" flakes. Dried smoked bonita fish.



The batter, pre-cooking. Some of the ingredients included, shredded cabbage, eggs, shrimp, green onion, noodles and pork.




The beautiful okonomiyaki after I added all the awesome toppings!



"Bon appetite!"

By the way, this food goes VERY well with an ice cold glass of draft beer!

Sushi City

Yesterday's Hanami festivities were rained out. Instead of having the picnic we planned, it ended up being a leisurely stroll with umbrellas. Once we got home we had a lot of wonderful homemade sushi to eat. My wife is a spectacular cook and earlier that morning prepared an amazing feed of "norimaki" or "makizushi" 巻き寿司(sushi roll) and "inarizushi" 稲荷寿司 (stuffed sushi).


Makizushi (巻き寿司, lit. rolled sushi). A cylindrical piece, formed with the help of a bamboo mat, called a makisu (巻き簾). Makizushi is generally wrapped in nori, but can occasionally be found wrapped in a thin omelette, soy paper, cucumber, or parsley. Makizushi is usually cut into six or eight pieces, which constitutes a single roll order. wikipedia


Inarizushi (稲荷寿司, stuffed sushi). A pouch of fried tofu filled with usually just sushi rice. It is named after the Shinto god Inari, who is believed to have a fondness for fried tofu. The pouch is normally fashioned as deep-fried tofu (油揚げ, abura age).wikipedia



You can see the amazing inarizuzhi and makizushi I was able to wolf down for dinner last night. In the front is a bowl of miso soup.



Another shot of my wife's amazing zushi! By the way, "zushi" is the plural form of "sushi."

Learning About Food and Corn Pizza

I love Japanese food. Let my correct that, I love many types of Japanese food, but not everything. I will be the first to admit that there has been, somewhat of a learning curve for me when it comes to embracing all foods new. Point in case; fish. Fish is something that I doubt I will ever "love", but I am indeed growing to tolerate it. Some types I'm even beginning to enjoy eating.

Growing up, I could have been easily placed in the "picky little eater" category of Canadian food consumers. I'd like to blame it on my parents and geographic locale by saying thing such as, "I was never exposed to different foods." Or something like, "I only ever knew meat and potatoes before I came to Asia." I'd say those things, but they'd be outright lies. My parents valiantly attempted to introduce new and wonderful foods to my palate as a youth and I was only exposed to meat and potatoes.

Now, here I am. Living in Japan and exposed to a wide and fantastic cuisine. Previous to moving to Japan I spent more than five years living and working throughout South Korea. I consumed more vegetables than I ever thought humanly possible and ate things I never could have once imagined myself eating (I'm still not really into the kimchi thing though). Here I am, married to a wonderful Japanese woman who is doing her best to convert me to a new religion. That of, "Fish Fan." Will it ever happen? Maybe, maybe not. I am getting better though.

Along the theme of trying new things, there are some I have tried and feverishly see as wrong. Some foods are dear to me. Some foods are sacred. Pizza is one of those sacred foods. Those who have had the fortune to spend time traveling in Asia and have craved something they know, such as pizza, may have been in for a rude awakening at some point.


Corn on Pizza!

It's more common and well-loved here than you might think. It tends to be when you order pepperoni and cheese pizzas. They come slathered in sweet corn.I know what you're thinking! "That's just plain wrong Kevin!" And you are correct in that thinking. The sweet and spicy combination simply fails miserably in this case. At least to the "Western pizza fan" palate.

I took these pictures in my local 7-11 with my camera phone. This is "Pizza Toast", a popular snack here in Japan. Basically, it's bread, instead of crust, with pizza toppings. In this case you can clearly see the corn.


Here it is "up close!" Corn on pizza!! A travesty.


A few days ago I posted a BRILLIANT video of someone making "Korean Pizza." In that video you can see him adding the "very necessary" ingredient of sweet corn.