Sashimi Japan: Food & Drinks Collection 02

Okonomiyaki is one of my favourite Japanese dishes. Commonly nicknamed, "Japanese pancake" or "Japanese pizza", it is an easy dish to make. The base consists of flour, lettuce, egg, and a little water; the rest is literally up to the cook. Whilst the recipe is straightforward, its place-of-origin, however, is still a matter of ongoing contention, with the cities of Osaka, Hiroshima, and even Hokkaido, all vying for the coveted spot. Regardless, okonomiyaki is a common man's dish - tasty, filling, easy-to-make, and readily available - and nowhere in the world does it better than in Japan.

Okonomiyaki restaurants are common in Japan, and the setup usually consists of a hot plate sunk into a wooden table. Guests generally cook their own okonomiyaki but the owner/waiter/waitress will give a hand if the customer is unsure how to cook it.

Leg space under the table.

Need those spatulas to cook the food.

Not every place does it but this restaurant also provides hand towels.

This is perhaps the most important piece of equipment on the table (use the timer on your phone if there isn't one), and I find this to be the critical trick for cooking a good okonomiyaki - 4 minutes on each side!

On top of the common base, each okonomiyaki dish consists of different ingredients (up to the customer). The one above is full of meat.

This one comes with shrimps and garlic. Note: all ingredients are raw, and need to be cooked on the hot plate prior to consumption.

A word of warning: it's better to mix the ingredients well in the bowl before putting them on the hot plate. My friend was too eager with his dish, and poured everything onto the hot plate without mixing them properly first. Let's just say, it didn't turn out too presentable.

Mix all the ingredients in the big bowl well. The ones in the smaller bowls are for garnishing.

When the ingredients are well-mixed (and the hot plate nicely fired up), pour everything onto the hot plate and quickly form them into a circle. There are two cooking side by side in the photo above. Remember to start the timer, and cook the okonomiyaki on both sides!

After cooking for 4 minutes on each side, you can then put on the okonomiyaki sauce and other garnishings. The one above has just the sauce and mayonnaise.

Common garnishings include bonito ("dried fish flakes"), and seaweed powder. It's always interesting to see the bonito 'dancing' on the okonomiyaki from the rising steam.