What is Okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki is a type of teppan-yaki.
In English, it is sometimes called “Japanese cabbage pancake” or “Japanese pizza.
Using flour dissolved in water as the batter, chicken eggs, vegetables, meat, seafood, noodles, and other ingredients of your choice are used, grilled on a teppan, and eaten with seasonings such as sauce, mayonnaise, and aonori (green laver).
However, the way of cooking and ingredients differ from region to region, with the Kansai style and Hiroshima style being different, and similar okonomiyaki dishes using various styles and ingredients such as “Negiyaki” “Cabbage yaki” “Betayaki,” “Enshuyaki,” “Kakioko,” “Kashiminyaki,” “Choboyaki,” and “Osakayaki”. Okonomiyaki is a very deep dish.
Okonomiyaki is a well-established cuisine, especially in Osaka and Hiroshima. However, it is said that Okonomiyaki was born in Tokyo in the 1930s with reference to Chinese cuisine, and took root in the Osaka area after 1970 due to the opening of famous restaurants in Osaka and the influence of the Osaka Expo (various theories exist).
Recently, the Japanese food boom overseas has also been a tailwind, and Okonomiyaki is gaining recognition around the world. The Oxford English Dictionary has added “Okonomiyaki” since 2024.
Major types of Okonomiyaki
Two types of Okonomiyaki familiar to the Japanese are introduced here.
Kansai-style Okonomiyaki
Kansai-style Okonomiyaki is a grilling method in which all the ingredients are mixed before grilling.
Mix everything into the dough, including cabbage and tenkasu, place it on the griddle, place pork on top, and when it is cooked to a certain degree, turn it over and cook it so that it is evenly cooked throughout.
Kansai-style Okonomiyaki is characterized by its fluffiness. To make it even fluffier, yams are sometimes kneaded into the batter.
Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki
While Kansai-style Okonomiyaki is made by mixing everything together before baking, Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki is characterized by the repeated process of layering the dough and ingredients.
Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki is made by first baking the dough into a round crepe, then layering basic ingredients such as cabbage, bean sprouts, and pork belly on top of the crepe. A distinguishing characteristic is the presence of noodles among the ingredients.
Hiroshima-style also often does not use mayonnaise.
Basic recipe for Okonomiyaki (Kansai-style)
Ingredients (for 2 pieces)
- 120 g thinly sliced pork belly
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cabbage (300g)
- 1/3 bag fine green onion
- 10 g deep-fried egg
- 10 g red ginger
- 1 tablespoon salad oil
Dough
- 50 g yam
- 200cc water
- 1/3 teaspoon Japanese granulated soup stock
- 100g flour
For finishing
- 4 tablespoons okonomiyaki sauce
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 bags (8g) bonito flakes
- 3 g green laver
Preparation
- Cut cabbage into thin strips. Cut off the root of fine green onion and chop. Drain off the juice from the red ginger and chop roughly. Grate the yam.
- Cut pork into 3 equal lengths.
- In a bowl, mix yam, water, and Japanese granulated soup stock. Add flour with a sieve and mix with a whisk until powdery. Add the egg, cabbage, spring onion, fried egg, and red ginger, and mix quickly.
- Heat a hot plate to medium temperature, add salad oil and spread with kitchen paper. Divide the dough into halves and roll them out so that the thickness is even. Spread and arrange half of the pork pieces on top. Bake for 5 minutes until the dough is dry around the edges and browned. Flip, cover, and bake until the dough is cooked through, about 4 minutes.
- Remove the lid and flip again. Keep the hot plate warm, spread okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise, top with bonito flakes, and sprinkle with aonori (green laver).
The vegetables used are not limited to cabbage and green onions, but can include carrots, kale, and many other vegetables chopped finely.
At the end, you can sprinkle sesame seeds or green onions on top, or add sriracha sauce for mayonnaise.
If you can make omelets and pancakes, you can also make Okonomiyaki. It is a quick and healthy dish. Please try it with different ingredients!
