food&wine
food&wine
I
OKONOMIYAKI - HOW TO EAT
LIKE A LOCAL?
n Japan, there are very few
or almost no restaurants,
bars, pubs or cafä houses
with open spaces like in
Vietnam. Most of them
are either secreted in a corner or
modestly in subway stations such
as Michelin sushi Restaurant
of chef SukiyabashiJiro in
Tokyo and Okonomiyaki
restaurant which I was about
to visit in Hiroshima. When
a local friend excitedly took
me upstairs, I had no idea
there was such a delicious Hiroshima
Okonomiyaki restaurant here.
Wanna dig deeper
into Hiroshima
soul food? Let's
have Okonomiyaki
- "Grill whatever
you like". This
unique cuisine
can be traced back
to the AzuchiMomoyama
period, when children's favorite snacks
were wheat dough rolled thin, grilled,
and topped with onions. When rice
became scarce after the war, people
in Hiroshima added cabbages, eggs,
soba and others then grilled them with
bread for main meals. That is also the
way to create Okonomiyaki today.
Unlike the common Okonomiyaki
style with a flour-based mixture,
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki consists
of layers made from different
ingredients. With a history as rich
as its flavor, the dish will fill you up
and ensure you come back for more.
Watching the chef skillfully grill your
Okonomiyaki is also a pleasure for
the eyes. Firstly, he will spread out the
flour batter on a teppan; then gradually
92
TRAVELLIVE
New Year's Eve or on their birthday
as a blessing for long life. So enjoy
Okonomiyaki, you are giving yourself
a bit of luck in the day already!
a dd pepper, cabbage, corn, bacon,
meat, soba noodles, eggs, and other
spices. Don't miss the hissing sound
from the teppanyaki, and the lingering
fragrance of fried eggs in the air.
While my friend preferred a strange
flavor of Okonomiyaki with cheese and
natto (fermented soy beans), I ordered
the most basic recipe with "Niku-tamasoba", including pork, eggs and soba.
Soba is one of reasons why I love
Okonomiyaki so much. While Udon
and Ramen are made entirely from
wheat flour, Soba was mixed with
buckwheat, which increases its
nutrition and the taste of the noodles.
This kind of noodles is also considered
the symbol of luck. The Japanese
would traditionally eat them on
"When in Rome, do as the Romans
do!" When in Hiroshima, eat
Okonomiyaki as the locals do:
forget chopsticks and use a shovel
instead. Because Hiroshima
-style Okonomiyaki is quite big
(approximately 20cm), you will need
to use a small shovel called "hera",
to cut the cake into smaller pieces.
A local will directly use hera to eat
Okonomiyaki instead of chopsticks, of
course, it'd be pretty difficult for your
first try. Still, let's have fun with hera!
Speaking frankly, it's the Okonomi
sauce that makes all differences. This
brown sauce can blow you away with
its savory, thick, and rich flavor. Made
from fruits and vegetables (such as
tomato, date, onion, pineapple, and
apple), together with some extracts
(meat extract, and yeast extract),
Okonomi sauce is perfect for pouring
over all types of Okonomiyaki.
Before I left the table, my friend
told me an interesting fact about
Okonomiyaki restaurants in
Hiroshima: the names of most