Cooking is the best cure for any mood. whether you are emotional or you are melancholic, whether you are happy or you are joyful, try cooking. it'll uplift your mood instantly. Japanese cuisine is one of the best cuisines to try out in the world. Japanese cultural cuisine is called Washoku. The UNESCO recognized the Japanese Washoku, their traditional cuisine as Intangible Cultural Heritage.Here I have shared the recipe of one such Japanese cultural cuisine, famous in the country's Kitchen, Osaka, called as Okonomiyaki.
Japan is number one country today since 2011 when it succeeded over France, in the number of Michelin-starred restaurants. I had tried Sushi way back in the day and am a fan of it since then. Sushi or Sashimi is seafood served raw with rice. They are like delicate pieces of art. There are a variety of dishes in Japan. Previously meat was banned in Japan but since 1880 the ban was taken off and meat-based dishes started being popular in Japan.
Japanese cuisine:
Japanese cuisine is especially authentic but recent nouvelle cuisines see an influence of Chinese and sometimes French influence in their dishes. Japanese cuisine uses a lot of kinds of seafood and seaweeds and some red meat, oils and fats. The traditional ingredients used here are soy sauce, miso and umeboshi.
The advent of Buddhism in Japan made eating of four-legged creatures a taboo and fishes and whales were consumed without any problem but today with the advent of modernity these taboos has subsided considerably.
Japanese cuisine focuses on decoration and presentation of food as much as on the dish. There are much more mouth-watering dishes of Japan that’ll give the ubiquitous sushi a run for survival.
The Japanese use the rule of five in their cuisines. This is the use of five main colours in every dish which is black, white, green, red and yellow. Then the use of five flavours i.e. sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy. And finally the use of five cooking techniques namely grills, steam, fry, boil and raw food.
So let’s discuss a simple and easy Japanese recipe that is really easy to cook at home and a bite of this awesomeness shall place you in a restaurant in Osaka right away.
This dish is called, Okonomiyaki. It’s a Japanese version of pancakes topped with delicious toppings for a mouth full of awesomeness. It is sometimes also called as Japanese Pizza or Osaka soul food.
Okonomiyaki History:
Okonomiyaki literally translates to, “what you like” and yaki means “grill”. There are many styles and ways of cooking it. There is an interesting story to this dish as well. During the Edo periods (1683-1868) these were used as desserts for Funoyaki (Buddhist ceremonies). Then later on during Meiji period (1868-1912), it was turned into an even sweeter dish called as Sukesoyaki. In the late 30’s this came to be known as Okonomiyaki in Osaka. This dish finally gained its fame during testing times of World War II when there were severe poverty and scarcity of food and vegetables. During those times this simple pancakes of wheat topped with pork, eggs and cabbage was a hit admits all.
Okonomiyaki Varieties:
There are many variations available in this dish.
- Like the Osaka /Kansei style is the one in which all the ingredients are mixed together into a batter and grilled and after this, they are served with choice of toppings. This is the most famous variety along with the Hiroshima style of Okonomiyaki. Some restaurants of Osaka have teppans (special kind of hot-plates) of the tables and give the privilege to their guests to prepare their own topping or see it getting done by the chef in front of them.
- The Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki uses a thin pancake and firstly grills it and then adds shredded cabbage along with other ingredients. This is then tossed on both sides with fried eggs and then served.
- Whereas if you are in Tokyo there you get Tokyo style Okonomiyaki also called Monjayaki. Here all the ingredients going into the dish are grilled in the beginning and placed on a ring and then the batter is poured in the middle. It’s runnier compared to the other varieties. This, when done, is eaten directly with Okonomiyaki spatulas.
- Okonomiyaki Negiyaki is similar to the dish and just replaces cabbages with green onions and a lot of scallions. Okonomiyaki is also served with fried noodles called as Modan-yaki.
So let’s start making the dish
Recipe of Okonomiyaki
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 cup cold water
- 1tsp salt
- 1tsp baking powder
- 2tsp sugar
- 1 large cabbage chopped
- 4eggs
- ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
- 8-ounce fresh pork belly thinly slice.
Toppings:
- Okonomiyaki sauce
- Kewpie mayonnaise
- Aonori
- dried, shaved bonito
Method:
For the batter mix together flour, water, salt, baking powder and sugar. Add the shredded cabbages and mix well. Now on this add the eggs and mix thoroughly.
- Now heat a non-stick or cast iron skillet and pour in the oil. We have to cook the Okonomiyaki in batches, so pour a limited amount of the batter and allow it to get fluffy. After this place, the pork belly strips gently on it.
- Cook both the sides by flipping it over until light brown for about 2 minutes or until the pork and cabbage is cooked thoroughly
- After this is done transfer this onto your serving dish. Squeeze Okonomiyaki sauce on it in long ribbons. Then squeeze in mayonnaise and sprinkle a tsp of Aonori and dried shaved bonito.
- Serve hot and enjoy this dish with your loved ones.
Okonomiyaki sauce:
- To make the simple Japanese condiment, Okonomiyaki sauce, mix in 3 tsp of ketchup, I tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce and you are done. It tastes yummy and is just a best of Japan in your mouth.
Have this wonderful dish and thank the Japanese for this wonderful recipe. It’s the best country today for serving authentic culinary delight.
Happy cooking 🙂