Ode to Okonomiyaki

There's no doubting that your diet changes when you move country. Since moving to Japan, I eat more fish, less sugar, WAY more rice, and tragically Yorkshire Puddings have disappeared altogether.

There are some discoveries, however, that you wonder how you ever did without. For me, okonomiyaki is one of them.

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) literally means 'cooked how you like it'. It's the Japanese equivalent of an omelette, only it's far more super-charged and awesome than that (no disrespect to omelette-lovers out there). The throw-whatever's-at-hand-in-it nature of the recipe makes it an extremely versalite dish with hundreds of variations, but the following is the classic Kansai style (seen above): flour, water and egg, added to cabbage and leek to form a chunky mush, fried in a pancake style, adding meat before you flip it over. It's all topped off with a sweet sauce, streaks of mayo, Katsuobushi (かつおぶし, fish shavings - it's tastier than it sounds, honest!) and peppered with aonori (tiny specks of seaweed).

Doesn't sound too special? Hold fire on your judgement until you've tried it, because Okonomiyaki is so much greater than the sum of it's parts. It's absolutely delicious, moreish and leaves you utterly satisfied. Better still, even though it looks and tastes like a belt-buster, it's quite good for you, what with the main bulk of it being vegetables.

I won't go into details of the recipe here (partly because of the flexible nature of it) but you can find a link to the classic recipe here.* I heartily recommend trying it out. It's a very simple dish to make and pays back your effort many times over. Don't be surprised if it makes it onto your regular dish list. It sure made mine!

*If you live outside Japan, you may struggle to find things like katsuoboshi and aonori, but to be honest they aren't essential. The Okonomiyaki sauce, however, is essential. But fret not, because you can make you own with ease! It's simply 3 parts tomato ketchup, 1 part soy sauce and 1 part Worcestershire sauce. Enjoy!