Going out to eat in Japan is a pantomime. Visit an authentic Japanese okonomiyaki restaurant; here actions speak more than words. An okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) course begins with asssorted bowls of ingredients like shredded cabbage (the Hiroshima version has par-boiled soba noodles), chopped up bits of raw seafood, juliennes of gari (pickled pink ginger) and katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna) flakes aka bonito being placed next to you by a courteous server.
In front is a stainless-steel teppan grill sizzling away producing aromas more complex than a Japanese dictionary. Instructions come in the form of animated gesticulations by the server. She urges: mix all the ingredients with a thick slurry of refined wheat flour, beaten eggs and water and place the sum total on the lightly oiled teppan.
She stands by like a sentinel, making sure you coax the mixture into a circular shape with the help of two tiny, metallic spatulas. Once it is grilled to perfection on one side, you’ve to flip the pancake and cook till the other side is equally crispy and golden brown. Once ready, aonori seaweed flakes, and additional katsuobushi are sprinkled all over it.
Lashings of special okonomiyaki sauce, made from tomato ketchup-soy sauce-Worcestershire sauce-honey and the sweetish Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise, anoint the final product with edible goodness. This delicious DIY savoury pancake dish, perfectly named okonomiyaki, translates from Japanese to English to simply mean “as you like”. .
