Nom nom nomz Okonomiyaki

This blog post is going to be devoted to one of my favorite things ever, FOOD! And it wont be dedicated to just any food, it shall be dedicated to really nommy nommy food, Okonomiyaki!

So, lets start with the basics:

Q: What is Okonomiyaki?

A: The best way to describe it would be that Okonomiyaki is Japanese savory snack/food that is somewhat like a pancake containing a variety of ingredients. These ingredients being along the lines of cabbage, meat, egg, etc. So not a sweet pancake, a savory pancake. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning something along the lines of grilled or cooked.

Now, maybe you are wondering why I should now decide to post about Okonomiyaki?

And the answer would be because Okonomiyaki tends to be made in two different styles: Hiroshima okonomiyaki or Kansai okonomiyaki. And seeing as I just spent a fair amount of time in Hiroshima (nomming on Hiroshima Okonomiyaki) and Kansai area (nomming on more Okonomiyaki) I figured now was a decent time to go about writing up a blog about this delicious food.

So like I said, Okonomiyaki comes in two different distinct styles, and I personally feel that there is some unwritten law that you MUST prefer one over the other (Note: I have no proof that such a law exists, but I am sure it does). Before I tell you which I prefer best, I will tell you a bit about Hiroshima and Kansai okonomiyaki and also through in some photos for visuals.

So Kansai Okonomiyaki is prepared with a batter containing flour, water, some chopped up cabbage and a egg scrambled into the mix. Then other such ingredients as meat (pork or beef) octopus, green onion, squid, shrimp veggies and maybe some cheese and mochi are also thrown in and mixed into the batter. Of course, being "As you like" you can choose to opt out of any undesirable ingredients. After getting thoroughly mixed the entire gloopy mess is thrown down onto a hot flat surface and cooked up. Once cooked the top of the okonomiyaki is then covered in a delicious okonomiyaki sauce (i'm not sure what is made of, but it tasted pretty sweet but salty all at once...Amaaaaze-ing) and topped off with some seaweed flakes, bonito flakes, pickled ginger and a lite mayonaise. Delish.

Hiroshima Okonomiyaki on the other hand is made by layering the ingredients, versus mixing them all up. The layers generally go something like this: batter, cabbage, pork, and your other optional ingredients (such as shrimp, octopus, scallops, etc) followed by noodles (either soba or udon) and a fried egg (and of course, as you like it with the ingredients). Topping all of this is again the delicious amazing okonomiyaki sauce with seaweed flakes and pickled ginger. It is also important to note that this style of okonomiyaki tends to use at least double the amount of cabbage that is used in the Kansai style.

Check out some visuals:




Yum Yum Yum, can you tell which is which?

The top is Kansai Okomomiyaki and the bottom is Hiroshima Okonomiyaki.


Although both are really delicious, I can only like one, so can you guess which I like best?

And the answer is....drumroll please! (insert drumming sounds). By a landslide, (not that the other one isnt good, but that this one is just so GOOD!) my favorite style of Okonomiyaki is Kansai okonomiyaki!

Title Pending

This month has seemed to zoom by at light speed, It is 2 days until I am at Hiroshima Airport picking up my mom, and 5 days until Christmas! Time is flying a little too fast for my preference.

I haven`t got too much to post since I have been in the office all day yesterday and today...so I have decided for this post to be chock full of pictures and maybe have a few tid bits of commentary. Enjoying!


Okay, so I have noticed that I haven't posted many photos either on here or on my facebook about my time here, so this post will basically be a bit of a catch all photo purge. So: Here are some pics that sum up the past month and other events that haven't made into onto my blog yet.
WARNING: Tons and Tons of photos.

But before that watch this video


Disclaimer: "I am not Japanese" and "you are riding a fine line between homage and racism" (ru ru)

October Trip to Tokyo

So, I briefly made a post about my visit with my host family, but I hadn't included any info/photos about meeting up with old friends in Tokyo. So way back in the day I had gone to Tokyo and got to see my friend Kentaro (from college) and Junki and Yuumi (two of my friends I met while studying abroad, so here some pictures for you to feast upon.


So during the day Kentaro and I made the trek out to Odaiba, a pretty awesome strange area of Tokyo I had only been to once before. On the way I remembered why I hate Tokyo: the people there seriously move so slow. It is all misconceived lies about people in Tokyo being busy. In reality they only rush when they are running late (which is a result of them walking so slow earlier). In reality we actually left Japan and went to NYC to visit the statue of liberty.


Apparently this dog is pretty famous. Kentaro only told me afterwards that wearing a tie around your head is a symbol of drunkenness, thanks!


I like to make baby polar bears cry.


And in the evening I met up for dinner with Junki and Yuumi! Which was a great event of me attempting to remember Japanese and them being kind and speaking to me mostly in English!

Later in October: Sake Fest

How did this not make it into my blog originally? At first I didn't know, but after going through all my pictures from this day, I immediately recalled... Main reason being that an all you can drink sake festival only results in one thing; Drunk eyes.
Anyway, I will spare the gazillion details, primarily because I am much too lazy and uninspired to write much. And secondarily I dont think there is much needing explaining.



Hot mess


Drunk eyes for the win.


Clara and Steph post sake fest which I think sums up very nicely how the night ended.

And Now onto the Main and most Recent Events: DECEMBER (Dinner party)

So the first week of December, my fellow Oshima ALT and I were invited to one of my co-workers to have dinner. There was tons of food, tons of drinks, a lot of broken Japanese being spoken (from me), and an overall great night. It was also on this lovely evening that I happend to meet my true love, and have my dreams shattered to learn not only was he married, but that he had a son who was older than me. But after all, age is just a number.


Me and Matthew with my co-worker and her friend.


My true love. 1) I mean look at him. 2) He is the Japanese Mr. Rogers in all the right kind of ways. 3) He is from Chiba, instant bond!


One of the more interesting beverages of the evening. It was some kind of herbal liquor/alcohol/thing that had apparently been brewed up by our hosts mother the year I was born. The Japanese dinner guests told Matthew and I that these drink 1) is extremely healthy for you (drink one small cup a day and you wont get sick) 2) "It is the viagra" (i assumed this meant it is an aphrodisiac). 3) It was brewed up in a sink....

Later in Dec. (aka last week): Kurisumasu pa-ti-
So last week was our Yamaguchi ALT Christmas party which was at a Mexican restaurant in Iwakuni. Major win on multiple levels. I happen to love beans, guacamole, and cheese (see real cheese), which Mikes (said Mexican restaurant) had plenty of! Also, I hadn't seen my other ALT's (minus Ciaran, as he lives right across the way [see bridge]) since Sumo. Also all you can drink Margaritas is enough of a reason to make this night a win.






Oh, and on this night I discovered that Amanda was in my Chinese class at Wooster! Crazzzy, this world is too small!




At one point Ciaran and I were elected to go get more wine. After picking up the wine we ended up spending 20 minutes drinking the wine and playing in the park which resulted in us getting left behind. (but a simple phone call and we ended up with our friends as intended)


Miguel dancing away at the generally questionable, but okay bar/club we stumbled into which had ended up being a really great time minus the creepy folks who kept trying to join in on our fun.