Okonomi-likey

Meet Yoshida-san, the lovely woman who takes us in, teaches us, feeds us, helps us, and basically makes this island home.  She is a wonderful lady, and one of the only reasons I regret not re-contracting is that I won't be able to see her every weekend.  She is honestly a joy to be around.  This past weekend we made okonomiyaki together!

Okonomiyaki is Japanese pancake pizza, and the name means "as you like it."  You can add anything you like to it, and it tastes delicious!  Now, I had never made okonomiyaki before, so I was looking forward to cooking it with Yoshida-san and my fellow ALT!  I wasn't really anticipating any surprises; after three years here I thought nothing could phase me.  The hubris, the chutzpah, the cheek!  I have met my match.

Butchering squid?  No problem.
Disemboweling a fish?  Not even a shiver.
But nagaimo.... and it's tororo.... it looks like snot!  Exact consistency and color of snot!  You know, I used to think of this when I thought of tororo, but now it's just hanamizu.  It's not right.

 

 Well, anyway, the snot grated nagaimo was added to a mixture of flour, shredded cabbage, shrimp, and squid and stirred together.  First bacon was fried.

 Oops, forgot to add the salt and pepper.

 Fried eggs!  The next step was a bit difficult.  First, put on the special okonomiyaki sauce.   Then add the mayo, ideally in stylized waves, cross-hatches, or a tic-tac-to motif.  Sprinkle on some dried seaweed, garnish with dried bonito flakes, and voila!  To serve, flip the egg on top and plate.

 One of these was plated correctly, and one had a bit of an accident on the way to the plate and ended up in my lap, in my coworker's lap, on the table, and under the grill, outside, back in the US.. it was epic.  See if you can guess which one had to be surgically pieced back together.

ow, that one bowl of okonomiyaki stuff ended up eight pancake pizzas total, and by the end we were getting a bit bored with the decoration bit.

Finally, here is a video of the near finished product once the bonito flakes have been added.  As Yoshida-san tells us, since they move and dance due to the heat of the grill, children and foreigners tend to think that they're still alive.  Ghost fish on my pancake pizza!