okonomiyaki (Page 2)
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We’ve seen some strange pizza toppings in the past. From Kit Kats to squid ink, Japan certainly knows how to deliver when it comes to thinking outside of the box.
Now, there are two new awesome pizzas on the menu: Ramen Noodle and Natto Okonomiyaki. And that’s not all – both items are being offered as part of a collaboration using local ingredients that hark back to the 1960s. Available from Aoki’s Pizza from September 10, this is an opportunity that’s not to be missed!
Okonomiyaki is one of the most popular foods cooked at home in Japan. One of Japan’s Top 10 Comfort Foods, the dish is fun to make with family or friends and best of all, it’s easy! Okonomiyaki is also popular with foreigners who when visiting Japan can sample the dish at any of the myriad specialty restaurants dedicated to this vegetable-rich meal.
So, what exactly is okonomiyaki? And how do you make it? Glad you asked!
Read on to find out more about this simple dish: watch a how-to video showing you how to make it, check out photos that show you some unusual ingredients, and get inside tips from Kazuko who regularly makes the dish for her seven grandchildren.
Remeber Gudetama, the lazy egg character from Hello Kitty owner Sanrio? Well, it turns out that the unmotivated egg with an extremely unmascot-like personality has gained quite a following in Japan. Apparently, his soft appearance and to an even greater extent, his lazy disposition, which prompts him to mutter phrases like “I have no strength” and “I can’t feel motivated enough to do anything” have earned him considerable popularity. In fact, he’s popular enough to have had his very own character cafe for a limited time in the past, and recently, he’s been collaborating with Dotonbori, a chain of restaurants that serves okonomiyaki, which are Japanese pancakes containing various ingredients such as cabbage, meat and seafood.
That’s right, at Dotonbori, you can use actual eggs to add realistic Gudetama faces to your food. Now, that sounded like too much fun to pass up, so our reporters from our Japanese sister site went to one of the Dotobori shops and actually tried it! Read More
“Comfort food” is traditional cooking that tends to have a nostalgic or sentimental connection, often one related to family or childhood: the grilled cheese sandwiches your mother used to make; the thought of your grandmother’s bread pudding makes your mouth water; the way the whole house would be filled with the intoxicating aroma of roasted turkey or ham at Christmas? Because of such memories, these foods comfort us, especially when we’re longing for home or feeling especially vulnerable.
Not surprisingly, the sentimental Japanese have their own comfort foods. While you might think they’d be waxing over the octopus tentacles of home, very few of the dishes we’re about to talk about have much to do with seafood. Many Japanese comfort foods have a rice connection and may even center around the unique relationship between mothers or wives and their role in family food preparation. And in Japan, make no mistake about it–her kitchen rules!
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