How to make Okonomiyaki, TJX style!

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food best described as a sort of Japanese pancake (or perhaps omelette), with various other ingredients (meats, seafood, vegetables, cheese, etc.) mixed in.  It may be difficult to type, but it’s pretty darn tasty.  Like many other Japanese dishes, it is enjoyed throughout the country, and each region has its own variation on the dish.  It’s sometimes cooked in front of you Benihana-style, and sometimes the restaurant leaves the cooking to you – each table has a grill on it, and you basically get a bowl full of mixed ingredients that you can grill to your liking.  The most well known ones comes from Osaka (where it is said that okonomiyaki was invented) and Hiroshima.  In our 2004 Tokyo trip, we had the pleasure of enjoying some Hiroshima okonomiyaki during a break in our tour schedule. It was indeed mighty tasty.

In their latest episode (and their first video episode), the TJX crew demonstrate how to make this delicious food.  Be warned tho, you might want to at least have some snacks nearby, you’ll get hungry watching it!  Watch it here.

EDIT: If you want to “kick it up a notch,” (ha!) and you have some decent cooking skills and have access to a decent Asian foods market or specialty store, I found this recipe for completely made-from-scratch okonomiyaki.  And if you’re a wimp and/or rather use the pre-made stuff, but can’t find it anywhere locally… well, you can order anything on the Internets these days… Amazon has both the mix and the sauce!

Okonomiyaki kit / Japanese pizza – 4.3 oz x 3

ImportFood, Misc., $14.90

Japanese Okonomi Sauce – 12 oz x 2 bottles

Otafuku Foods, Inc., Misc., $11.89

EDIT 01/05/2010: Locally-mirrored copy of the video removed at the request of TJX, because it was causing confusion. This video is theirs, and I ask that you please direct any inquiries, comments, etc. to them directly. You should be able to play the video directly from their website, but if you can’t get the video to play in their embedded player (like I did), there IS a link to directly download it (look for “Podcast: play in new window / download” below the black video box). Or you can subscribe to their podcast – I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having a few more subscribers Sorry for the confusion guys. Gomen nasai.

EDIT 09/27/2010: The embedded version is back!

The Japan Xperience: The Okonmiyaki Experiment from Ron M on Vimeo.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

1. The TJX Crew Invade J-Town
2. The TJX crew talk about one of my favorite subjects – FOOD!