A thick savoury pancake of batter and shredded cabbage with pork belly, cooked on a griddle and finished with sweet-sour sauce, mayonnaise, aonori and bonito flakes.
What makes it okonomiyaki
A batter of flour, dashi and egg, often with grated yam, and plenty of shredded cabbage.
Cooked on a flat griddle, with thin slices of pork belly laid on top.
Brown okonomi sauce, mayonnaise, aonori and katsuobushi to finish.
Where it comes from
Okonomi means 'as you like it'. Thin batter pancakes off the griddle are older, but okonomiyaki as it's known took shape in the first half of the twentieth century and spread when food was short after the war, since flour and cabbage stretch a little meat a long way.
Osaka mixes everything into the batter; Hiroshima builds it in layers, with noodles. Each city is proud of its own.
How it varies
Hiroshima-yaki
Layered, not mixed, with yakisoba noodles and a fried egg.