Okonomiyaki is one of Japan’s beloved comfort foods, often sold at summer festivals. It’s basically a savory pancake with ingredients like cabbage and pork belly mixed in with batter and topped with a thick Worchestire-like sauce, mayonnaise and plenty of katsuobushi (bonito shavings).
There are tons of restaurants all across Japan that serve okonomiyaki, and many of them are equipped with an iron griddle on every table for a self-grilling experience.
The first step is to blend the okonomiyaki mixture well, so that you’ve fully and evenly incorporated all of the ingredients in the batter. Then, pour the gooey mixture on the griddle in a circular shape about two centimeters thick. You don’t want it to be too big, or else it will be difficult to flip.
Every couple minutes, check the bottom side of the okonomiyaki using the metal spatulas. Once it looks beautifully crisp and golden brown, slide two spatulas under the pancake on either side, take a deep breath if you need and…flip! Hopefully, it didn’t fall apart on the grill, but if it did, that’s okay–it’s all practice for the next.
After the second side is also cooked through, slice the okonomiyaki into a few pieces, top with sauce, mayo and katsuobushi as mentioned earlier, and bon appetit.
Learn more about okonomiyaki: https://www.japan-guide.com/r/e100.html