After covering a lot of noodle and meat dishes, we will take a look at another site of the Japanese kitchen, which in this case is cooking with eggs. There is a Japanese dish that mainly contains eggs, is easy to make for everyone and really delicious, no matter if as a snack or as a full sized meal: Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き). 

Okonomiyaki is a pancake, containing a variety of ingredients wrapped in dough mainly made from eggs. The name is derived from the word Okonomi, meaning “how you like” or “what you like”, and Yaki meaning “grill”. Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with the Kansai or Hiroshima area of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings tend to vary according to region. Tokyo okonomiyaki is usually smaller than a Hiroshima or Kansai okonomiyaki.

Kansai style okonomiyaki is the predominant version of the dish, found throughout most of Japan. It is made of flour, water, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat, octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables or cheese. Okonomiyaki is sometimes compared to an omelette and may be referred to as a “Japanese pizza”. 
When cooking Okonomiyaki, the batter and other ingredients are pan-fried on both sides on a pan using metal spatulas that are later used to slice the dish when it has finished cooking.

Some okonomiyaki restaurants are grill-it-yourself establishments, where the server produces a bowl of raw ingredients that the customer mixes and grills at tables fitted with a pan or special hotplates. They may also have a diner-style counter where the cook prepares the dish in front of the customers.
Okonomiyaki is fairly cheap and famous throughout Japan, so wherever you are, there is probably a place to get hot Okonomiyaki. Don’t miss out on the “Japanese pizza”!