Octopus? Cook it! Whatever you like? Cook it! Punctuation marks aside, these are the direct translations of takoyaki and okonomiyaki, the signature dishes of Japan’s Kansai region. Seeking out these delicious Kansai soul foods from street corner, back alley, or festival vendors, or from unique specialty shops, is a gastronomic adventure not to be missed.
Takoyaki
Takoyaki, a combination of the Japanese word for “octopus” (tako), and the stem of the verb “to fry, grill or otherwise cook” (yaki), is a ball-shaped snack made from a wheat-based batter stuffed with diced octopus, tempura batter drippings (tenkasu), pickled ginger (beni shoga), and sliced green onions (aonegi). Takoyaki balls are cooked in cast iron hemispherical molds, and served with a sweet and tangy takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce, but thicker and sweeter), grated aonori seaweed and dried bonito fish flakes (that wiggle and move from the heat of the takoyaki).
A street vendor named Tomekichi Endo is credited with inventing takoyaki in 1935. Endo established the Aizuya yatai food cart (named after his hometown of Aizu-Bange in Fukushima Prefecture) in Osaka in 1933 and started selling “radioyaki,” a ball-shaped dumpling made from suji meat (meat cut from the achilles heel area) and a wheat flower batter. In 1935, after being inspired by Akashiyaki, a dumpling invented in Akashi City in Hyogo Prefecture made from an egg-rich batter and sliced octopus dipped in dashi fish broth, Endo replaced the suji meat with octopus and used the takoyaki name to sell his new product. Takoyaki was such a hit that other vendors began copying the recipe and selling it themselves spreading the word and the taste across the whole of the Kansai region and then on to the rest of Japan. Takoyaki can now be purchased at convenience stores and supermarkets. There’s no substitute for the original product though, and fortunately for hungry diners the original Aizuya takoyaki food cart is still in business! It’s grown into a restaurant chain with 9 locations (8 in Osaka and 1 in Tokyo) and it’s owned and operated by the grandson of takoyaki’s inventor, Masaru Endo.
Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake mixed and layered with a variety of ingredients and cooked on an iron hot plate, or “teppan”. There are several regional varieties of okonomiyaki throughout Japan, but the Kansai/Osaka style is the predominant version. It’s made from a wheat flour batter, grated nagaimo yams, water or dashi fish stock, eggs and shredded cabbage. Additional ingredients like green onions, thinly sliced pork belly meat, sliced octopus, squid, shrimp, konyaku, mochi rice cake, vegetables, and cheese are then added according to the preference of the customers. This practice is where okonomiyaki gets its name as “okonomi” means, “your preference” or “as you like,” and “yaki” means to cook or grill. The okonomiyaki experience can be doubly fun as the chefs of many restaurants and food carts will prepare okonomiyaki on a teppan in front patrons and put on a show while doing it. That, or patrons are provided with their own teppan hot plate, okonomiyaki mix with the ingredients of their choice, and are then allowed to cook their okonomiyaki themselves. Finished okonomiyaki is served with a Worcestershire Sauce-like okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, aonori seaweed flakes, pickled ginger, and shredded and dried bonito fish flakes. The dressing is, of course, also down to the “okonomi” of the customer.
While takoyaki is a product of 20th century Osaka and the Kansai area, okonomiyaki can trace its roots back to the late Edo period (1603-1868) and a dish called funoyaki, a thin crepe-like confection made from wheat gluten and water cooked and then basted with miso on one side. Its name stems from 1930s Tokyo. When a forerunner of okonomiyaki known as “issen yoshoku,” meaning 1 sen (¥1/100) coin western food (the use of sauce to garnish the dish led to the “yoshoku” western food title) made its way from Kyoto and Kansai to Tokyo, it was renamed “dondonyaki” and sold as a children’s confection by street vendors and at festivals. In 1935 store owners in Tokyo’s Geisha and entertainments districts adopted dondonyaki and changed its name to okonomiyaki. The idea was to provide patrons who had come out to see Geisha shows and other forms of entertainment with an equally entertaining way of dining, cooking and playing with their food using ingredients of their choice. The idea and the name caught on and spread from Tokyo back to Osaka and the Kansai region where it won stronger legitimacy and recognition. Like takoyaki’s Aizuya, some of okonomiyaki’s original creators are still around. Furyu Okonomiyaki Sometaro, in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood, continues to provide the same okonomiyaki experience it has provided since its establishment in 1937. Hungry for the genesis of Japanese soul food?
Works consulted:
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japanese-culture/food/takoyaki-osaka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki
"蛸焼" [Takoyaki]. Dijitaru daijisen (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 56431036.
"Takoyaki". Encyclopedia of Japan. Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 56431036.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashiyaki
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/会津屋 (Japanese)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ラジオ焼き (Japanese)
http://radioyaki.com/radioyaki/index.html (Japanese)
http://www.aiduya.com/about.html (Japanese)
Heibonsha 1964 encyclopedia vol. 3, p.445, article on okonomiyaki by Tekishū Motoyama 本山荻舟 (1881-1958)
Ono, Fujiko (小野藤子) (2009). おうちで作る鄉土ごはん. 枻出版社. ISBN 9784777914449., p.95
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/一銭洋食
Photo Credits:
Flickr Creative Commons Attributions License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode
Finished Okonomiyaki on Teppan, (https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen-oung/6081965406), made by Flickr member SteFou!
Man Prepares Okonomiyaki, (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Okonomiyaki_2.jpg), created by Dan Smith
How to Make Okonomiyaki, (https://www.flickr.com/photos/angelune/2888241782), created by Flickr member moon angel
Preparing Okonomiyaki (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ytL-JUjJVL8/maxresdefault.jpg), created by YouTube user Panta Mosleh (https://www.youtube.com/attribution?v=ytL-JUjJVL8)