Not only Japanese people, but everyone loves Hiroshima Okonomiyaki! The ingredients work so well together. Yakisoba noodle, shredded cabbage, egg, tempura crisps, sweet okonomiyaki sauce sizzling on a huge teppan! It’s no wonder why.
What is Hiroshima Okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese iconic street food, savoury pancake. I have shared my Osaka style okonomiyaki recipe already. Each region of Japan has a specific style of Okonomiyaki, and Hiroshima is famous for its unique style. It is unique because of the thinly fried egg, and thin okonomiyaki kind of sandwich ingredients including yakisoba noodle.
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Anatomy
You will not believe the number of ingredients in one okonomiyaki savoury pancake. Hiroshima Okonomiyaki consists of shredded cabbage, tempura crisps, scallions, bean sprouts, pork, yakisoba noodle, fried egg, okonomiyaki sauce and seaweed flake. Tempura crisps are a byproduct of Tempura.
Useful Tools and Kitchen gadgets
Flippers
All right, so by now you may have been wondering how to cook and flip it? Is even flipping required, and is it possible to flip all of the ingredients at once? Yes, with special flippers. I bought these two flippers while I was in Japan. You could use TWO Large pancake flippers though.
Hot Plate
I bought an electric cooking plate that Japanese people call “Hot Plate”. I got Tiger hot plate in Japan also, and brought it back to Australia. So now I have to use an electricity transformer due to different electricity. However, it is very useful to make Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and Japanese style BBQ. It was worth it for me.
The Hot plate is particularly useful for making Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki. This is because you need to cook the Okonomiyaki batter, and quickly pile up ingredient after ingredient. At same time, the noodles need to be cooked. And while the Noodles and other ingredients are being steam cooked, the egg needs to be cooked beside.
Tips to make Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki at home
1. Cabbage – slice thinly 1-2 mm(0.04-0.08inch) thick. Japanese call this cut “Sengiri” This cut is also used for the cabbage accompanying Tonkatsu as I explained in this post. This is because the cabbage is going to be steamed in the pile of other ingredients.
2. Okonomiyaki Batter – is a thin batter. When you pour the batter onto the hot plate, quickly spread it with bottom of ladle. Because it is thin, then you need to quickly pile up the ingredients. Pile the cabbage, Tempura crisps, scallions, bean sprouts and pork before the batter is cooked and dry.
3 Flipping all together – This is not easy for first timers to be honest. But don’t give up. Drizzle a little bit of butter over the bean sprouts before you top with pork. It will work like a glue. Make sure you use TWO flippers. Then finally flip towards you with the two flippers. Don’t hesitate! Do it in one quick movement.
Here is my recipe for Hiroshima Okonomiyaki, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
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Hiroshima Okonomiyaki
Ingredients
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Batter
- 100 ml water
- 70 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp dashi powder
- 1 drop vegetable oil
Toppings
- 1 handful bonito flake *1
- 150 g thinly shredded cabbage
- 15 g chopped scallions
- 50 g bean sprouts
- 2 tbs Tempura crisps
- 1 tbs seaweed flake
- 1 Yakisoba Noodle *2
- 2 tbsp Okonomiyaki sacue
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Hiroshima Okonomiyaki batter
- Pour the water into a medium sized bowl and add dashi powder and a drop of oil.
- Combine them all using a whisk.
- Add flour and mix until just combined. * 3
- Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Fry Hiroshima Okonomiyaki all together( for making one)
- Set the hotplate temperature 160-170°C ( 320-338°F) and put 1tbs of the olive oil.
- When the oil heated, pour I ladle of okonomiyaki batter and spread it out from the centre using the bottom of the ladle by circling motion.
- Quickly top with fish bonito flake and cabbage before the batter get cooked.
- Keep adding tempura crisps, chopped scallions, and bean sprouts. *4
- Splatter a little bit of batter *6 and topped with thinly slice pork.
- Using two large pancake flippers, flipp them all together towards yourself.
- While the pork cooked and browned and all other ingredients being steamed cook in the middle, place half of the noodle on the side of it.
- Try to shape the noodle like same size circle.
- When the pork and noodle cooked, place the Okonomiyaki on top of the noodle carefully by using two pancake flippers.
- While the noodle is browend by the weight of the Okonomiyaki, crack a egg next to it.
- Using a pancake flippers corner, break the egg and shape it same sized circle of the okonomiyaki.
- Before the egg completely cooked, lift the okonomiyaki and noodle all together and sliced over the egg with two pancake flippers.
- Spread 1 tbs Okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise and garnish with seaweed flake to serve.
Cat says
I’ve been wanting to make okonominyaki since I went to Hiroshima in 2019. Finally made this today and it brought back so many lovely memories. So delicious and a really helpful recipe. Thank you.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome 😀
Rafa Sanchez says
I’m really in love with your site. I visited Hiroshima in 2013 and was my first time with okonomiyaki and i enjoyed this dish a lot. I didn’t go to Osaka in that trip so i can not compare both styles from the source. I have tried Osaka okonomiyaki in Spain but it is a little bit chewie and i don’t really like it. Since that day at Hiroshimo i was looking forward to doing this dish at home. Yesterday, I did it following your recipe ( I also did the okonomiyaki sauce and the japanese mayo because i couldn’t find it here) and the final result was amazing. Thank you so much for making me travel again to Japan and please, keep on doing amazing recipes!!!!!
Cheers,
Rafa
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Konnichiwa Rafa! Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I am glad to know that my Japanese recipe blog is useful for people who love Japan and Japanese food 😀
Kodi Hoffarth says
We made this tonight and my first bite was perfect! Exactly how I remember from spending a year in Hiroshima as a high school exchange student. The aonori, bonito flakes, and Okonomi sauce are the flavors I associated best with Okonomiyaki. The difficulty I found in making (besides the obvious flipping) was I was not able to get a thin enough cut of pork (hot plate thin). I had to turn up the temperature on our double griddle, I’ll probably use a higher temperature (350-375F, we’re in the US) the next time we make this, or maybe start cooking on the side. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe; chalk it up to a pregnancy craving, but I was very happy to find this site!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Kodi, That’s fantastic!! You can slice thinly half frozen meat 😀
Julia says
It looks so yummy I want to try it at home 😊
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Julia, It is yummy 😀 try and let me know what you think 😀
kytriya says
Envious because you can eat all that! 😉 I have food allergies. I love your food – pictures, recipes, everything! I am making my own Bento box – Japanese-without a clue style due to food allergies coupled with inability to be “creative” decorative.
I am going to do a variation on this. Basically, gluten free crepe that I’ll top with the ingredients after I get to my eating destination. It will have in maybe this order: smoked salmon, nori sheet, egg yolk round, bok choy-pak choi strips, garlic-ginger gluten free ramen noodles, egg white round, purple cabbage strips, stringed carrots. I’ll top it off with fresh Sweet Basil or Parsley.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Kytriya, Thank you so much for sharing your idea of making Hiroshima Okonomiyaki gluten free 😀 Great idea!
Thank you
Janet Koski says
So glad that there are still people in the world who care for good food. I love reading all your recipes, watch your blog and try them myself. Looking forward to new great recipes! Thank you very much for sharing them all with us.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Janet 😀 You are welcome and thank you for your kind words.
Tayler Ross says
I have never tried this before, but man does it look delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Tayler, Try this very soon 😀 Thank you.
Cindy says
Hi Shihoko, I just stumbled across this and had all these mouthwatering memories from the izakaya come back to me 🙂 I’ve eaten okonomiyaki so many times but didn’t know the name. Anyways I’m going to try making it this weekend! I followed you on YouTube too 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Ohhhh Cindy, I miss Izakaya too! Thank you for subscribing my Youtube channel too 😀