Welcome to the second post of kyoodo ryoori (郷土料理).  The kyoodo ryoori (郷土料理) post is a montly run post where we visit a region and the special food that region is known for.  Today, we’re gonna to check out the Kansai (関西) region.

The Kansai (関西) region contains a host of famous cities like Osaka (大阪), Kobe (神戸), and Kyoto (京都).  There are so many things to see and do in Kansai (関西).  It’s a famous region known to tourists and many restaurants are set up to cater to these tourists.

Kansai (関西) is known for its okonomiyaki (お好み焼き).  Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a pancake style dish consisting of eggs, cabbage, green onions, shimp or pork.  First a batter is made.  Then the ingredients are added.  Before it’s fried, the teppan (鉄板) is greased with vegeatable oil.  Then it’s fried on the teppan (鉄板), which is an iron griddle.  About a minute later, you flip the other side with a spatula.

Some restaurants have the option of a self-serve policy where the customer fries his/her own okonomiyaki (お好み焼き).  All the restaurant does is provide the teppan (鉄板), the batter with the desired ingredients and utensils to eat it with.  Other restaurants have a wide open teppan (鉄板) where you can see a professional chef make the okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) in front of you.  If it’s not too cold out you can grab some hot okonomiyaki from a street vendor.  The okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is folded in half and wrapped with a paper plate so that you won’t need utensils to eat it.  The only bad thing is that street vendors do not always have the most variety when it comes to the ingredients. 

After the okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is made, some people sprinkle some fish flakes or some soy sauce on top.  The great thing about okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is that you can put whatever you want in it.  It’s a great experimental food for all you aspiring chefs out there!