🍱 Okonomiyaki
This dish is made by mixing finely chopped cabbage, meat, squid, etc., into a batter of flour dissolved in Dashi (Japanese soup stock). The mixture is then spread flat on a griddle and cooked on both sides. Alongside “Takoyaki”, it is a representative dish of the Kansai region's “Konamon” (flour-based) culinary culture. Its roots are said to trace back to the Azuchi-Momoyama period when Sen no Rikyu, the famed tea master, served a confection called "Funoyaki" at a tea gathering. “Funoyaki” involved spreading thinly rolled wheat flour mixed with water on a copper plate, then grilling it. It was often rolled with miso or folded into a crepe-like shape. In the late Edo period, the custom of eating grilled wheat flour on iron plates became popular among common people. In the later Meiji period, a Western-style dish called "Yoshoku-yaki" appeared, using cake flour, cabbage, and sauce. Initially resembling a simple confection, it eventually evolved into Okonomiyaki as various establishments put effort into innovations, incorporating ingredients such as pork and abundant vegetables. Originally, the style was "layered cooking" where ingredients were placed on top of the grilled batter. However, the "mixed cooking" style, where ingredients are mixed into the batter and then grilled, also became popular. Okonomiyaki became widely known throughout Japan as a specialty of Osaka in the late 1950s to the 1960s. The expansion of chain Okonomiyaki restaurants that marketed it as an "Osaka specialty" is considered a contributing factor to its popularity.