NERVUN wrote:Nope, they are very different. The only simmularity that they share is the 'yaki' part, aka, they are both grilled when cooked. Oyaki are stuffed dumplings whereas okonomiyaki is something more like a pancake (Kinda) where you take a batter made out of flour and other stuff and either mix (Osaka style) or layer (Hiroshima style) a number of different ingredients and then fry the hell out of it. The resulting yummy food is then topped with a sauce, noodles, fish flakes (That wave), and/or mayo and served hot off the grill.
Yep, that's it - Osaka soul food at it's best. (Insert country mouse, city mouse argument between me and Nev here, about wheter Osaka has better food than Nagano. lol
)
The batter is flour, grated yam, egg, dashi, and cabbage. Toss in green onions, thin sliced pork, and some shrimp. The sauce is like a thick, slightly sweet Worcestershire sauce. And, Nerv you forgot the aonori!
I've long called the katsuobushi "fish ghosts".
The Tokyo/Kanto variation (read inferior
- yes, bias muchly) is monja-yaki, with a thinner batter.
The other "Osaka soul food" is takoyaki - octopus dumplings topped as like as above.
Some other Japanese "peasant" fare:
Nabe (AKA "hot pot" or "steamboat"): A soup/stew cooked at the table in a communal pot, usually clay or cast iron, with many regional variations. The two basic types are divided by the base stock - it's either dashi (kelp and fish based) and served with a dipping sauce, or a heavier miso, soy sauce, and dashi sans dipping sauce.
becomes...
Donburi (AKA "ricebowl"): cooked stuff (chicken and eggs, thinly sliced beef fried w/ onions, curry, etc.) on top of a big bowl of rice. The one below is the chicken and egg, known as "oyako-don", or "parent and child".
Oden: Stuff like boiled eggs, daikon, konnyaku, and fish cakes stewed in a soy sauce and dashi broth.