Kaleem Sukanya

With a history as rich as its flavor, Japan's "pancake/pizza/crepe/omelette" will fill you up and ensure you come back for more.

Okonomiyaki is described many ways. "Crepe" and "omelette" are two common comparisons. But you're bound to hear "Japanese pizza" or "Japanese pancake" most often. These monikers are all true to an extent but basically wrong.

Okonomiyaki is a flour based mixture cooked on a griddle. Thus a cake from a pan, or "pancake." But it doesn't have the sweetness of fluffiness the name connotes (at least in the American sense).

Its pizzaness comes from the various ingredients. Just like you can have whatever you want on your pizza, you can have whatever you want on (or in) your okonomiyaki.

In fact, the name okonomiyaki お好み焼き means "whatever you like grilled." The first part of the word okonomi お好み means "choice" or "preference." If you use the word konomi 好み in a sentence, it can mean "one's type." As in "He is my type." The second part, yaki 焼き means "cooking," "frying," or "heating." It's the same yaki in teriyaki, yakisoba, and yakiniku.

As the name insists, you can do what you like. But there are some differences in ingredients that change the style of the dish depending on the region of Japan.

The two main styles are Osaka (or Kansai) style and Hiroshima style.

Because you can add "whatever you like" the possibilities are endless. But there are certain ingredients which must be present before you can start adding things to the batter. Here are the essentials that make up Osaka style okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki is a special part of the culture in the Kansai region of Japan. So much so, that they think of it in special ways. Even though it is packed full of carbs, citizens of Kansai consider it okazu 御数. Okazu is a dish that goes with rice. In this case, carbs with carbs. People from other parts of Japan think this is weird.

Besides "okazu," another special label for okonomiyaki is "konamon." In Osaka and the Kansai region, foods made with flour are called konamon 粉モン. Kona 粉 means powder and "mon" is "mono" ("stuff" or "things") in the Kansai dialect. Thus okonomiyaki is considered "konamon" in Osaka.

Osaka style may also be referred to as "Kansai style" in parts of Kansai. But the main difference in this sub-style is the mayonnaise. Osaka style always has mayonnaise as a topping. But other cities in Kansai such as Kobe or Hyogo likely will not.

If you saunter into Hiroshima and try to cook up some Osaka style okonomiyaki, a local is likely to approach your griddle and say, "We don't take kindly to that kinda cookin' in these parts."

Actually, that wouldn't happen. Hiroshima people are really nice (though there are definitely a lot of yakuza there). They would probably just make you some of their signature okonomiyaki with a big smile. Don't ask for "Hiroshima style" in Hiroshima though. Just ask for okonomiyaki. Asking for "Hiroshima style" implies their style is not the main and truest style of the dish in existence. And you don't wanna do that.

What sets Hiroshima style apart? The ingredients are mostly the same as the Osaka style. The most noticeable difference is the noodles. Hiroshima okonomiyaki is topped with yakisoba or udon noodles and a fried egg. The soba noodles are much more common though. Instead of mixing ingredients into the batter, they are layered. And there's a heck of a lot more cabbage too, up to four times as much as the Osaka variety. The cabbage is piled on top. As it cooks down, it's flattened and more cabbage is added. Beansprouts are also a signature Hiroshima ingredient. The most noticeable difference flavor-wise is the sauce. Hiroshima style sauce is sweet, whereas Osaka sauce is a tad spicy.

The origin of okonomiyaki can be traced back to the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1603). At that time, a man well-known for impacting tea ceremony named Sen no Rikyu is credited with creating something called funoyaki 麸の焼き, also known as fuyaki 麩焼き. People in northern Shiga prefecture call it "funayaki" in their dialect.

This dish is made of wheat dough which is rolled thin, toasted, and topped with poppy seeds, Japanese pepper miso paste, and sugar. Because the rolled shape looks like a sutra scroll, it was served at Buddhist ceremonies in autumn. In a way, it's like the Japanese crepe.

From the Edo period to the Meiji period, funoyaki evolved. Sweet bean paste called nerian 練餡 replaced the miso paste at the end of Edo period. The sweet treat got even sweeter and was called sukesouyaki 助惚焼.

There's actually a bit of a myth involved in the funoyaki/sukesouyaki evolution. It was started by food researcher Tekishū Motoyama 本山荻舟 in an article on okonomiyaki in the Heibonsha 1964 encyclopedia vol.3 p.455. There were two snacks during the Edo period, gintsuba 銀鍔 in Kansai, and kintsuba 金鍔 in Edo. The myth says sukesouyaki was a popular variant of the Edo variety. A variant of a variant, if you will.

But this is dubious.

There are no sources in Japanese to support this theory besides the one Motoyama wrote himself. This theory has been spread around English sources thanks to Wikipedia citing it.

Here's the real story behind gintsuba/kintsuba:

In the Tenna/Tenwa-nenkan 天和年間 era of the Edo period (1681-1684), "gintsuba" was created in Kyoto, around the Kiyomizu temple area. It quickly spread to the surrounding Kansai area. The dough was made from non-glutinous rice flour, top-grade stuff.

The recipe made its way to Edo during the Kyoho 享保 era of the Edo period (1716-1736). The ingredients changed from top-grade rice flour to ordinary wheat flour. Though the main ingredient was downgraded, the name was upgraded from "gintsuba" meaning "silver sword guard" to "kintsuba" meaning "gold sword guard," because gold sounded fancier. Kintsuba got popular in the Bunka/Bunsei 文化/文政 era of the Edo period (1804-1830). It's still sold in Japan to this day. But it did not spawn any variants, thus it did not spawn sukesouyaki.

Sukesouyaki was created in the same place and period as kintsuba, but about 100 years earlier. Sukesouyaki was made in the Kanei 寛永 era of Edo period (1624-1645) by Sajibei Ookimoto 大木元佐治兵衛. The hikifuda 引札 (announcement flier) he made to introduce sukesouyaki is on display at the Bank of Japan Currency Museum ( kahei-hakubutsukan 貨幣博物館 ).

There we go. Myth busted. Funoyaki spawned sukesouyaki, and there was nothing in between. Onward ho!

In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the sweet sukesouyaki spawned two new savory dishes, monjayaki もんじゃ焼き and dondonyaki どんどん焼き. Both were created in Tokyo.

Monjayaki (often called "monja") is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter with various ingredients. It's similar to okonomiyaki but its batter is more liquid. It was only made in restaurants. Eventually, a portable street food variety was created called dondonyaki.

Dondonyaki is also made of pan-fried batter. But it's solid and rolled up on a stick. It was sold at festivals, during which the sounds of taiko 太鼓 drums filled the air. The sound of taiko in Japanese is "don-don-don." So it was given the catchy name, "dondonyaki." It's still sold at a festivals today and there is also a fried variety.

Monjayaki/dondonyaki went from sometimes food to staple meal after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 caused a food shortage in the Tokyo area. The dish's ubiquity in Tokyo caused it to move down to Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kobe. People there removed the stick, making the portable dondonyaki stationary. They flattened it out and added green onion. Because it was covered in Worcestershire sauce, it was called issen-youshoku 一銭洋食 (cheap Western food) to advertise how affordable it was. Around that time, if you poured Worcestershire sauce on any kind of food, it was considered Western food.

Eventually a variant of issen-youshoku called betayaki ベタ焼き was created in Kyoto. This dish added ingredients like beans, konnyaku, and soy sauce. Another similar dish called choboyaki チョボ焼き was cooked up around this time. Since choboyaki uses a pan with half rounded dents, it's considered to be the origin of takoyaki. In Kansai dialect, "beta" means "flat" and "chobo" means "small rounded thing." Sometimes, all three names, issen-youshoku, betayaki, and choboyaki, are used interchangeably. To further mix things up, these dishes were also sometimes called issen-yaki 一銭焼き or issen-teishoku 一銭定食.

This issen-youshoku revolution continued to swirl around Kansai until the end of the Taisho period (1912-1926). In Kobe the issen-youshoku idea evolved into nikuten にくてん, which is close to the current okonomiyaki (though not quite there). Nikuten tops flour batter with a ton of ingredients and fries it in a pan. The ingredients used differ between regions. The original Kobe recipe uses beef tendon and konnyaku.

The origin of the name "nikuten" in unclear. The first part, niku 肉, is "meat." But there are three theories surrounding the ten てん part of the word. One says it's from "tenkasu" (tempura bits), which are an ingredient. The second says it come from the kanji 転 (flip), because you flip the batter on a pan. Finally, the てん could come from tempura てんぷら because nikuten uses a lot of oil, like tempura does.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, food was scarce. And that meant starvation. There were monthly food rations set up by occupation authorities and the government. But distribution was chaotic. Extra flour was added to rations to make up for the lack of rice. (This is why flour is sometimes called meriken-ko メリケン粉 in Japan. "Meriken" came from "American" and ko 粉 meaning powder.) This gave issen-youshoku and other flour dishes a big boost in popularity.

Though issen-youshoku began life as a children's snack, it became a cheap, filling meal for postwar people living in Kansai. But this meant more changes to the recipe. In Hiroshima, bean sprouts were added. But cabbage was the game changer. Cabbage was added to issen-youshoku to make the dish more filling. The leafy green had become popular in Japan around 1904. Even though it's a winter vegetable, it was cheap year round. It was usually fried or put in soup at home, and its staple status made it a no-brainer when people started adding to their homemade issen-youshoku.

But it didn't end with cabbage. With little to eat, people started adding whatever ingredients they had available to make the meal more nutritious. Eventually this led to the name "konomiyaki" (which is "whatever you like grilled" as I mentioned earlier). The honorific "o" was eventually added to make the name more polite. And finally we have "okonomiyaki." For all intents and purposes, we have arrived at the modern incarnation of the dish.

If you're wondering when egg was added, actually historians aren't sure. Eggs were expensive before and after WWII, so it's safe to say they weren't part of konomiyaki until the post-war period.

In Hiroshima, the issen-youshoku took a similar turn. When American forces distributed flour around 1950, people there added more green onion to issen-youshoku. But it wasn't very filling. So bulky cabbage was added, as was done in the rest of the country. But Hiroshima went the extra mile, throwing noodles into the mix, making Hiroshimayaki distinct from similarly evolving dishes elsewhere.

Meat was hard to come by after the war. Beef had been mainstream during the Meiji period and amazing dishes like sukiyaki were invented. But the Russo‐Japanese War started in 1904 and put a stop to Japan's enjoyment of beef. It was only given to soldiers and became unavailable in the rest of the country. This pushed pork into the limelight. As WWII wore on, all meat became scarce and didn't reappear until the post-war period. This is when issen-youshoku innovators started adding thin slices of meat to okonomiyaki for an inflated price. It's rumored that dog and cat meat was used as "pork" during Japan's poorest post-war years. It's highly likely considering the scarcity of food and the hunger of the population.

This is all well and good for food made at home. But what about okonomiyaki restaurants? We already talked about Kobe's nikuten, but that was only a step in the evolution. Okonomiyaki was evolving in Kansai, so it has to be in that region, right? Maybe Osaka?

Actually there are two pieces of information that point to the first okonomiyaki restaurant being in Tokyo! And if it's true, it may have been created there as well. Don't tell anyone in Osaka. They'll kill you dead.

Osaka's first okonomiyaki restaurant, Botejyu, was established in 1946, which is 9 years after Asakusa Sometarou. Hmmm…if number 2 is true, that's no good for Osaka. It's interesting to think about, but neither of these theories have that much evidence to support them. There's a lot more evidence supporting the idea that okonomiyaki evolved over time. But who knows? Records get lost. Maybe these theories fit into okonomiyaki's evolution somehow.

Whether or not okonomiyaki was invented in Osaka, it's definitely the city where it caught on and became part of the culture (besides Hiroshima of course). In 1946, a restaurant called Botejyu was established in Nishinari, Osaka. They served a variety of okonomiyaki such as tontama とん玉 (pork okonomiyaki) and ikatama いか玉 (okonomiyaki). The restaurant eventually got a hold of American mayonnaise from Osaka's black market. They adjusted the taste and introduced the mayonnaise topping to the dish.

In 1957, Botejyu opened a Soemoncho branch in Namba, Osaka. Namba is a well-known "pink district" filled with hostess bars and other night spots. Botejyu's founder invented their iconic spicy mayo which pairs well with alcohol. This made the restaurant even more famous and in 1957, Botejyu was split into "Botejyu Souhonke" (Original Botejyu) and "Osaka Botejyu." Sadly Botejyu Souhonke went bankrupt in 2009. But you can still taste the original recipe at Osaka Botejyu.

After the success of Botejyu, okonomiyaki restaurants became popular all over Osaka. There was at least one in every Osaka town by 1955. It was a common business venture for married couples and widows who lost their husbands during the war. Soon there were 4 or 5 okonomiyaki restaurants in each town. It's said there were even some okonomiyaki restaurants facing each other in some places. Like an Osaka Starbucks, in a way.

At the same time okonomiyaki was conquering Osaka, it swept across Hiroshima in a big way. The first vendors set up shop in 1950. During this okonomiyaki renaissance, two men, Isao Ise and Zenjiro Nakamura, founded their okonomiyaki empires. They set up their respective establishments in a row of food stalls, which would later be overtaken with okonomiyaki to form "Okonomimura" or okonomiyaki village (more on that later). Ise named his restaurant Micchan みっちゃん and Nakamura named his Zensan ぜんさん. Hot on their heels came Reichan 麗ちゃん and Henkutsuya へんくつや. And all of these restaurants are open today, if you want a taste of history.

If Hiroshima didn't have enough okonomiyaki restaurants, a devastating snow storm in 1963 damaged a lot of farms in the Chuugoku region on Japan. The displaced farmers moved to Hiroshima and opened okonomiyaki restaurants, adding to the Hiroshimayaki saturation.

Up until 1965, you could take your own eggs and meat to an okonomiyaki chef in Hiroshima and they would add it to your meal. Those ingredients were rare during the post-war period and many vendors only offered vegetarian okonomiyaki out of necessity. Hiroshimayaki was just BYOE&M (eggs and meat). It was also BYOP (plate). You could use the restaurant's plates for dine-in, of course. But if you wanted to take your Hiroshimayaki home, you had to bring your own plate. Disposable flatware wasn't an option at that point.

At first, Hiroshimayaki was just layers of veggies and batter, which was served folded in half. Initially green onions were more common in Hiroshimayaki than cabbage, when compared with its Osaka counterpart. After WWII, green onion was replaced with cabbage because the cabbage prices were more stable and reasonable throughout the year.

After the invention of instant ramen in 1958, Hiroshimayaki's signature noodle ingredient joined the mix. Yakisoba was the most popular choice, but sometimes udon was allowed in as well. Since the number of ingredients increased so significantly, Hiroshimayaki became difficult to fold in half. So Hiroshimayaki chefs began serving it flat like its Osaka cousin.

With this, Hiroshima style okonomiyaki was complete.

With so much love and dedication put in by the citizens of Hiroshima and Osaka, it wouldn't be long before the rest of Japan wanted a taste. In 1953, Japanese people saw their first television broadcast. If there's one thing true of Japanese TV today, it's that food showcasing is wildly popular. And it was like that from the beginning. Even though TV was black and white until 1960, the broadcast images of okonomiyaki made all of Japan hungry. Popularity spread nationwide. And everyone was happy forever.

Today, okonomiyaki is all over Japan. There are so many places to choose from. But whether you're visiting or living in Japan, you'll want to get it from the best restaurants possible.

There are two types of okonomiyaki restaurants:

Having chef-prepared okonomiyaki usually means the dish is cooked to perfection. Even if you've made it yourself before, you won't have the spatula skills of a pro chef.

On the other hand, making okonomiyaki at your table is an awesome social experience. Even if the food doesn't come out "perfect," you'll have a great time cooking with your friends.

Below is a list of the best restaurants in Japan that serve what you like grilled.

When searching for okonomiyaki, you have to go to Osaka first. It's basically the birthplace of the dish and most definitely the city that does it best (unless you're into the Hiroshima style. Then go to Hiroshima).

Here are the 10 best places to get okonomiyaki in Osaka.

The go-to place for okonomiyaki in Osaka is Mizuno. It's the holy grail of these types of restaurants, if you will. There's limited seating, so don't be surprised if you have to wait 30 minutes or more to get in.

The restaurant is located in touristy Dotonbori. But don't let the modern interior design fool you. This is a family run eatery and has been for over 65 years. The original shop was bombed in World War II, but was relocated, rebuilt, and has been thriving to this day.

The English menu caters to visitors, so it's easy to figure out what you're getting even if it's your first okonomiyaki experience.

The chefs cook the okonomiyaki on a griddle at your table. Some people have complained about the rudeness of the wait staff. I can't say I was there for the "rudeness" they encountered, but it's Osaka. The city has a different vibe than the rest of Japan. People used to Tokyo manners may find Osakans "rude."

If you can only try one thing at Mizuno, get their Yamaimoyaki. It's been on the menu since the restaurant opened and is definitely the most popular dish. It's made with Mizuno's signature yam flour, which gives it a smooth texture and sweet flavor. It's topped with roast pork and scallops.

Have you ever seen "Jiro Dreams of Sushi?" Take the scenario from that documentary, replace sushi with okonomiyaki, make Jiro dead, and that's Tengu.

Tengu is actually two restaurants, one run by a man named Waka and the other by Waka's brother. Waka runs the shop near Nakatsu station and Waka's brother runs the one near Osaka station (see addresses below for more details).

Waka's grandparents started Tengu in 1965. Waka and his brother have been carrying on the tradition ever since, albeit in different locations.

The okonomiyaki at Tengu is made by a master chef and brought to your table piping hot. And this artisan okonomiyaki won't break the bank. Prices can be ¥630, ¥780, or ¥830.

Be prepared to wait. There are only 18 seats at Waka's location.

Founded in 1956, it's also a family business but has maintained the vibe more than Mizuno did. It's a real hole-in-the-wall restaurant and the prices reflect that. Only ¥530 for small okonomiyaki, ¥730 for medium, and ¥950 for large. Eat fast because others are waiting. It only seats 12.

There are actually tons of Okonomiyaki Chibo locations all over Osaka (and Tokyo and Kanto and China). So check out their store location list DEAD LINK for more.

Hiroshima offers so much to visitors. But one of the must-try experiences is the Hiroshimayaki. It's incredibly difficult to make, more so than the Osaka style, so take the opportunity to get it made by a pro when you can. One of these six restaurants will give you that unforgettable experience.

If you only have time to visit one okonomiyaki spot in Hiroshima, make it this one. Imagine a four story mall wherein each shop is a Hiroshimayaki restaurant. Beautiful.

Take your pick of 25 okonomiyaki joints. If one is busy, just go next door. Or up one floor. Or down. It's a loud, boisterous, busy place. Eat here for bustling intensity with your meal. It's a self-described "theme park."

Okonomimura began as a street full of food stalls. The first two okonomiyaki stalls (Micchan and Zensan) did so well, others followed. Though there were other foods available in the area, the majority of stalls served the dish. So much so that writer Minoru Kida said of the place, "It's as if it's an okonomimura (okonomiyaki village)." And the name stuck.

By 1957, there were about 50 stalls. Things were going well for the food vendors on this street until 1965 when the area was turned into a park. Everybody had to leave. The most successful "Micchan," "Reichan," "Zensan," and "Henkutsuya" were popular enough to establish their own brick and mortar restaurants. But other couldn't.

Some gave up, but 14 of them didn't want to quit. They united and decided to create a new Okonomimura in December 1965. And so the official Okonimura was founded. It became a popular destination for school trips coming from all over Japan. The original Okonimura building closed closed in 1990 due to disrepair and safety concerns. So all participating restaurants moved into the current building in 1992.

If you're not hungry when you set out for Okonomimura, you probably will be by the time you get there. If you don't take a taxi from Hiroshima station, it's a 22 minute walk. Good way to burn some calories before you pack them on.

This is the main location, but there's more than one so check the website for the one closest to you.

When visiting Japan, chances are you'll be in Tokyo. If you're not able to make it to Osaka, no worries. There's still plenty of okonomiyaki to be had. Tokyo has a little bit of everything.

This is in a touristy part of Tokyo, so you're bound to be nearby it sometime. There's an English menu for easy ordering (but try speaking some Japanese anyway).

If you remember, this is (possibly) the first okonomiyaki restaurant in Japan. It's a cook-it-yourself place, so go with some friends. If you're having trouble making your pancake, the staff is willing to help. The interior is cozy with tatami seating. That means shoes off and sitting on the floor in front of the griddle (start practicing your seiza). No hurting your wallet here. The most expensive okonomiyaki is only ¥900. Since Tokyo is neutral okonomiyaki territory you can try whichever style you want, Osaka or Hiroshima.

It's our swanky friends Chibo again. Check their website for more Tokyo locations. DEAD LINK

If you can't find a restaurant that serves okonomiyaki near you, good news: it's easy to make at home. Well, the Osaka variety is. Hiroshimayaki takes a bit more practice. But it's still possible. Japanese families may have an electric griddle so the can cook together at the dinner table. If you don't have one of those, you can use a frying pan on the stovetop.

Let's check out some ingredients and show you how to make okonomiyaki for dinner tonight.

1. Spatula: hera へら (in standard Japanese), kote こて (in Kansai dialect), or teko てこ (in Hiroshima dialect)

Today many people in Hiroshima call spatulas "hera," forsaking their native word. If you go to a hardware store, it may be called okoshigane 起し金. In okonomiyaki restaurants, it's called kaeshi 返し meaning "a flipping thing."

You may want two big spatulas to flip the pancake and one small one for cutting into small pieces. In an okonomiyaki restaurant, the big one is called oo-teko 大テコ and the small one is called koteko 小テコ. In the Kansai area, the name for the small one was shortened from "koteko" to "kote" and became part of the local lexicon. If you don't have a small spatula at home, don't worry. Okonomiyaki isn't hard to cut. In fact, Mami always uses chopsticks to cut hers into pieces.

2. Oiling Brush: Abura-biki or Abura-hiki 油引き

Used with oilcan: Abura-tsubo 油壺

"Abura" means oil and "hiku" means to pull or draw. But the verb is also used for "to oil" or "to grease." If you want to say, "please oil the frying pan," the Japanese would be furai-pan ni abura o hiite kudasai フライパンに油を引いて下さい.

"Tsubo" means jar or pot. If you use a big grilling pan, the oiling brush is a necessary. But most people don't bother with it. Many simply use a paper towel (called "kitchen paper" in Japanese English). Surprisingly, some people use tenugui. Good ones suck up the oil better. And the more you use it, the more oil it absorbs making it work better.

3. Bowl: booru ボール

Use any bowl to mix the flour. Any bowl at all. Except a dirty one.

4. Whisk: awadate-ki 泡立て器

Whisks mix best, but some people are so lazy they just use chopsticks, forks, or spoons to mix the batter. Lazy, I say!

5. Flour sieve: kona-furui 粉ふるい

This is to avoid lumps, apparently. Only if you care. About PERFECTION!

6. Measuring cup & measuring spoons: keiryou-kappu or keiryou-supuun 計量カップと計量スプーン

For measuring.

7. Scale: hakari はかり

For scaling.

8. Ladle: otama おたま

For ladling.

9. Kitchen knife: houchou 包丁

For knifing.

10. Electric griddle: hotto pureeto ホットプレート

If you don't mind cooking each okonomiyaki individually, then a frying pan will do just fine. But you definitely need a griddle if you're making the dish with other people. That way you can make multiple pancakes at the same time.

If you don't want to make your okonomiyaki flour from scratch, go ahead and use the pre-made okonomiyaki-ko. (Remember ko 粉 means powder. Like panko.) When Japanese people have okonomiyaki parties at home, many use store-bought flour, called shihan-no-okonomiyakiko 市販のお好み焼き粉.

If you're not sure what to look for when visiting the Asian grocery nearest you, check the links below. These are the different kinds that may be available.

The powder won't take up much fridge space, so cram it in there. Or just make more okonomiyaki.

Cabbage is the heart of okonomiyaki. The flour just holds the cabbage together. It's the most important ingredient in both Osaka and Hiroshima style.

According to the "Larousse Cooking Encyclopedia," there are over 60 kinds of cabbages. North American cabbage is too hard. If you are outside of Japan, look for an Asian or Taiwanese cabbage. If you are in Japan, look for harutama 春玉 / haru-kyabetsu 春キャベツ (spring cabbage), kantama 寒玉 / fuyu-kyabetsu 冬キャベツ (cold/winter cabbage), marutama 丸玉 / guriin booru グリーンボール (green ball cabbage), or chirimen ちりめんキャベツ / saboi-kyabetsu サボイキャベツ (savory cabbage).

The kantama is the best by far, sweet and crunchy. But it's only available in fall and winter. When choosing a cabbage, look for

This is a recipe shared by famous Osaka okonomiyaki vendor, Naniwa Nanitaro. Makes one pancake.

Ingredients:

Toppings:

Other:

Directions:

On the other hand, Otafuku, the famous okonomiyaki sauce company, gives different advice. They say turn the heat up to 240°C. When you flip it, put a lid on.

So, it really is "okonomi" (your preference). You have to find your own way. Some people add cheese, mochi, kimchi or whatever the hell they want. Apparently using small dried shrimp and/or fried squid bits with tenkasu adds flavor too.

Sometimes you really suck starting out. Follow the easy okonomiyaki recipe above as closely as possible. When you're ready to move on, check out this list of tips from Osaka restaurants. A TV show called wafuu souhonke 和風総本家 interviewed 100 okonomiyaki-ya-san お好み焼き屋さん (okonomiyaki restaurant) owners. Here's the results of the survey.

1. What do you do with the cabbage?

2. Secrets of good batter?

None of the restaurant owners wanted to reveal their secrets on this one. However, some said using a dash of milk makes okonomiyaki fluffy and nice. The best ratio is 4 parts okonomiyaki powder, 4 parts dashi water, 1 part milk. So if it's for four people:

3. The balance of cabbage and batter?

The average balance of cabbage and batter is:

4. Most popular ingredients to add to batter?

5. How do you mix the batter and ingredients?

6. Size

The average size is 16.4cm (diameter) and 1.9cm (thickness).

7. Temperature

The average temp is 200°C-ish.

Advice:

8. What do you do with the pork?

9. When do you flip and how?

Flip three to four minutes after grilling the back side (when the rim of okonomiyaki turns dry). You shouldn't angle too much with your spatula. When the okonomiyaki is still raw, flip quickly without hesitating. Don't press or spank the okonomiyaki.

10. How many times do you flip?

11. How can you tell when it's ready?

Half lift the okonomiyaki with your spatula. If it keeps its shape, then it's cooked well. If it bends, the inside is too soft and not cooked yet.

12. How do you put mayonnaise on?

There is no average. It depends on the restaurant.

13. How do you cut okonomiyaki?

When you cut okonomiyaki with spatulas, stand up, keep your upper arms close to your body. Put your weight on the plate/spatulas. Cut quickly. That way, the cut section of each piece will look better.

The main difference between the two styles is layering. Hiroshimayaki is layered rather than mixed like Osaka style. If you're ready to get layering, let's move forward. This is much more difficult than Osaka okonomiyaki, actually. Maybe there's a reason why people from Hiroshima look down their noses at Osaka style and call it "mazeyaki" (mix yaki).

This recipe comes from the great Otafuku sauce company. Makes one okonomiyaki pancake.

Ingredients:

Toppings:

Other:

Directions:

Bodyslide an application often packaged alongside Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer (CBBE). It allows users to customize the bodies of females in Skyrim. CBBE is a Skyrim mod that accomplishes does a number of things, but mostly it:

1. Replaces all the skin textures of the stock NPC models.

2. Replaces the default shape of what female NPCs look like. This goes beyond simply what their skin texture looks like but how large their shoulders, hips, and 'endowments' are. And even more importantly this can all be modified in CBBE's partner program, BodySlide.

By itself CBBE does a lot - namely replacing skin textures and changing the default female NPCs bodies to whatever you chose in the install. But Bodyslide lets you customize body proportions yourself. Bodyslide is a separate application/program that you use outside a game to change what people look like in game. The usage of Bodyslide and its inner working is the primary goal of this document. This guide will assume you know very little about modding or how mods work in Skyrim.

At the very top of Bodyslide is the "Outfit/Body" dropdown. You may have hundreds of these if you've downloaded a lot of armor/clothing mods from the Nexus. Most importantly each one of these will generate a specific ".nif" file. nif files are specific outfits within the game that will be replaced when you generate a nif file from Bodyslide. Like any other mod, nif files will be outputted to your Data folder in the Skyrim directory and will then replace the corresponding nif file built into the game. "Outfit" should be thought of loosely. It does not mean a specific costume, dress, or armor. It is a 3D model ranging from hands, gloves, shoes, helms, but most commonly armors/body and leg clothes (never faces/heads when it comes to Bodyslide), and most importantly the 'naked' body. By default if your character has no armor on they will be given a set of underwear and won't actually be naked. This '.nif' model (which corresponds to the torso) is called by the vanilla Skyrim game: "femalebody_0.nif" (orfemalebody _1.nif which we'll get into). Bodyslide, and CBBE by default, let's you replace this model with a different model by generating a new femalebody_0.nif. This is done by clicking 'Build' once you've picked an "Outfit/Body" that corresponds to that same model/nif. If you never use the BodySlide, CBBE will replace femalebody_0.nif with the default you picked during its installation.

You may find there are hundreds of different selections in the Outfit dropdown, each corresponding to a different .nif model. Unfortunately there's no way to tell from the dropdown which nif model is being replaced (but it's usually obvious based on the name). As a consequence you may very well have several Outfit/Body options in your dropdown that all replace the same .nif model. One of the most common questions in Nexus is why their 'naked' model still has underwear. Most likely this is because you selected the "Never Nude" option when installing CBBE, which replaced the naked female model ("femalebody_0.nif") with one that has underwear. In the image below most of these models, when "Built" replace the same model with a different looking model. The NeverNude models all have underwear.

Note while Bodyslide can replace in-game assets it can also be used to generate .nif files not in game but used by other mods, for example Player Specific models and races.

We will talk about the Sliders first as they will relate to Presets. Once you've picked a Outfit/Body from the game you want to replace, you can now make anatomic changes to it as you see fit. The Sliders are mostly self explanatory. Slide them up and down as you choose to make whatever proportion bigger or smaller. However there are a couple nuances. First, there is a left and a right slider. Why two sliders for one model? The answer is each NPC in the vanilla game is given a 'weight' from 0-100. This allows for some diversity in the shapes and sizes of various NPCs in the base game. The left slider will determine the shape/size of the smallest NPC in skyrim (size 0) and the right slider will determine the size of the biggest NPC (size 100). This is what the "name_1.nif" or "name_0.nif" means; it's the separate models for characters between 0 and 100 weight. This has nothing to do with 'weight' in terms of items or carrying capacity in the game, nor is it related to "weights" of skeletons used for physics which is completely unrelated and will be discussed later. If a character weighs something in between 0 and 100 the game will accordingly pick a size in between the 0 and 1 .nif model.

The "Preview" button helpfully shows you what effect your sliders will have in game. Additionally, it has its own slider at the top that goes from 0-100, representing the gradual change in what the model will look like as the weight changes from 0 to 100. You could actually make a 0 weight character look heavier by simply change the "0" model to have larger proportions than the 100 model.   The sliders you are presented with for each Outfit/Body are custom made by whoever created the uploaded the Outfit. In the standard CBBE mod's case, Caliente imported the vanilla outfits into a separate sister program called Outfit Studio, which allows creators to make these BodySlide sliders for users to play with. He then built the sliders for each of the proportions in that program.

What this means is sliders are different for different downloaded packs.  Not only are there sliders for different sizes of body parts, but some creators even let you delete (or 'zap') entire components of the armor including bags, skirts, etc. This is why you'll often see CBBE outfit packs with different names, such as TBD (Touch of Dibella), UNP, 3BBB, and many others. The CBBE part means the models were created in Outfit Studio and can be edited in CBBE, but the created models may use different sliders than the default sliders. Note many modders do use the default CBBE sliders and will Group (see below) their Outfits accordingly. Not only can the sliders differ, but the starting model is also different. Each creator that makes a Body/Outfit for Bodyslide has "zeroed" (all sliders to the left) the model you start with. From this zeroed model can then make changes. This model will be different from others even when referring to the same .nif file in game. This is why you have a separate slider for "Smaller" and Bigger" rather than the slider starting in the center and letting you go up or down. This is essentially what "Preset" is, the dropdown below Outfit/Body. A Preset is simply a saved arrangement of sliders. All default models start the sliders to the left, and a Preset is a saved configuration for both the 0 and 1 model of various slider positions for the different body parts. Presets are simple to make and you can delete any you like (defaults included). Bodyslide would still work, but you would have to do all the sliders yourself (not recommended). The names of all these Presets are just descriptions (Curvy, Slim, SevenBase, Fetish) and are simply configured sets of sliders applied to the various Outfit/Body models. You can and should make any Presets you like. Presets are very helpful because they allow you to set the sliders in a way you find most appealing and save this configuration for use later. This is easily done by using the Save/Save As function when you're done playing around with the sliders. It is very important to understand the difference between Presets and Outfits/Body. Outfits/Bodies are specific game armor/clothing/bodies models imported from Skyrim that someone else has modified and added to CBBE for you to alter. Presets are your configurations you can make to those models (which is really the point of Bodyslide). You can simply Build Models without using any Presets or adjusting sliders, but a Preset must be used on a Model/Outfit/Body. You can and should make your own Presets, but Outfit/Bodies are downloaded by users (but can be made through Outfit Studio, much more complicated than BodySlide). The other benefit of Presets is it let's you set a specific Model's body proportions, and then load up a different Model (say, a plate armor and a barkeep clothing) and see how the same configuration looks with different types of clothing. This is easily done by just picking your saved preset after you've picked a different armor. You might notice that a Preset isn't showing up on a given Outfit/Body. Why? Different Outfit sets made by different people will have different sliders, it means Presets from one Outfit cannot be easily applied to another sets. If you try to use a Preset on an armor that doesn't share the same sliders, likely nothing will happen! This is why when you save Preset it asks which Groups you want to apply it to. Obviously only apply it to Groups that share the same sliders.This will prevent you from picking a Preset for an Outfit/Body that doesn't even use those sliders. This is a good time to talk about Groups.

Groups help organize the large numbers of Oufits/Bodies you may acquire from Nexus into collections. Some Models are designed to be used together (ie. those with CBBE in their model names usually share the same CBBE sliders as the default sliders that come with CBBE) while others have completely different sliders (see Touched by Dibella). Grouping helps prevent you from applying a set of Presets to a Group/Outfit that doesn't even have that set of sliders. Additionally, Groups also help keep sets of armors that belong together in one package so you can easily Batch Build them. Batch Building is the primary reason Groups are so helpful, which will be explained below. Let's try filtering out some Groups. Click on "Group Filter". While you can type out a name I strongly recommend you select "Choose Groups" as Groups must be spelled exactly to show up and if you want to select more than one they have to be separated by commas . (Note choosing more than one Group is an "or" function, as in it'll include any Members that belong to any of the chosen Groups, this is opposed to an "add" function that selects members that must in both groups). You'll see a list of different Groups. You may notice there is CBBE, and also CBBE Bodies, and maybe CBBE Vanilla Outfits. The CBBE group will actually contain all the Outfits/Bodies in the latter two categories. "CBBE Bodies" will only contain the naked (and underwear .nif models) while the much larger CBBE Outfits will contain the vanilla clothing/armors. Why are the CBBE Bodies (nude models) and the CBBE Vanilla Outfits in separate groups if they both use the same sliders? The reason is because Caliente's Preset Sliders packaged with CBBE have two variations: Normal, and Outfit. The main difference is the bust is more 'pushed up' in the Outfit model, as if the character was wearing some kind of support, which they probably are! By separating these Groups out it'll be easier to "Build" models for Outfits, and make them different from the nude models..   Groups are often downloaded in package, but they can also be created via the Group Manager Button. Clicking this will open a window that clearly shows how Groups are defined. Right now everything is greyed out, but click Browse and select CBBE.xml. You should see 2 Groups: CBBE, and CBBE Bodies. Below each you'll see the Outfits/Bodies that each Group contains. Groups are not mutually exclusively and a single model can be added to many different groups. And in fact in this case, both Groups seem to have the exact same 'Members' ('Members' are just Outfits/Body that are now in a Group). Why have 2 Groups with the exact members? The reason is they actually don't contain the same members. CBBE generates Groupings in the main window based on all the XML files in its folder. If you look in the folder there are usually several XML files, and together the different CBBE subtypes will be more clear (Vanilla Outfits, Dragonborn, etc). As you collect more Models/Outfits they will usually come nicely organized into Groups of their as instructed by the XML files they come with. Models/Outfits that have the same default CBBE sliders will be added to the generic CBBE group AND usually their own Group as well. This accomplishes two things: tells the user that these armor sets use the standard CBBE slider, but also let’s you subgroup them from other CBBE armor sets that have similar nifs.   Back in the main window there is another filter window next to "Group Filter" called "Outfit Filter". This is a simpler but less powerful tool for filtering all the Outfits. It's simply a keyword search. Here you do want to type in the Outfit you're looking for. Try Iron, Fur, or Leather. This will filter out all selected Groups that have any of those terms in the name (this would be an "and" function). While this is helpful for quickly searching an armor Grouping is much more powerful when doing Batch jobs which will be explained below. Note you can build Groups from the Outfit Filter by selecting it again after you've done a search and creating a Group ("Save Outfit list as group")

Up to this point, we've skirted around the large, Build Button. You can do anything you want in Bodyslide and nothing will happen in your game, until you hit Build. What does this do exactly? Build does 3 things at once: 1) It checks to see which Outfit/Body you've picked. This always corresponds to a single, specific armor/clothing mesh/.nif file. 2) It then looks at the slider configuration you've made (or perhaps selected as a Preset, it doesn't matter), and 3) it will then create 2 files, the "xxx_0.nif" & "xxx_1.nif" that get added to your Data folder (or Mod Manager virtual folder). It is this file that replaces all those armors/clothing in the game to the proportions as you've selected.  There is a bit of added functionality if you hover over the "Build" button. Holding CTRL will add the nif files to the "working directory". This does not add the files to the game at all but exports the nif file to the BodySlide folder for editing with other programs. It is not useful to us. Holding ALT and click Build will delete the .nif model you are adding if you no longer want it. I find it of limited utility. One of the most common questions on the forums is why does my model shape inconsistent when going from naked to wearing clothes. The reason is because characters don't actually 'wear' clothes, they replace their entire bodies (torso, etc.) with different models. In order for your character's to be maintained when dressed vs. naked, each model has to be changed to the Preset you selected. The same Preset you used to generate femalebody_0.nif must also be applied all other Outfit/Body models. This means every single armor, clothing outfit, etc. must be "Built" with the chosen Preset. This is where Batch Build comes in; the powerhouse behind BodySlide. Build works well enough, but there are hundreds of models, clicking on Build for each one would take forever. Batch Build solves this. Like Build, it: 1) Checks the slider configuration you've made, but then instead of checking the single Outfit/Body you've picked, 2) it checks which Groups you have chosen (next to Outfit/Body, in the Group Filter Window, You'll know which Outfits are being filtered by checking the Outfit/Body drop down box), and 3) creates two .nif files for each Outfit/Body from all members in the selected Group(s).

You'll be prompted with the complete list of all the filtered Outfits you can add your Preset to when you click this button. If your groups are managed well you shouldn't have many, if any, Outfits/Bodies selected that refer to the same .nif file. Obviously you can't replace the same model with two different meshes/Bodies. If this does happen, BodySlide is kind enough to bring up a second window asking you to resolve the conflict; namely pick which model you wish to choose.     In the above picture after clicking "Batch Build" BodySlide informs me that several of the filtered Outfits are trying to create the same file (femalebody_0.nif). I must pick which model is going to get the Preset to be built into the game.   Like the Build button there is some added functionality with holding CTRL. This time holding CTRL allows you to pick which directory you want the models to be exported to. This can be helpful if you're finding Mod Organizer isn't putting them where you think they should be. ALT-Click once again deletes a batch of models (the same ones that are filtered).  Once you've learned how to Batch Build you've mastered the basics of Bodyslide.   A small note about Build Morphs (the small checkbox at the bottom): This is only used by another mod called RaceMenu to allow you to change body proportion in game without having you constantly build models and relaunch Skyrim until you're satisfised.

The above is a very lengthy, detailed explanation of what Bodyslide is an its function. If all you want is to quickly get some new shapes and bodies, the process is simple:

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