Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Layered versus Osaka Mixed Style

Ingredients

• For the batter (both styles)
• 120 g plain flour
• 180 ml dashi broth, for the batter; additional ladleful reserved for Hiroshima steam step
• 2 eggs, one for batter, one cracked onto griddle for Hiroshima egg layer
• 80 g nagaimo (mountain yam), peeled and finely grated; Osaka only — adds fluffiness to the batter
• Osaka style — mixed filling
• 300 g green cabbage, finely shredded
• 120 g pork belly, thinly sliced
• Hiroshima style — layered construction
• 400 g green cabbage, finely shredded; the volume is intentionally large — it compresses dramatically under heat and steam
• 150 g bean sprouts
• 120 g pork belly, thinly sliced
• 80 ml dashi broth, ladled over the raw vegetable mountain during the steam step
• 200 g cooked yakisoba noodles, pre-cooked and loosened
• 2 eggs, cracked and spread thin on the griddle to receive the finished stack
• Finishing condiments (both styles)
• 4 tbsp okonomiyaki sauce
• 4 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 tsp aonori, dried green seaweed flakes
• 5 g katsuobushi, dried bonito flakes

Method

1. 1
   OSAKA STYLE. Combine the flour, 180 ml dashi, one egg, and the grated nagaimo in a bowl. Mix until just combined — do not overwork. Fold in the shredded cabbage and sliced pork belly. The batter will be thick and heavily loaded with cabbage. Pour onto a lightly oiled, hot griddle as a round of approximately 2 cm depth. The batter is ready when it holds its shape and the edges are set — it will not spread further.
2. 2
   OSAKA STYLE — THE FLIP. Cook the first side until the underside is firm and deep golden, and the surface shows small bubbles breaking through. Flip once using a wide spatula in a single decisive movement. The dish lives or dies here: a Hiroshima cook would call it the most forgiving flip in okonomiyaki, and it must be done only when the pancake is fully set enough to hold its shape as a unit — a loose, underset pancake will collapse and cannot be corrected. Press gently with the spatula after flipping. Cook the second side until equally golden and the centre is cooked through.
3. 3
   HIROSHIMA STYLE — THE CREPE BASE. On a separately oiled, hot griddle, ladle a thin portion of plain batter (flour and dashi only, no egg, no nagaimo) and spread immediately into a thin crepe of approximately 20 cm diameter. The crepe is ready when the surface has just set and lost its raw shine — it should remain pale, not coloured.
4. 4
   HIROSHIMA STYLE — THE VEGETABLE MOUNTAIN. While the crepe is still on the griddle, immediately pile the shredded cabbage and bean sprouts in a compact, high mound directly on top of the crepe. Lay the pork belly slices across the top of the vegetable mound. Ladle the reserved 80 ml of dashi broth over the entire mound. The steam generated within the stack is what cooks the cabbage from within — the mound will be far larger than seems manageable, but it will compress as the internal steam does its work. Cover with a bowl or dome lid if available. The vegetables are ready when the mountain has visibly collapsed to roughly half its original height and the cabbage has softened.
5. 5
   HIROSHIMA STYLE — THE NOODLE LAYER. Place the pre-cooked yakisoba noodles on the griddle surface beside the steaming vegetable stack and heat them until lightly coloured and beginning to crisp at the edges. Slide them into a flat round approximately the same diameter as the crepe below. They are ready when they hold their shape as a coherent disc.
6. 6
   HIROSHIMA STYLE — THE ASSEMBLY AND THE DEFINITIVE FLIP. This is where the dish lives or dies. Using two metal spatulas simultaneously, lift the entire crepe-vegetable-protein stack as a unit and invert it onto the noodle disc, so the crepe now faces upward and the pork is between the vegetables and the noodles. On a cleared section of the griddle, crack the remaining eggs and spread each one thin. When the egg surface has just begun to set but remains glossy, slide the assembled noodle-vegetable-crepe stack onto the egg, crepe-side down, so the egg becomes the uppermost surface when the cook performs the final inversion — placing the stack egg-side up on the plate. The entire construction — crepe, cabbage, bean sprouts, pork, noodles, egg — must transfer as a single intact layer. Any collapse at this stage cannot be recovered.
7. 7
   FINISHING — BOTH STYLES. Apply okonomiyaki sauce across the surface only after the pancake or stack is fully cooked and transferred to the plate. Sauce applied to a still-cooking surface burns and turns bitter. Finish with Japanese mayonnaise in parallel lines, aonori scattered across the whole surface, and katsuobushi flakes, which will animate in the residual heat.