Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a savoury cabbage pancake griddled in a wheat-and-egg batter, finished with a sweet-savoury sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes. Its name comes from okonomi — "as you like it" — and Osaka, where it's most associated, treats that as a genuine instruction: the filling is whatever the cook has on hand.

What it actually is

Finely shredded cabbage is folded into a batter of flour, egg and dashi, along with whatever else is going in — commonly sliced pork belly, though shrimp, squid or cheese all appear. It's cooked on a flat griddle like a thick pancake, pressed and flipped until both sides are deeply browned and the inside stays soft.

Once plated, it's finished with a thick, sweet okonomiyaki sauce (similar to a Worcestershire-based brown sauce), a lattice of mayonnaise, a scatter of dried green seaweed (aonori) and bonito flakes on top, which curl and shift in the rising heat.

How it's served

• Straight off the griddle, sauced and topped at the counter, often cooked at the table on a built-in teppan.
• Cut into wedges, eaten with a small metal spatula rather than chopsticks.
• As a full meal, not a side — it's substantial enough on its own.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg, fish and soy — the batter, the sauce and the bonito topping cover most of it between them.
• Say what's mixed in: pork, seafood or a vegetarian version — it changes the dish more than the sauce does.
• Note if it's cooked at the table, on a teppan; that's part of the experience for guests who haven't had it before.
• Mention the bonito flakes specifically if you offer a vegetarian option without them — it's an easy thing to miss removing.