
SHIMO SAN FRANCISCO HOW TO
Tsujimoto was born in Nara, just west of Osaka, and although his parents died while he was young, he taught himself how to make Osaka's thicker style of okonomiyaki. The Japanese swear by the Otafuku brand, which, as a bonus, comes with English instructions.Īll of the ingredients can be found at Japanese grocery stores like Nijiya in Japantown, where many of Tsujimoto's business trips to the Bay Area begin. Premade okonomiyaki flour mixes make things even easier - you simply add water and egg to make the batter. Meanwhile, Izakaya Restaurant in San Jose offers a doughy mochi okonomiyaki, and Namu in San Francisco does a deep-dish Korean version with kimchi.Īll are brought to the table as finished dishes here, whereas many restaurants in Japan have tabletops with a built-in iron griddle called a teppan where you can cook your own.īut true to its roots, okonomiyaki can be made at home, with a non-stick frying pan or griddle. Traditional versions can be found at Halu and Genki Ramen in San Francisco, and even Shimo Modern Steak in Healdsburg. In the Bay Area, a hybrid "modernyaki" is offered at places like Majikku Ramen in Daly City, which has an excellent version with yakisoba, corn and kabocha and at Mifune Don in San Francisco's Japantown. While okonomiyaki's popularity first soared after World War II, other regional styles have developed over the years, most notably Tokyo's monjayaki - a softer and looser version of okonomiyaki where the batter is essentially scraped directly off the griddle with mini spatulas that double as eating utensils. The result is a triple decker of carb on carb that's as savory in taste as it is in sight. And if that's not enough umami, you still add on all the traditional okonomiyaki toppings - mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce and the bonito and seaweed flakes. The pancake/noodle stack then gets stacked on top of a fried egg. Once the pancake is flipped and cooked through, it gets stacked on top of the noodles.īut that's not all.

In a separate area of the griddle or pan, you heat yakisoba noodles with a bit of water. You start with a thin crepe-like layer of batter, pile on cabbage, and perhaps bean sprouts and layer of sliced pork belly. Osaka-style okonomiyaki is the most common, with all ingredients - cabbage, scallions, pickled ginger and the like - mixed into a batter with grated mountain yam, then cooked into a thick pancake. In Japan, there are two main styles of okonomiyaki, and which version the locals prefer depends on where they grew up, much like whether someone from the Bay Area is a 49ers or Raiders fan. Watch carefully, and you'll see the weightless bonito flakes doing the wave in response to heat rising from the pancake. Simultaneously creamy and salty and sweet and savory, it taps the taste buds in all the right ways. It's topped with Japanese mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce - a sweeter version of Worcestershire sauce - and a sprinkling of shaved bonito flakes and dried seaweed flakes. It's made from a flour and dashi batter with cabbage as its main filling, and it's cooked very much like a flapjack, though its texture is sticky rather than fluffy. Think of okonomiyaki as a savory pancake loaded with umami. The few Bay Area restaurants that do serve okonomiyaki dress it up with everything from corn and kabocha to kimchi.

In other words, no strict guidelines exist. "Okonomi" means "as you like." "Yaki" refers to being grilled, as in teppanyaki or yakitori. Every family makes it their own way, and people eat it all the time."Ī hearty and versatile food, the essence of okonomiyaki is found in its name. "I've been eating this since I was a kid," Tsujimoto says through a translator as he scoops his okonomiyaki batter onto a griddle.
SHIMO SAN FRANCISCO FREE
Food shall be transported so as to be pure, free from contamination, adulteration, and spoilage.

042 Improper Inspection at Delivery/Transportation - Food shall be inspected upon receipt and prior to use.042 (Improper Inspection at Delivery/Transportation)įloors, Walls, Ceilings Improperly constructed, in disrepair, not clean
