Okonomiyaki: The omelettepancakepizza!

There's a whole street of stores a few blocks north of us selling one local delicacy known as Monjayaki. One friend described this as "casserole on a griddle" It seems appropriate, since Monjayaki never quite becomes firm. You just scoop up some gloop with your little paddle/chisel. What's in it? There are so many variations it's hard to summarize. Vegetables, meat, a little flour and water, and maybe cheese, kimchi or some other addition.

As you can tell from this picture, no one can complain about how their monjayaki was cooked, since they cook it themselves. One other specialty is okonomiyaki, which literally means "cooked as you like it" and features a huge variety of ingredients. The base is an egg/flour mixture that is both like a pancake and an omelette, and the other things added make it like a pizza. At least this one does become solid as it cooks. It's covered with a sweet brown date sauce once it's ready to eat.

You can tell by the summer clothing and Laura's presence that this was taken in the summer. Things are getting chilly here now, and Laura's studying hard for her first exams in nursing, but the Monjayaki street still serves these dishes all year round. Maybe they should try a turkey and cranberry monjayaki or okonomiyaki for expat Canadians in October!