Japanese pizza - Okonomiyaki

Do you like to eat pizza?

How about Japanese-style pizza? If you like to eat Japanese food, you should be able to guess what I mean by Japanese pizza or pancake.

Yes, It is Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き). The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked"

In Japan, there are two kinds of okonomi-yaki style basically: Osaka and Hiroshima style. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, chopped cabbage is cooked on top of thinly spread batter. Also, yakisoba noodles are usually added in Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, while Osaka-style okonomiyaki, chopped cabbage is mixed with the batter and cooked together.

The batter is made of flour, grated yam, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, The menu of an okonomiyaki restaurant will provide several kinds of filler ingredients like pork, shrimp, squid, octopus, kimchi, mochi or cheese. An order of okonomiyaki consists of a bowl of pancake-like batter and a dish containing diced vegetables and the meat or seafood. There is another variation of okonomiyaki called monjayaki, which served with a layer of fried noodles (either yakisoba or udon)
The chef will come by to turn on the grill at your table and brush the surface with oil; after that-if it's a cook-it-yourself place-the adventure begins. Start by mixing together all the ingredients; then, when the grill is hot enough, pour the mixture onto the grill. To flatten the pancake and push it into shape, the chef will use a kind of spatula. Before and after turning, the top of the pancake will be brushed with a special sauce, and then added  with aonori (green seaweed powder) and katsuo (dried bonito shavings) .