There’s something unsettling about food moving on the plate. If you’ve eaten raw oysters then you’ll probably know that you can touch the membrane at the edge of the shell with a fork to check that it recoils. If it doesn’t recoil, then either the oyster was dead before it was opened – in which case it should be avoided – or else it was opened by an inexperienced shucker who managed to kill the oyster in the process. Shucks! Either way, it’s a grim way to start a meal.
Enough about oysters. What I really want to discuss is something much more surreal. Coincidentally, I’m writing this on the day that the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí was exhumed so that DNA samples could be taken for a paternity case. The newspapers are full of reports that his trademark moustache is still intact almost 3 decades after his death and the word surreal appears everywhere.
The surreal dish in question is okonomiyaki. Let’s start with the name; like opening an oyster, it needs practice to become perfect and it’s best to start slowly if you’re seeing it for the first time. O-konomi-yaki. Listen to the pronunciation:
(credit). Practice saying it aloud when you’re on your own and soon you’ll be ready to say it in public – in a restaurant I mean, not on public transport.
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake dish. The name means “what you like – grilled”. The one pictured above is an unlikely, but delicious, combination of shredded cabbage, prawns, bacon (optional but, by default, included) and Japanese mayonnaise served hot, often in a stone dish. The surreal part is the topping of katsuobushi shavings which appear to be alive as they dance in the heat – mesmerizing!
Katsuobushi is dried, fermented and smoked skipjack tuna. It is often substituted by the cheaper bonito fish (in which case the shavings are called Bonito flakes). The taste is pure umami about which I’ll be posting soon. Umami is now considered to be one of the five basis tastes together with bitterness, saltiness, sourness and sweetness.
Where? Unfortunately, okonomiyaki isn’t on the menu at every Japanese restaurant. I ate the one pictured above and in the video at Hinodeya, Rue du Trône / Troonstraat 71, 1050 Brussels. Tel. 02 502 5205
Why? If you already know okonomiyaki then Hinodeya make a very good version. If you don’t know okonomiyaki then Hinodeya is a great place to try it for the first time – now that you know how to pronounce it!
If you’re interested in unusual food check out Where … to eat worms and Where … you’ll need three raincoats.