22. Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a popular dish made of wheat dough fried on a hot iron plate. It is customarily eaten with sauce, mayonnaise, powdered seaweed and dried bonito shavings added to the top. The most standard ingredients include cabbage and pork, but the ingredients vary region to region (this is where “okonomi”, or “whatever you like” comes from).
You can find one or two stores specializing in okonomiyaki in every city. In the interior filled with delicious aromas, there are gas-heated iron plates on every table, and the customers receive a bowl with dough in it in exchange for their order, and fry it with their own hands.
It is hard to explain the process here. First, you should look at how the customers around you --in other words, the experts-- do things and imitate them. All of Japan’s salarymen learn the making of okonomiyaki through this mysterious piece of oral tradition.