Okonomiyaki: street food that helped rebuild Hiroshima in the G7 spotlight
Leaked menus for G7 working dinners can be relied on to generate a flurry of stories about the summit host and its priorities – from the clotted cream fudge and seafood showcased in Cornwall in 2021 to the meat-light, sustainable fare on offer in 2022 in the Bavarian Alps.
If this year’s host, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, follows suit, his G7 counterparts can expect a portion of okonomiyaki – the carb-heavy street food that helped rebuild Hiroshima after it was destroyed by a US atomic bomb.
Restaurants in Hiroshima, where Kishida has his constituency, are using the opportunity to promote the city’s signature dish, typically made with batter, shredded cabbage, fried noodles and pork, the whole starchy edifice seasoned with a layer of sweet sauce, crisscrossed lines of mayonnaise and a sprinkle of dried aonori seaweed.
An earlier version eaten in prewar Hiroshima – known as issen yōshoku, or “one-penny western food” – comprised a simple batter of flour and water cooked on an iron plate and embellished with chopped spring onion and bonito flakes.
A chef cooks okonomiyaki on a griddle at Chinchikurin, a restaurant in Hiroshima, Japan. Photograph: Justin McCurry/The Guardian
After the atomic bombing of 6 August 1945 left Hiroshima in ruins, malnourished survivors retrieved iron plates and turned again to the familiar snack, using huge quantities of flour provided by the US.
As the city recovered, the simple pancake evolved into something far more satisfying, with the addition of pork, cabbage, eggs and yakisoba noodles. Hiroshima okonomiyaki – which roughly translates as “cooked as you like” – was born.
Restaurants are expecting a surge in diners after G7 delegations, journalists and NGOs arrive in Hiroshima this week.
The Oconomiyaki Academy has come up with multiple versions – reflecting the food culture of the G7 countries – which will appear on restaurant menus during the summit: maple syrup sauce for Canada, sausage and sauerkraut for Germany, fish and chips for Britain.
“Okonomiyaki has gone from a food for survival to a speciality of Hiroshima,” the academy’s director, Shigeki Sasaki, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. “Given current global events, we want to incorporate a message into the dishes that they symbolise the peace and reconstruction of Hiroshima.”
The menu at Chinchikurin, one of about 900 okonomiyaki restaurants in Hiroshima, features vegetarian, vegan and halal varieties, and a touchscreen multilingual menu.
“Okonomiyaki are round, which means you can trust them … there are no rough edges,” said the restaurant’s owner, Hiroaki Kawakami, after cooking the Guardian a regular version with an extra fried egg. “This is Hiroshima soul food. And I guarantee you’ll leave here absolutely full.”
Source: The Guardian
