Osaka Takoyaki Okonomiyaki

It seemed odd to find these six feet tall figurines in Dotonburi, Osaka- this being the country that invented cup noodles, toilets too snug for the likes of Professor Klump.


Giant Puffer Fish


Giant Octopus


Giant Chipmuck/ Squirrel


Giant Devil boys

Descending upon the streets of Dotonbori, I was on a hunt for street food, takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Takoyakis are quintessential "Osakaian". Case in point: proliferation of takoyaki-related souvenirs (mechanical pencils, crackers, handphone chains etc) and Osaka Takoyaki Museum at Universal Studios. The streets were spiked with takoyaki and okonomiyaki stores, the difficult bit was choosing which store to patronize.

My Proud-to-Be-a-Singaporean manual told me to 'pick the longest queue and join it'. Erm, that's not my cup of tea.. My lack of motivation stems from a dislike for takopachi, where a mouthful of gummy mooshy semi-fried flour makes my esophagus convulse in horror.

"But that was in Singapore and this is Osaka, the place that invented octopus balls!" My left brain reasoned.

Touche.


Giant Takoyakis

Of course what I had in Dotonbori was foot-in-my-mouth-good. Credit goes to the thumb-sized octopus slice, which put the fingernail-sized Octopussies here in Singapore to shame. Abstinence to sustenance? Almost possible. The takopachi/ takoyaki may have absolved itself of former sins but I'll probably only go for it in Osaka.

Hmph, I'm so done with mediocre octopus balls. (Flicks hair)



Another street food is the savoury pancake 'okonomiyaki', as in 'o-ko-no-me-yah-ki'.

Oh go! No, me yucky. Oh gosh, the name itself sounds like a warning, doesn't it?



Though it literally means "cook what you like," the ingredients and process are pretty standard- you start off with flour, water, eggs and cabbage (which i know sounds utterly unappetizing), fry it on both sides and finish it off by adding okonomiyaki sauce, bonito fish flakes and Japanese mayonnaise (still sounds unappetizing). The only means of personalizing your dish are perhaps the addition of meat, egg and/or spring onions.



But hey hey, it was pretty good...

We ordered a version with egg and an unexpected snowstorm of spring onion. Amazingly enough, the mix bag of flavours manages to produce a rather delicious street snack despite the dodgy appearance. Well, now we know that when someone hurls a 'How ya doing, Pizza Face' attack on you, you can retort with "Better than you, Mr/ Ms Okonomiyaki!" (it's a mini tongue twister so you might have to work on delivery).



"My name is Oko Nomiyaki and I come from the future. Save the cheerleader. "

I felt part of the allure is the raw experiences of tucking in right away on the street, beside the store; ordering the takoyaki or okonomiyaki in a restaurant would be too clinical and sterile.

How to Spot a Tourist in Japan#1: When that person eats and walks at the same time. That's a big no-no in Japan, not even for street food.





Oh yeah, be sure to stay for the night view at Dotonburi.