Cycle 3 – Item 354
24 (Mon) December 2012
Okonomiyaki
2.5
by CSW
at Unak Leisure Town
-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with MtG + NSJ, KIT + AHY + J, CJH + KKH, CSW + gf, HSE + HCY, YI + JD, LHS + YYH
Having spent the weekend in servitude of W’s brother and his family, I was granted a hall pass on Christmas Eve to go camping. It was the first time to join the crew for the annual year-end outing. A very merry Christmas, indeed.
Unak Leisure Town is a small resort. Swimming in the summer. Camping in the winter.
The campgrounds are the dirt parking lot.
Actually, it really wasn’t camping in a technical sense. Only one couple took to a tent, another got the trailer, the rest opted for rented rooms adjacent to the campsite, and I slept in my car. As a camping crew, we seem to be losing sight of what initially had brought us together.
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish. It’s a pancake made of light flour-egg-water batter to which shredded cabbage and other vegetables (e.g., onion, carrot), as well as sliced pork and seafood (e.g., squid, shrimp), are added, then pan-fried in oil into large thickish patties, and topped with various condiments (e.g., mayonnaise, Worcestershire-based brown sauce) and garnishes (e.g., katsuobushi shavings, dried nori flakes). The term “okonomi” means “what you want,” while “yaki” means “grilled.” The result is a hodgepodge of crispy/soft, sweet/savory, creamy/tangy, meaty/fishy. An excellent accompaniment for beer. Very popular in Korea at Japanese pubs.
It was pretty good. Tasted pretty much like a Korean jeon, except for the condiments.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
