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)