Ocean11 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 As a Kansai boy at heart, brought up in Osaka, the home of okonomiyaki, I wonder about the capacity of Kantojin to eat what looks like uncooked food, or worse, vomit on a hotplate. What's the story with that? Can anybody explain the appeal? There are a few shops in Suwa that serve it, but before I try it, I'd like some reassurance... Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 near where my dad use to live in tokyo there was an okonomiyaki place. it was ok, depends what you put in it. the scallop one is pretty decent. my brothers kept referring to it as "how to make an omelette (sp?)" from jackass. Link to post Share on other sites
proudtobegay 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 What does gero yaki mean then, dear? Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 Gero-yaki means "fried puke". I always found okonomiyaki to be unpleasant. First, I don't like restaurants where you come out with your clothes and hair stinking like fried smoky oil or the like...this is true of many poorly-ventilated yaki-niku, okonomiyaki, and some Chinese restaurants. I'll go, but I hate smelling that smell in my clothes all day long. Second, I find the ingredients of okonomiyaki, taken individually, to be nothing special. Putting them all together with some egg batter on a griddle and making a fried frisbee out of them only makes it worse. Third, this food is really heavy, oily and, well, much like fried puke to me. It sits heavy on my stomach for hours and hours, and what with my clothes reeking of fried oil and food smoke at the same time, I really can't stand the experience. I went a total of 3 times during 8 years in Tokyo...once because I was curious, again because I thought "maybe I was wrong...", and then once more because it would have been extremely rude to refuse. So much for Tokyo okonomiyaki. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki are reputed to be different and better, lighter and more delicious. I tried them in Okayama and guess what? They are about as different to the Tokyo ones as McDonald's fries are different from Burger King fries. Big deal. I have written them off entirely. As a sidelight to this commentary, I find "hiyashi-chuuka" to be comletely unremarkable and forgettable. This is another example of a totally unremarkable agglomeration of totally unremarkable ingredients that gets undue raves for nothing at all... Now that it is April, my wife is excitedly saying "When it gets hot, I want to eat hiyashi-chuuka!!" and of course I will have to join, but really. Hiyashi-chuuka is nothing but sliced-up school lunchmeat, carrots, hard-boiled egg slices and cukes over cold instant ramen. Nothing special here, folks!! And it is most certainly NOT chuuka ("Chinese food"). Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 try monjya yaki, then learn to appreciate the fried goodness of the ock. monjya is the fried puke without the frying Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Author Share Posted April 20, 2003 Sorry, the beer and wine I consumed last night blinded me to the fact that I hadn't made myself at all clear. I didn't realize that some people would think I was likening okonomi to puke. I like okonomiyaki (sometimes, and when made at home - the selection of bacon that goes into it is crucial. And it has to be consumed with both beer and sake). I especially like the Hiroshima version. But what I'm contemptuously calling 'gero yaki' is monjayaki. Unlike okonomiyaki, monjayaki looks like vomit from start to finish. It must take an especially steely resolve from anybody sitting down to monja to refrain from tittering nervously and saying "That looks like puke! Are we really going to eat that?" Are there any monja fans out there, and what does the stuff taste of anyway? Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 we ate monja aswell. it was fairly unpleasant. sort of thing you have to try once, but probably wont go back for seconds. atleast i didnt. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 the one we had was disgustingly salty. could probably send you into cardiac arrest. Link to post Share on other sites
peterson 0 Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 I don't know about that one, but love a good okonomiyaki myself. Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 I'm not sure what you mean there Ocean, never had it myself. A good okonomiyaki I do like though. Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 Monja is an upleasant experience all around. It takes like crap, stinks and every time you try to eat it you burn your god damn tounge on it. Why would anyone want to eat this crap. Gero-yaki? Sounds like the bad naming of the Honda Trojan in the US. Who the hell is going to buy a car that shares a name with a condom brand! Link to post Share on other sites
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