Let them eat pancakes!

I had my first visitors a week ago when my sister's friends made a stop in Kanazawa. (See pic below with two guys on the left.) I had never met either of them before, but agreed to meet up with them for dinner and what turned into a fun night of karaoke. I can't believe I typed those words, but yes, I did have fun at karaoke. I won't sing by myself, but will scream along to "Say It Ain't So" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" when prodded.



My friends and I took them to an okonomiyake restaurant for dinner. Okonomiyake are Japanese "pancakes," but are nothing like American pancakes. These are made of flour, water, shredded cabbage, ginger, egg, and the meat, seafood, vegetables, or tofu of your choice. They are so yummy and it's fun to show newcomers how to make them.

One of my friends will show you step-by-step how they're made:



First grease up the grill, then mix your ingredients thoroughly, otherwise your pancakes will taste like crap. We found this out the hard way our first time.





Then put half of your mixture on the grill with your meat, seafood, or in my case tofu, next to it. You can see an egg is also cooking next to one of the pancakes. This was a bit premature and is not recommended until after the pancake is nearly finished.





Next put your cooked meat, etc., on top of the cooking mixture, followed by the remaining mixture.





Make sure your pancake is nearly ready on both sides, then cook the egg next to it. When the egg is ready, put it on top of the pancake, then top with a soy-based brown sauce and mayonnaise. (I skip the mayo because I am not of fan, especially of the Japanese kind.)