Dish guides
What is okonomiyaki?
お好み焼き · okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake: shredded cabbage bound with a wheat-and-egg batter, cooked on a hot griddle with pork, seafood or cheese, then brushed with a sweet brown sauce and mayonnaise and topped with seaweed and bonito flakes. The name means roughly "grilled the way you like it". Osaka and Hiroshima each have their own style.
- At a glance
- Okonomiyaki
- Savoury Japanese pancake of cabbage and batter with pork or seafood, cooked on a griddle.
- Pronunciation
- Say it like oh-koh-noh-mee-yah-kee · IPA /okonomʲijakʲi/
- Also written as
- お好み焼, okonomi, Osaka-style okonomiyaki, Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (広島焼き), buta-tama (豚玉), mix-tama (ミックス玉), modan-yaki (モダン焼き)
What’s in it
Core ingredients
- wheat flour batter with dashi
- eggs
- shredded cabbage
- pork belly or seafood
- okonomiyaki sauce
- Japanese mayonnaise
- aonori (seaweed flakes)
- katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
Often added
- grated nagaimo yam in the batter
- squid or prawns
- cheese or mochi
- tenkasu (tempura crumbs)
- pickled ginger
- yakisoba or udon noodles (Hiroshima style)
- spring onions (negi-yaki)
Allergens
| Allergen | How likely |
|---|---|
| Gluten | Typically contains |
| Eggs | Typically contains |
| Fish | Typically contains |
| Soy | Typically contains |
| Molluscs | Often contains |
| Shellfish | Sometimes contains |
| Dairy | Sometimes contains |
| Mustard | Sometimes contains |
| Sesame | Rarely contains |
| Peanuts | Rarely contains |
| Tree nuts | Rarely contains |
| Diet | Suitable? |
|---|---|
| Vegetarian | Depends — You can order it with only vegetables or cheese, but the batter is often made with dashi (fish stock), the bonito flakes on top are fish, and the leading brand of okonomiyaki sauce contains meat and oyster extracts; ask about the sauce and for katsuobushi nashi. |
| Vegan | No |
| Pescatarian | Depends — Seafood versions with squid or prawns are common, but pork is the classic filling, everything is cooked on the same griddle, and the leading brand of okonomiyaki sauce contains chicken and pork extract. |
| Halal | Depends — Pork is the standard filling and shares the griddle with other orders, and the usual sauce can contain pork extract; halal versions are only found at restaurants that specifically cater to Muslim guests. |
| Kosher | No |
| Gluten-free | No |
Allergen and calorie details are AI estimates based on the menu and typical recipes. They can be incomplete — if you have a serious allergy, always check with the staff.
Osaka style vs Hiroshima style
Osaka (Kansai) style is the one most people mean. Batter, egg, cabbage and your chosen fillings are mixed together, then cooked as a thick round pancake and flipped. Common orders are buta-tama (pork), ika-tama (squid) and mix (pork with seafood). Modan-yaki adds a layer of fried noodles.
Hiroshima style is built in layers instead of mixed: a thin crêpe, a tall pile of cabbage and bean sprouts, slices of pork, a layer of fried noodles (wheat yakisoba-style noodles, called soba locally, or udon) and a fried egg, pressed together on the griddle. Locals simply call it okonomiyaki; elsewhere it's often labelled Hiroshima-yaki. It's taller, crunchier and normally includes noodles.
What to expect at an okonomiyaki restaurant
Many okonomiyaki restaurants have a hotplate (teppan) built into each table or a long griddle counter. In some places you mix and cook the pancake yourself from a bowl of raw ingredients; in others the staff cook it in front of you or bring it finished. Ask if you're unsure: staff are used to helping. You cut and eat it straight from the hotplate with a small metal spatula (kote) or with chopsticks from a plate.
The finished pancake is glossy with dark sauce, criss-crossed with mayonnaise, dusted green with aonori and covered in bonito flakes that curl and "dance" in the heat. Okonomiyaki is a casual dinner and a common choice with beer.
Where okonomiyaki comes from
Thin griddled flour snacks were sold to children in Japan long before okonomiyaki, and the name itself appears in Osaka in the 1930s. The dish spread after the Second World War, when cabbage-heavy pancakes were a cheap, filling meal, and Osaka and Hiroshima developed the two styles that dominate today. Osaka's other griddle favourite is takoyaki.
How to order it
| Phrase | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 豚玉を一つください。 | Buta-tama o hitotsu kudasai. | One pork okonomiyaki (buta-tama), please. |
| かつお節なしでお願いします。 | Katsuobushi nashi de onegai shimasu. | Without bonito flakes, please. |
| 卵は入っていますか？ | Tamago wa haitte imasu ka? | Does it contain egg? |
Not to be confused with
- Takoyaki — Bite-sized balls of a runnier batter with octopus inside, made in a moulded pan; same sauce and toppings.
- Monjayaki — Tokyo's runny cousin: a loose batter cooked on the griddle and scraped up with small spatulas, never set into a pancake.
Frequently asked questions
Is okonomiyaki gluten free?
No. The batter is made with wheat flour, the sauce usually contains soy sauce and other wheat-based ingredients, and Hiroshima style adds wheat noodles. Some specialist restaurants make versions with rice or soy flour, but they're rare, and shared griddles make cross-contact likely. Treat ordinary okonomiyaki as containing gluten.
Does okonomiyaki have egg?
Yes, typically. Egg is mixed into the batter in Osaka style and fried on top or in a layer in Hiroshima style, and the mayonnaise drizzled over the top is also egg-based. Asking for no mayonnaise removes only part of it, so okonomiyaki isn't a good choice if you avoid eggs.
Is okonomiyaki vegetarian?
Not as usually served. Pork is the classic filling, the batter often contains dashi made from bonito, and bonito flakes go on top. The best-known brand of okonomiyaki sauce also contains meat and oyster extracts. You can order a vegetable or cheese version without katsuobushi, but ask about the dashi and the sauce as well.
What's the difference between okonomiyaki and takoyaki?
Both are flour-based Osaka griddle foods with the same sweet sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed and bonito toppings. Okonomiyaki is a large, flat pancake full of cabbage with pork or seafood, eaten as a meal. Takoyaki are small round balls of runny batter with a piece of octopus inside, eaten as a snack from a tray.
