I’m not much of a “Nipponophile” as noted in the description of this category, however, I do love pop culture, and my 10 year old daughter is addicted to everything “Kawaii.”
As such, we frequent this site a lot. Has nothing to do with fishing, but thought you might find it interesting if you’re into Japanese culture, particularly pop-culture.
Thanks for sharing! Great site that I know someone would love!
Frankly, I have someone in my life who is also addicted to everything kawaii. Along those lines is Anpanman (アンパンマン). A simple search on YT brings up tons of hits such as:
This:
Or this.
And many more.
Then there’s the fact that I love making anpan.
Here’s the Okonomiyaki story from Mike’s recommended website:
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/okonomiyaki/
Okonomiyaki , お好み焼き, essentially means; my favorite foods, or just what I like, grilled. It gets called Japanese pancake, Japanese pizza, and many other names. It’s a pretty free-style food. Add in what ever is on hand, chicken, pork, shrimp, various veggies, what ever you like.
There are two styles, Hiroshima, made with noodles. I haven’t yet tried making this type. And Osaka style, which I have made at home several times.It’s basically chopped cabbage and onions, plus whatever you want to add. On my first attempt I started with the information from this website, using substitute ingredients I did not have. My local Asian Mart does not have Okonomiyaki flour or sauce. They do have Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise. Recommended if you can get it.
http://okonomiyakiworld.com/best-okonomiyaki-recipe.html
Runnyrunny999 gives a quick way to make a substitute Okonomiyaki sauce, he is frequently entertaining, and not being a professional chef he demos the same mistakes you may make the first few times you try making it at home. Give it a go. I haven’t made any since before the holidays, and getting the urge to eat it again. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX8wPNYsMJE
Osaka style is a little easier to make because everything is stuck together with the dough :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y33iFBt1_PA
And here’s Runnyrunny not so gracefully making Hiroshima style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZebItIYWJY
I love to eat and make okonomiyaki; in particular the Osaka style.
Runnyrunny999 is quite funny indeed. I’ve watched many of his videos.
Okonomiayaki flour is usually just a wheat flour that is low in protein. On occasion, some companies will also add potato or some other kind of starch and baking soda. Here in the US, regular all-purpose flour like this one from King Arthur Flour is found in most supermarkets and is a great substitute (not to mention they are an awesome company from Vermont who are amazing to their employees!). Then, depending on how much you are making add about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of your own baking soda.
Kewpie is my favorite kind of mayonnaise! If you cannot get it near you, it’s easy to find online (albeit a little expensive for how much you get). We make our Okonomiayaki own sauce; it’s very easy and tastes much better. We also top it with カツオブシ (katsuobushi - often called bonito flakes), and 青海苔 (aonori - no great direct translation, but they’re small nori flakes sold in a sealed jar with a pour spout) similar to what you see in the second to last video.
Saturday evening I chopped up the standard mix of cabbage, onions, leeks, carrots, plus whatever ever was in the fridge that sounded good. Made Osaka style Okinomiyaki with chicken and shrimp added in.
As usual I chopped up more than I could eat. Sunday evening I decided to finish off the veggies. With no chicken or shrimp left - What to add it? Oh, look at that - some Mexican style Choriizo in the fridge. Ended up making Okinomiyaki with several pinches of Chorizo mixed in. Well, we do have TexMex foods, why not a kind of JapaMexi dish? Turned out pretty good. I will make it again.
