Sauerkraut or sardines? Hiroshima's 'okonomiyaki' goes global for G7 summit

Osaka's okonomiyaki is okay, and I even like natto and ika no shiokara, but this nightmarish dish is unpalatable.

Stereotypic ideas on what foreigners would want? How about we would want it created as it was intended and leave wester ideas out of it. Lord it sounds disgusting some of the ideas.

The pleasure of okonomiyaki is that you can make it from whatever you like. That is how it started. Different regions have different recipes.

Ingredients I always use. Eggs, wholewheat flour, cabbage, onions, belly pork or beef, mountain potato, or yamatoimo, that is an essential ingredient. Benito flakes. Never use the mayonnaise, just the dark brown okonomiyaki sauce.

It's like pizza, whatever you want.

Yes, bonito. For me, the mountain potato is an essential ingredient.

But like I said, whatever way you want, just like pizza.

Nothing screams "British" food as much as fried sardines and French-fries atop Okonomiyaki.

I know everyone wants to get on the band wagon but altering traditional native dishes by forcing an unnatural foreign influence is completely unnecessary. But then, that describes a lot of dishes in today's Japan.

an unnatural foreign influence

Quite so. Like the ubiquitous sweetcorn on pizza.

Nothing screams "British" food as much as fried sardines and French-fries atop Okonomiyaki

If only Mary Whitehouse's son, C3PO was here; to be as camp British as you like.

Experimenting with food is natural, especially for anyone who can truly use a kitchen to its ultimate glory. Anyone who criticizes the variations of okonomiyaki mentioned in this article either can't shine with pride at his/her creations in the kitchen or probably just munches down on a Big Mac, an unadulterated and boring omelet or worse. Take it from this respected cook - I don't care if you like it or leave it, just don't bitch about it. Doing that shows such a small mind.

I think when travelling overseas a tourist would prefer to eat some traditional local food, not food from their country...

When Brits go on holiday in Spain they eat fish and chips,

I like Osaka ones best, my favourite is with seafood inside, yummy

Sardines and chips, not a core British dish. If they used cod they would be closer but in that mashup British Beef, Bacon, Pork or how about trying some Lamb, curried Chicken would go quite nice, all more classically British than Sardines.

When you go visiting other countries you better try anything they have to offer, at least try. there is NO POINT in visiting Japan and ordering a Hot Dog, A Humberger, or a Pizza! it is POINTLESS.

Economists say: Do not argue about preferences.

When we went to Okinawa I had one with spam and cheese, it was interesting though a tad queer to be honest.

Okonomiyaki is good, but no one is gonna eat it 3 times a day, 5 days a week or however long the G7 are here.

Always with the one trick pony food items.

Introduce other things for once, anything, other than the same old cliche.

Had some great cod and chips the other day served up by an Indian lady in west London

Japanese can’t do English food-wrong genetics

I think when travelling overseas a tourist would prefer to eat some traditional local food, not food from their country...

When I'm in a different country, I expect to eat locally 90% of the time, but there are just times when I want some "comfort food".

I think this applies to everyone. Sometimes we all get tired of "local food" when traveling. When I worked in Japan, I'd lose about 14kgs in a week, because the food available just didn't have enough calories to maintain my weight. After a few trips, I found a "British Breakfast" in a nearby hotel where I could make up the missing calories with morning comfort foods - eggs, sausage, biscuits. Before finding that, I was always starving in my visits to Japan. There wasn't enough time to eat during lunch or dinner - IME Japanese lunch time is much too short. The idea that you'd want to sit for 2- 5 minutes after eating seems foreign.

I had jacket potato tonight filled with cheese and beans. The little greengrocer next to Ebisucho station has the big potatoes in again

Hiroshima's okonomiyaki is great! No alterations are necessary. If any of the leaders or tourists don't like it, I'd say something is wrong with them but I do understand that restaurants want to make money.

First of all, when I lived in Japan I found the cuisine to be flexible. Second, okonomiyaki is okonomiyaki, "cooked as you like." I doubt if the visitors will view the dish as one of anything but a Japanese dish. The fact that it contains ingredients from the home countries the visitors are from doesn't mean that they will find it to be a dish from their countries. The addition of ingredients other than that commonly used in Japan is a creative idea with merit. And who is to say that Japanese people won't like it and adopt some of these ingredients as their own? Give the chefs respect. It's a great idea.

You only experience your first okonomiyaki one time. Luckily for me it was in Hiroshima.

a maple syrup-infused Canadian version

we are slowly taking over the world!

What's the point of tourism if you insist on being served home cooking abroad?

This is so true! A rather, one time famous, okinawa soba shop closed, because the tourists comments, made the owner change his recipe, and all the locals stopped coming because of it.

I think it's idiotic to add these ingredients to okonomiyaki and if this guy pushes it too far, he is going to lose his local customers too I will bet.

To me, ingredients dont lie!

but, theres always a place for doubt. As they say, not guilty until proven. However, if im a part of a g7 party id definitely definitely go for sukiyaki instead of okonomiyaki. And then id go for some Chinese spicy ribs, or lamb, definitely SHUMAI, dandan noodles, then id go for Spanish paella in Japan, then sardines cutlet, Korean jangameyon, probably some Thai delicacies and on the last day finish it with one more sukiyaki.

We have a tin of Sardines in the food cupboard, it has been there for over a year but no one has the courage to open it, let alone eat it.

They include German sauerkraut, as well as a maple syrup-infused Canadian version, and a carbonara style to honor Italy. For American tastes there will be burger meat, while the French version contains cabbage, bean sprouts, bacon, cheese, okonomiyaki sauce and a fried egg, all wrapped in a crepe.

Why would diplomats be impressed by slop like this?

Why do they have to change it? Keep it as it is. When you visit a foreign country you should be trying the food as it is served to the locals. You may not like it but that is party of experiencing a different cuisine different from yours. This is like Chinese diplomats visiting a Western country and you add soy sauce to Western foods to cater for their taste.

I had okonomiyaki today at Úmeda, 690Yen. Osaka style of course, it was delicious