Mr. Masahiro Taguchi – General Manager of Sheraton Hanoi Hotel and Executive Chef Nguyen Cong Chung (Photo: Sheraton hotel)

A: Hi you guys, welcome to another show of VOV24/7’s Food Delight. We’re so excited to share with you new recipes on each show and hope it works for you.

B: If you are a fan of Japanese cuisine, you can’t miss today’s show.

A: Japanese cuisine is the most famous curinse in the world by its sophisticated way of preparing and decorating of each dish. The taste of Japanese foods is often simple, elegant and close to the nature.

B: What’s special today is that we have Mr. Masahiro Taguchi, General Manager of Sheraton Hanoi Hotel. He will demonstrate a Japanese dish, Okonomi yaki pancake which he calls his soul food. Masahiro, what do you mean by saying it’s your soul food?

Masahiro: My own soul food. For example, when you go abroad, you miss some food. You may miss nem or pho. I also have that kind of food. It’s here: Okonomi yaki. Okonomi yaki is kind of Japanese pizza or pancake. It’s made with dough, the chopped cabbage, then you can put anything you want inside. The standard Okonomi yaki has a little bit seafood and pork belly. But Okonomi yaki originated from the Kansai region. Kansai is in southern part of Japan where Osaka, Kyoto and my home town Kobe belong to. But each city has different version of Okonomi yaki.

B: Mr. Masahiro comes from Kobe which is famous for Kobe beef with extraordinary flavor and tenderness. So, I guess the Kobe version of Okonomi yaki may have beef, right?

Masahiro: In my home town, Kobe, we make the Okonomi yaki, mixing with beef tendon. We cook with the soy sauce and then we mix with the cabbage and prepare the Okonomi yaki. Beef tendon is very cheap part of the beef but by making the Okonomiyaki, it has very rich flavor. So, today, we prepare Okonomiyaki, my soul food at the cooking station and hope you enjoy.

A: Oh, I can’t wait. Let’s get to the cooking area. Mr. Masahiro Taguchi is going to make Okonomiyaki with the help of the Executive Chef Nguyen Cong Chung.

B: The main ingredients for Okonomiyaki of Kansai are beef, cabbages, and dough. But we need more things to make a perfect batter for Okonomiyaki: flour, Tempura powder, mashed taro, cabbage, eggs, and Hondashi (or fish broth powder).

A: The most time-consuming step is the preparation of beef. So, the chef has prepared it in advance. But we will tell you how they have processed the beef.

B: The beef tendon is cooked in the boiling water for 5 minutes.  Then the beef is cut into small pieces and marinated with soya sauce, mirin (a Japanese sweet rice wine) and sugar and cook it under pressure till the tendon gets soft.

A: To save time, while waiting for the tendon getting cooked, we cut the cabbages into thin slices. But don’t forget to check the tendon beef when the cooking liquid has reduced by half, leave to cool and let it absorb the flavors.

B: Combine all the ingredients for batter. Put the eggs, beef, cabbages, add the completely cooled down beef tendon stock little by little. Mix all things together. The stew is now called Suki Kon-nyaku. And now, Chef Nguyen Cong Chung will help us in the next step: “While you mix the batter, don’t mix it too much to keep the air inside which will make the pancake more spongy. The mixture will be then spread onto Teppanyaki, hot iron plates. At home, you can make it on a non-stick frying pan. Remember the pancake is cooked in a low heat or else the outside is overcooked but the inside is still uncooked”.

(Photo: Sheraton Hanoi hotel)

A: When the pancake is cooked, spread Okonomiyaki sauce, drizzle mayonnaise and sprinkle it with dried seaweed and bonito flakes.

B: My mouth is watering. Thank you Mr. Masahiro Taguchi for bringing us a taste of Japanese cuisine. Surely we’ll offer you more on VOV24/7’s Food Delight. For now good bye.