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Osaka Food Culture

Every region in Japan has its own famous dishes but Osaka is one of the major areas with foods that have influenced food culture of all of Japan.

Okonomiyaki and takoyaki are the most well known out of the list and both can even be found outside of Japan at Japanese restaurants and festivals.

Okonomiyaki, as many may already know, is a pan-fried batter cake. The batter is made of flour, water, egg, and cabbage and ingredients may vary but the most standard is pork, seafood, or vegetables.

Okonomiyaki restaurants all across Japan have menus full of interesting ingredients including the most common which are kimchi, rice cake, or cheese.

Picking your own combination of ingredients is part of the fun. Hence the name “okonomi-yaki” which means “bake as you like.” Takoyaki is also popular as a street food and stands can be found all over Japan. It is a dumpling made of batter, diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and scallions that is usually eaten as a snack. It is made on a special frying pan with hemispherical molds.

Both okonomiyaki and takoyaki can also be easily made at home either by simply buying premade okonomiyaki or takoyaki at the frozen food section, easy to make okonomiyaki or takoyaki sets, or from scratch.

Other less known culinary delights that have originated from the Osaka area are battera, which is made with marinade mackerel and sushi rice pressed in a wood frame, and kushi katsu, a deep-fried kabob of pieces of pork and vegetables. Ikayaki, battered squid is not even well known outside of Osaka and is often mistaken with ika-no-sugatayaki, a grilled squid dish made with soy sauce.