Part 2 – Osaka’s Auntie Spreads Okonomiyaki
Chapter 08 – Okonomiyaki is Complete!
“That’s right, all the things from Osaka, I can just make them here, yan. Moreover, they are super cheap and delicious. Ah, I have so many things to prepare, wa!”
On top of that, Haruna seemed to be caught up in a strange feeling she had never experienced before.
It was a sense of purpose- no, of duty!
‘This was the reason I am sent here’, ‘The reason why I was born’ kind of thoughts began running through her head. She could tell that this sensation was definitely not a hallucination.
“Ah, didn’t that Goddess say something about this, na…?”
Well, Haruna vaguely remembered that the Goddess did mention something about Okonomiyaki, something about spreading the Word of Okonomiyaki… more or less.
At that time, she was not quite sure what the Goddess was talking about. Right now, however, she knew what she needed to do. For the moment though, it was almost impossible to just go out and buy all the necessary ingredients since the concept of Okonomiyaki had yet to exist. So how was she supposed to get her hands on Okonomiyaki related items?
In short, it was Haruna’s duty to bring the concept of Okonomiyaki into this world.
“Well, let’s make it happen, wa! Yes! Ah yes, I’d like those cabbages, please! And do you have leeks, you know, leeks!”
It turned out that this world did not have leeks, but they did have some kind of leek flavoured vegetables. And chives, for some reason.
“Yes, I’ll get these too, wa!”
Next was pork. To prevent spoilage, she bought only preserved meats, such as ham and other processed meat stuff.
“Where should I get flour, ya? Ah yes, let’s ask those people selling bread, wa!”
Haruna had no problem obtaining the flour. With her shopping bag slung over one shoulder, she hurried back to Martha’s inn.
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“Okami-san, I’m going to borrow your kitchen, ya!”
“Fine with me, but what are you planning to make?”
“Okonomiyaki, ya!”
The Okonomiyaki has both meat and vegetables in it. The carbs came from the batter used to hold it all together. In other words, an Okonomiyaki pancake is a complete meal all on its own. The reason why the Goddess wished to spread this food was finally understood by Haruna.
Naturally, the usual ‘Okonomiyaki sauce’ they use in Japan was not available here. For now, she would have to use local sauces as a substitute. She could still adjust the flavours using salt and local spices.
However, she was still missing an iron grilling plate.
“Okami-san, do you have any thin armour lying around?”
“Ah, there should be some in the warehouse. One of the Adventurers left it here and never came back for it.”
When she saw the actual thing, it looked surprisingly usable. And so, she immediately took it apart. The breastplate cover seemed to suit her purpose best.
“Yes, this looks like it could make a good grilling pan.”
First, fry up some thin batter to make tenkasu [1]. Tenkasu plays an important part in terms of the Okonomiyaki’s texture, giving it a slightly crispy texture.
She then placed cold water into a large bowl, added flour and whipped it quickly to incorporate air into the mixture. Then, she added some finely sliced cabbage and folded it into the thin batter.
When the makeshift iron plate grew hot, she plopped the flour and cabbage mixture on it in a circle. On top of the still wet batter, she sprinkled on the meat; finely sliced ham which she had just bought that morning.
A piece of sliced cheese went on top of the ham. [2]
Haruna used two spatulas to carefully tease the Okonomiyaki into a circular shape, rotating it ever so often to keep the cooking even. When the batter was sizzling, she mixed tenkasu into a different bowl of water and flour and made a very thin pancake, about the same width as the original pancake.
From here on is where most people get crazy creative. An egg could be cracked onto the thin pancake or stir-fried yakisoba could be placed on top. If you want it to be super luxurious, you could put both yakisoba and egg on the thin pancake. In the meantime, once the meat and cabbage portion of the pancake had firmed up enough to hold its shape, Haruna deftly flipped the lot upside down onto the thin pancake.
The cheese made a little ‘splat’, but the thin pancake protected it enough to keep it from burning or sticking to the grill.
Two minutes later, the Okonomiyaki became nice and fluffy. A couple more flips, and then a somewhat suitable sauce was slapped on with a clean painter’s brush, and it was done! [2]
The cheese was something that she had just added on randomly. She would have to make the next one with just salt, or more cheese, because girls love cheese, wa! [2]
“Okonomiyaki – Old Saxon Town version, ya! Go ahead, try it!”
“That’s a weird looking floured dish.”
Martha picked up the unfamiliar round flat thing with her hands and braced herself to take a bite. Forks were mostly used by the rich nobilities, and haven’t caught on yet with the common folk.
The meat used was actually the cheap jerky type which was usually quite difficult to chew. However, since the ham was so finely sliced, it can be bitten into without a problem.
“Hot, hot…!”
“Well, it just came off the grill, wa, but if you say ‘ha fu ha fu’ while eating, the heat won’t be too bad.”
She was watching Martha’s reaction closely.
An unexpected, “It… it’s delicious!” was unwillingly dragged out of Martha’s lips…
“That’s great! The cabbages really gave it a nice crunchy feeling. Against a fluffy pancake batter base, the sensation it creates is really unique, da! Try eating it with this strong flavour sauce, the combination will be perfect, ya!”
The feeling of ‘This is my win, na!’ was so great that Haruna did a fist pump.
“Yes, now let’s make one with just cheese, ya!”
“Oh, so there’s only cheese in this one and no ham… Ooh, this one’s delicious too!”
All kinds of good reactions and suggestions kept popping up.
“The cheese has melted a little, and the part where it has been charred against the grill made it even more aromatic! Oh, it’s good! This recipe, I want to try putting in on my inn’s menu. It really fills you up and it’s so easy to make.”
“That’s right, being able to eat until one is full is really great! Also, we can experiment with all kinds of ingredients!”
And that was how the Okonomiyaki was born in this Other World.
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The very next day, the Okonomiyaki was introduced to the general population; or at least, to the dungeon goers anyway. Haruna’s [Adventurer’s Convenience Store, Haru-chan] immediately added Okonomiyaki onto their menu options.
Both ingredients and grill plate were manually carried down to the Level 13 floor. Magic was used to create fire.
Kokon as well as the rest of the staff gathered round with a stupefied expression on their faces as they stared at the strange food.
“This, just what the heck is this?”
“Looks about done! Go ahead and have a taste.”
As they sampled the freshly cooked food, all kinds of surprised voices began bursting out one after another.
“This is not good… my body is meant to serve God. How could I possibly eat something so delicious…this goes against all my religious teachings…”
It was near impossible to have hot, freshly cooked food down in the dungeon. Eating a fresh, sizzling Okonomiyaki right off the grill was equivalent to getting a massive shock.
“Though it’s delicious, all the ingredients used in this recipe are dirt cheap. God won’t be angry at you if there’s no expensive ingredient in it.”
While Haruna was still in Japan, Okonomiyaki was, slowly but surely, becoming a high-end dish. This was something that Haruna was totally against. She was determined to keep this food cheap, fun and carefree in order to maintain the essence of the Konamon [3] style of cooking in this world.
“Everyone, it’s time to eat Okonomiyaki~! Starting from tomorrow it’s 5 bronze coins each. Try one today at a super cheap price of 1 bronze coin, ya! Big service for our lovely customers, selling below cost!”
“This is the ham and cheese Okonomiyaki, ham with 3 different kinds of cheese, ya! Today’s ham and cheese is also 1 bronze coin!”
In order to save on the cost of water for washing dishes, the special Restoration Magic [Hotel New Awaji]’s hot water was used.
Haruna used the self-service system for additional sauces and condiments. Customers could choose whatever additional sauce or condiments they liked to put on their Okonomiyaki.
There was an actual restaurant in the middle of the dungeon now.
Interested Adventurers immediately gathered around to check out that hot new place.
The first Adventurers who came up to try were Haru-chan’s regulars. They each held a hot piece of Okonomiyaki in their hands and simultaneously took their first bite. The moment the food entered their mouths, Haruna nearly quivered with anxiety.
“Delicious!”
Upon hearing that single word, her anxiety vanished as she breathed out.
“It’s different from pasta, bread or other flour-based snacks! It’s a completely new flavour!”
“Getting to eat freshly cooked hot meals at Level 13 is really something to be thankful for!”
“The flavour could be changed so easily, I won’t get bored by it!”
“In this case, won’t monsters be happy too?”
Following a sense of relief, tears actually welled up in her eyes. “This is so great, wa… this level of happiness, it’s almost the same as when the Tigers [4] won, wa…”
To see tears on the face of an unimaginably powerful and peerless Female Adventurer, all the customers and employees of [Haru-chan] stared at her in some sort of stupefied fascination.
“Even a demon could cry, this is…”
Upon hearing Kokon’s words, Haruna made a ‘pu!’ sound as she nearly choked on her laughter. She slapped her own chest a few times as she tried to regain some control.
“Don’t say demon, na. At least say I’m a tiger. When did Kokon develop such a boke sense of humour? This is awesome!”
“It’s definitely after I joined as Manager’s staff, this thing happened before I realized it…I myself am very surprised.”
That Kokon would someday be taught the art of boke and tsukkomi [5] comedy talk by the irrepressible Haruna. They would one day form a comedy duo that would take the Old Capital in by storm and push stand-up comedy as a new form of entertainment.
But that’s a story far, far into the future.
[Gumihou: … I can’t believe they use the special healing magical water to wash dishes… why didn’t they use this water to make tea? Why bring potable water down? Is this healing water not meant for drinking? I wonder what will happen if people drink it…]
[1] Tenkasu – Basically tempura scraps, if you want to make Okonomiyaki but don’t want to trouble yourself making tenkasu, just crush up some plain potato chips! [2] Personally, I think there are some problems in Haruna’s Okonomiyaki cooking technique. She didn’t use the tenkasu for example, and normally people don’t place cheese on top since you have to flip it. The cheese will get stuck on the grill plate. I have so many beef against this recipe.
Which is why I adjusted it ~ Hehehe, feel free to use this as a reference! And yes, I do know how to make Okonomiyaki.
Most of the places where I made adjustments are marked with [2]
[3] Konamon – Is used to refer to floured dishes that made Osaka famous: Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki etc. Konamon is probably a squashed together word from ‘Komugiko na Mono’ which literally translates to Floured Things. In other words, if you squash Floured Things together you’ll get ‘Flourings’ lol!!
[4] Tigers – Baseball team worshipped by Osaka people
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshin_Tigers
[5] Boke and Tsukkomi – A comedy routine involving a pair of people, somehow the boke half of the duo usually speaks with a Kansai accent.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine
