Okonomiyaki

Allergens at a glance

• UsuallyGlutenWheat flour batter, tempura bits, noodles in Hiroshima style, wheat in the sauce.
• UsuallyEggsEgg in the batter and Japanese mayonnaise on top.
• UsuallyFishBonito flakes on top; dashi in the batter.
• UsuallySoySoy sauce in the okonomiyaki sauce.
• OftenMolluscsSquid in seafood versions, oyster extract in some sauces, shared hotplate.
• OftenCrustaceansPrawns in seafood and mixed versions; dried shrimp in some; shared hotplate.
• SometimesMilkCheese and mochi-cheese toppings.

Usually in the standard recipe. Often in many versions. Sometimes in some kitchens, or a cross-contact risk.

Diets

• Rarely vegetarian: dashi in the batter, bonito on top, and meat extract in some sauces.
• Not halal as standard: pork belly is the default topping and shared hotplates are the norm.
• Not suitable for coeliacs (celiacs): the batter is wheat and so are many sauces.

Recipes change from kitchen to kitchen. If you have an allergy, confirm every ingredient with the restaurant before you order.

What is okonomiyaki?

Okonomiyaki is a thick savoury pancake of batter and cabbage, cooked on a flat iron hotplate (teppan) and painted with sauce and mayonnaise. The name means "grilled as you like it", because you choose the fillings. Osaka and Hiroshima both claim it, and their versions are quite different.

What's in it

The batter is wheat flour, dashi, egg and often grated nagaimo (a sticky mountain yam) for fluffiness, mixed with lots of shredded cabbage, spring onion and tempura bits (tenkasu). Popular fillings are pork belly, squid, prawns and cheese.

• Osaka (Kansai) style: everything is mixed into the batter and cooked as one round pancake.
• Hiroshima style: layered on the hotplate, a thin crêpe, then a pile of cabbage, pork, a fried egg and a layer of yakisoba or udon noodles.
• Monjayaki: Tokyo's runny cousin, scraped off the griddle with small spatulas.

Toppings are the same everywhere: thick, sweet okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, aonori (powdered green seaweed), bonito flakes and pickled ginger.

Allergens and diets

Assume gluten, eggs, fish and soy. Gluten comes from the flour, the tempura bits, the noodles in Hiroshima style and the soy sauce in the sauce. Eggs are in the batter and in the mayonnaise, which is made with egg yolk. Fish is in both the dashi and the bonito flakes on top, so asking for no bonito still leaves fish in the batter.

The sauce is a blend of fruit, vegetables, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and spices. At least one major brand also contains oyster extract (a mollusc) and meat extract, so it's not vegetarian either.

Everyone's pancakes share one hotplate and the same spatulas, so squid, prawns (crustaceans) and pork all touch the same metal. Some batters and toppings include dried baby shrimp (sakura ebi). Cheese versions bring milk.

Nagaimo isn't a regulated allergen, but some people react to it, and it can make the mouth itch.

On the menu

Okonomiyaki is written お好み焼き. Fillings come before the name or as a list:

• 豚玉 butatama: pork
• イカ玉 ikatama: squid
• ミックス mikkusu: mixed meat and seafood
• 広島焼き Hiroshima-yaki, or そば入り soba-iri / うどん入り udon-iri: with noodles (the "soba" here is wheat yakisoba, not buckwheat)
• もんじゃ焼き monjayaki
• チーズ chīzu: cheese

At many places you cook it yourself on a hotplate built into the table. If you'd rather not, ask the staff to cook it for you.

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.