Hassho – Hiroshima, Japan.
Hiroshima – the first city in history that was dealt the devastation of an atomic bomb. Today, remnants of the aftermath such as the Atomic Bomb Dome and the former Bank of Japan still stand with honorary and commemorative shrines, bells, statutes and buildings located in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. As a tourist in Hiroshima, one should put down a visit to the Peace Park as one of their top items to do. The next item on my list was as expected, food.
If there is one place you have to eat, I recommend Hassho as it is considered the premier place to eat okonomiyaki out of an estimated 860 okonomiyaki restaurants in Hiroshima, 6 of these part of the Hassho chain. Furthermore, as have not been disproven so far by my belief that the original branch is the best out of the chains, thus I went to the original shop located a short walk conveniently from our hotel in Yagenbori.
Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is different to Osaka-style, instead of all the ingredients being mixed and then put hot plate to cook, the method to cook okonomiyaki in Hiroshima is layer by layer. What differentiates Hassho from other okonomiyaki places is two-fold: first, the noodles are freshly boiled (Osaka-style does not have noodles) and secondly, most places will fry the egg till isn’t runny anymore; Hassho however, serves okonomiyaki with the egg yolk still runny.
Here Comes The Food
The creation of your order happens before your eyes as you are seated with the teppan in front of you, the first step is a thin disc of batter painted onto the hot plate with the outside of the ladle.
Next, after the batter has been cooked to form a thin crepe, chopped cabbage is literally dumped on top to form a small mountain. The cabbage is then seasoned with tempura bits, bean sprouts, salt and pepper.
Soon after, strips of bacon are layered on top onto the already seemingly huge portion of ingredients that look like they could topple over.
The bacon is covered with some batter and then flipped with an expertly fluid ease, and then it is cooked until it is crispy-fied into what I can only describe as a bacon chip.
During this, noodles are briefly boiled and placed on a separate hot plate away and cooked with salt and pepper. It is also interesting to know that for quality consistency, Hassho changes the water used to boil the noodle every dozen orders. After the noodles have been sitting on the teppan for a few minutes, batter is put on top of the noodles and then lifted on top of cracked eggs sitting on the hot plate. At the last step, the noodles with the egg (its yolk still runny) is placed on top of the cabbage, bacon and bean sprouts and liberally dressed with otafuku and sprinkled with aonori.
Then, it is served and in front of you, the chef halved it for us as we were sharing it.
You can choose to eat it with chopsticks, or do as I did (and it seems like all the locals do) and eat it with a mini spatula. The taste was one that I can still remember as it was so good. The first thing you taste is the texture of the noodles, and then the tangy flavour of the sauce hits you. After this, you slowly appreciate the other ingredients such as the bacon, cabbage and bean sprouts which have been cooked for the right amount of time such that the flavours have been fused. Finally, the gooey runny egg yolk holds everything together. In a word – awesome.
To top off our meal that had already been given the nod of approval, we order kaki-yaki, which is grilled oyster. As it we travelled during oyster season in Japan, it was also a bonus. The oysters are grilled and minimally seasoned – just how I like it.
When presented to us, a generous portion of plump oysters with a seductive sheen of juice is laid before us, kept warm on the outer edge of the teppan. Dab the oyster with the provided salt or eat it without, it is a piece of delight.
Gochisou-sama.
Hassho
10-6 Yagenbori,
Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan.
Phone: 082-248-1776.
Hours: 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
January 28th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
looks excellent. i definitely want to visit japan for the food!
January 28th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Bacon okonomiyaki…is one brilliant invention. Itadakimasuuuuu
I always love it how the best eating spots in Japan look like they’re being run out of the owners’ garages
January 28th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
All those ingredients make me so hungry right now.
January 29th, 2010 at 12:42 am
niicee – what does that asahi box out the back do? lol
January 29th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Oh my god, that’s some hardcore okonomiyaki right now. brb getting a plane ticket to Japan
January 29th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
That first dish looks amazing! I’d love to try it.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Oh my, that looks droolicious. Considering the Hiroshima-style does not mix all ingredients in a batter, it’s amazing how the chef manages to flip the whole thing without ruining it. Would love to try this when I visit Japan again.
January 30th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I am addicted to your Japan series of posts. All the glorious foods and fantastic photos. Looking forward to more!!
January 31st, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Hey Simon – exchange rate is good now, go go go!
Hey The Ninja – Pretty sure this one was running out of a garage haha…but maybe because it was so bare and simple inside.
Hey joey – likewise, making me wanna DIY some most likely fail attempt at my own okonomiyaki
Hey Lex – Not sure what the box does >< Hey Rose – buy me one too please!
Hey Anita – it’s a must try in my opinion
Hey foodwink – When they flip it, it seems so effortless, but if an inexperienced okonomiyaki flipper such as myself were to have a go, it wouldn’t turn out pretty.
Hey Ellie – I’m just getting started, there’s more coming
February 10th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Yummmy this is my kind of blog. Am hungry again & I just finished a bacon & egg breakfast! Fantastic photo;d