Why does it fall apart when I flip?

Usually too little binding batter or a rushed flip. Drip a little thin batter on top and turn in one motion with a wide spatula; practice flipping halves first.

Batter burns but cabbage is raw?

Heat too fierce or batter too thick. Keep high heat but spread thin; after flipping, ease heat and lid-steam until cabbage wilts.

Can I prep Hiroshima okonomiyaki ahead?

Chop cabbage, onion, and pork ahead and chill; mix batter just before cooking. Fully assembled pancakes lose texture—do not pre-cook the whole stack.

No hot plate—will a skillet work?

Yes, use a 24 cm+ pan with a lid. Cook one serving at a time so you have room to fry noodles and egg.

How is this different from Osaka style?

Osaka mixes toppings into the batter; Hiroshima layers thin batter, vegetables, pork, noodles, and egg, then steam-cooks for a stacked bite.

Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki

Name: Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 1人分
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: [Batter] Dashi stock 1/2 cup (about 100 ml); [Batter] Cake flour 25 g; Cabbage 200 g; Bean sprouts 100 g; Green onion (leafy negi) 20 g; Fish powder (sardine powder, etc.) 1 tsp; Tempura bits (tenkasu) 3 g; Pork belly slices 2 slices; Egg 1; Yakisoba noodles (or cooked soba) 1 portion; Okonomiyaki sauce (on the sweet side) 1/4 cup (about 50 ml); Aonori (green nori flakes) 1/2 tsp; Pickled red ginger 5 g; Neutral oil 1 tsp (plus more as needed for noodles and the griddle); Bonito flakes a pinch; Mayonnaise (optional) as needed

By Chef Cannon

Cuisine: Japanese

Region: 広島県

Servings: 1人分

Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki, also searched as Hiroshima okonomiyaki, stacks a thin batter with a cabbage mound, pork, noodles, and egg, then steam-cooks on a griddle under sweet sauce, aonori, and red ginger—the city’s soul-food pancake.

At a glance

Time: about 35 min · Serves 1 · Difficulty: medium · ≈ 650 kcal per serving (estimate)

Ingredients

[Batter] Dashi stock 1/2 cup (about 100 ml)
[Batter] Cake flour 25 g
Cabbage 200 g
Bean sprouts 100 g
Green onion (leafy negi) 20 g
Fish powder (sardine powder, etc.) 1 tsp
Tempura bits (tenkasu) 3 g
Pork belly slices 2 slices
Egg 1
Yakisoba noodles (or cooked soba) 1 portion
Okonomiyaki sauce (on the sweet side) 1/4 cup (about 50 ml)
Aonori (green nori flakes) 1/2 tsp
Pickled red ginger 5 g
Neutral oil 1 tsp (plus more as needed for noodles and the griddle)
Bonito flakes a pinch
Mayonnaise (optional) as needed

Steps

Shred the cabbage about 3 mm thick and cut the green onion into about 5 mm pieces. Rinse and drain the bean sprouts. Trim the pork belly slices to even length. Keep extra dashi on hand for a little batter to bind layers.
In a bowl, whisk the dashi and cake flour until smooth with no dry pockets. The batter should be thin and pourable—that is the Hiroshima-style baseline (if it feels thick, thin with dashi by the teaspoon).
Heat a hot plate or griddle to high heat (around 250°C / 480°F) and oil lightly. Spread most of the batter into a thin circle about 20 cm across. Dust with fish powder, pile on cabbage, bean sprouts, green onion, and tenkasu, then lay the pork belly over the top. Drizzle a little remaining batter on top as glue. Cook on high heat about 5 minutes until the bottom crust is crisp.
Flip in one motion with a large spatula. Tuck stray vegetables inward, reshape into a circle, and press lightly. Steam-cook so the vegetables soften (about 2–4 minutes more; steam and wilted cabbage mean it is ready).
In an open space, warm the noodle portion, loosening with a little oil, sauce, or water while stir-frying. Elsewhere crack the egg and spread it thin to about 20 cm; cook to soft-set or one side only (do not scramble).
Place the egg on the fried noodles, then stack the cabbage-mound okonomiyaki on top (layer order from the griddle: noodles → egg → toppings and batter; some shops put egg under and noodles in the middle, but keep the idea of thin batter → vegetable mound → pork → noodles → egg). Press gently with the spatula so the stack settles.
Flip once more to finish, brush with sweet okonomiyaki sauce evenly, and top with aonori, red ginger, bonito flakes, and mayonnaise if you like. Cut into bite sizes on the griddle with the spatula and serve.

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Notes

Unlike Osaka-style mixed okonomiyaki (butatama), Hiroshima-style spreads a thin batter and steam-cooks stacked toppings. Thick batter turns cakey and loses the vegetable-mound look.

Generous cabbage is correct. If the mound collapses, drip a little binding batter; when flipping, get a wide spatula under and turn in one go. Practice flipping halves first if needed.

Yakisoba or cooked soba both work. Add a little oil when damp, or 1 tsp sauce or water when dry, to loosen. Local variants like Fuchu-yaki or Kure-yaki mainly change toppings—master the classic layers first.

In Hiroshima the sauce is sweet and rich. A splash of mirin or sugar in bottled okonomiyaki sauce gets close. Mayo is optional; aonori and red ginger are not if you want the classic look.

A home skillet works if it is 24 cm or wider and has a lid for steaming. Two at once is harder—nail one serving first.

Time and temperature

Griddle ~250°C / 480°F · Batter & stack 5–8 min · First side ~5 min · Flip-steam 2–4 min · Noodles & egg 3–5 min · Sauce finish 1–2 min

Nutrition

650 kcal · Protein 28 g · Fat 32 g · Carbs 58 g

1 serving (estimate)

Substitutes

Yakisoba noodles → cooked soba / thin udon
Fish powder → crushed bonito flakes / omit
Tenkasu → fried onion bits / omit
Pork belly → bacon / chicken thigh slices
Okonomiyaki sauce → ketchup + Worcestershire + a pinch of sugar

Storage

Best hot off the griddle. Cool, cover, and refrigerate about 1 day. Reheat in a covered skillet over medium heat 3–5 minutes or microwave until hot; the noodle layer softens, so freezing is not recommended.

FAQ

Why does it fall apart when I flip?: Usually too little binding batter or a rushed flip. Drip a little thin batter on top and turn in one motion with a wide spatula; practice flipping halves first.
Batter burns but cabbage is raw?: Heat too fierce or batter too thick. Keep high heat but spread thin; after flipping, ease heat and lid-steam until cabbage wilts.
Can I prep Hiroshima okonomiyaki ahead?: Chop cabbage, onion, and pork ahead and chill; mix batter just before cooking. Fully assembled pancakes lose texture—do not pre-cook the whole stack.
No hot plate—will a skillet work?: Yes, use a 24 cm+ pan with a lid. Cook one serving at a time so you have room to fry noodles and egg.
How is this different from Osaka style?: Osaka mixes toppings into the batter; Hiroshima layers thin batter, vegetables, pork, noodles, and egg, then steam-cooks for a stacked bite.

Origin and history

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is the prefecture’s soul food: a thin wheat batter layered with cabbage, pork, yakisoba (or soba), and egg, then steam-cooked on a griddle. Sweet, thick sauce with aonori, red ginger, and bonito flakes, eaten with a spatula straight from the iron, is iconic; Hiroshima also ranks among Japan’s densest shop counts per capita.

Roots go back to prewar “issen yoshoku,” reshaped after the war as filling street food. Steelworks made griddles easy to get, shops added noodles and pork from the mid-1950s, and the Carp championship boom of the 1970s spread the dish nationwide through guidebooks. Local variants include Fuchu-yaki (minced meat), Kure-yaki (thin udon, half-moon), Shobara-yaki (rice, ponzu), and Onomichi-yaki (gizzard, squid tempura).

This recipe is one serving: about 100 ml dashi and 25 g cake flour for a thin base, then a 200 g cabbage mound with sprouts and onion, two pork slices, one noodle portion, and one egg—a home Hiroshima stack, distinct from Osaka’s mixed style, with clear layer order.