“Monjya” looks like a slime but it’s yummy!
Monjya-yaki (Monjya) is a traditional local dish from the Kanto area around Tokyo, while Okonomiyaki is in the Kansai area around Osaka. “Monjya” means “letters” and “yaki” means “to bake.” It originated as a children’s snack in old Japanese snack shops called dagashiya. On a hot iron griddle, the liquid dough is poured into the shapes of letters. Children have eaten the snack ever since the end of the Edo period. More ingredients have been added since then, and Monjya turned into a dish for adults, not just a snack for children.
The liquid dough is made of fish broth, flour, chopped cabbages, dried small shrimps, tempura bits and whatever you like. Curry powder is added to the Monjya in this photo, which should whet your appetite. First, all the ingredients except the broth are poured onto a hot iron plate to make a circle bank. Second, the rest of them are poured into the bank to prevent the liquid from spreading over the plate. When the broth thickens with the heat, all of them are mixed and baked like a crepe. Small amounts of it are pressed with a small spatula on a plate and eaten little by little. The flavor of the caramelized dough is good and you cannot stop eating it.
