Day 16

Okonomiyaki

Today, a final visit to the Lorna Sundberg International Center was made to cook okonomiyaki, a savory pancake-like dish made from eggs, vegetables, flour, and shrimp. As per usual, a vegetarian group was available for those who could not or didn’t want to eat shrimp and crab meat. After dividing into groups, we began to cook this savory dish. Very little technical work is required before mixing the vegetables and meat into the batter and frying, but onions and cabbage needed to be cut up. After that, we had fun taking turns pouring batter into the pan, frying it to a golden brown, and flipping the “pancake” at the right time. No one burned their okonomiyaki, but some didn’t get quite flipped completely and several “tacos” were created. No matter, all tasted delicious despite the odd shapes that emerged from the smoke. To go along with it, Japanese mayonnaise was passed around. For those who had never had it, it seemed to taste like “mayonnaise and mustard combined.” On top of the okonomiyaki, however, the flavors blended nicely and tasted excellent despite its strange appearance.

Throughout the past three weeks, coming to the International Center has been a wonderful relief from the busy schedule we are usually subjected to and has served as a kind of hangout for many people. The first visit saw hundreds of pictures taken of the awesome Asian and international artifacts displayed in the rooms and more still of each other getting excited to cook. With each visit, the number of pictures decreased, but it was still nice to look at the familiar environment associated with great food and great friends. I know many of us will be sad to leave it, and the incredible memories that were created, behind.

Jillian