3 courses to get that up-close and personal feeling for okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is the soul food of Hiroshima. And at Wood Egg Okonomiyaki Museum which is run by the okonomiyaki sauce producer Otafuku Sauce Ltd., there are 3 courses available in which you can tour a museum related to the famous dish, enjoy a factory tour and even cook your own okonomiyaki. Please note that all courses require prior reservations. At the 2nd-floor Okonomuseum, you can learn about the history and trivia regarding okonomiyaki and Otafuku sauce where many of the visitors have gotten that nostalgic feeling for the recreation of the 1950s when okonomiyaki was first made and the postwar carts which served it. In the 1st-floor shop, along with rare items including spatulas and noren restaurant sign curtains, there are also interesting products such as sauces for children and non-allergenic okonomiyaki flour on sale so that they are perfect as souvenirs.
A factory tour devoted to service
You can view the making of the okonomiyaki sauce through the factory tour given at the company headquarters. The sight of the sauce filling bottles which are then labeled and wrapped at a rapid rate of 9000 bottles per hour is amazing. Especially popular is the shipping of the bottles during the course. The work is done by robots dressed in giraffe and gorilla outfits which amuse the visitors. It’s also great to receive warm just-bottled sauce as a souvenir.
Okonomiyaki-making classes where you can eat and compare
The cooking of okonomiyaki can be done on simple hot plates or real teppan grills during the classes. Staff carefully guide you in the keys in making an even tastier okonomiyaki through techniques such as the creation of the characteristically thin Hiroshima okonomiyaki batter and how to flip the okonomiyaki with the spatulas. It’s also wonderful to eat and compare, especially with sauces that contain various ingredients which wouldn’t usually be included.