Japanese food in Chicago is usually divided into one of two camps: sushi and ramen. But NBC 5's Food Guy Steve Dolinsky has a couple of other treats in mind, as he wraps up his month-long look at some of his favorite Asian dishes.
Gaijin is tucked away beneath the Morgan Street green line stop in the West Loop; the brainchild of Chef Paul Virant, whose wife lived in Osaka, and convinced him to open the first okonomiyaki shop in Chicago.
“It’s a savory cabbage pancake; ‘okonomi’ means ‘have it your way’ or ‘how you like it’ and ‘yaki’ is ‘griddled’ or ‘grilled’" he explained. "The Osaka which is the original style, that’s a batter that consists of wheat flour, dashi, mountain yam or nagaimo, egg, scallions, pickled ginger, cabbage all mixed together then griddled.”
Once cooked through on both sides, they’re brushed with a Japanese okonomiyaki sauce and a healthy drizzle of Kewpie mayo, plus a shower of dried seaweed and a handful of bonito – the classic smoked-and-dried tuna used throughout the Japanese kitchen. Another option: Hiroshima style.
“Similar ingredients but it’s layered with the addition of the yakisoba noodles," he said.
Eggs are cracked two feet above the griddle so they spread out, providing a base for the layered pancake, which, when finished, gets the same okonomiyaki sauce-mayo-bonito trifecta.
How about dessert?
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“Kakigori is Japanese shaved ice," Virant added. "All of our kakigoris are embedded with some flavor of ice cream in the middle, garnished with some type of a syrup.”
A very different dessert situation in the Chinatown Square Mall at Kyo Matcha, a franchise of an East Coast chain, serving Kyoto’s beloved matcha tea in several forms.
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“Kyoto in Japan is the most well-known for the most high-quality tea leaf from there. Matcha chocolate, matcha ice cream..." said JoJo Chen of Kyo Matcha.
Soft serve actually; great on its own or with add-ons like sweet red beans or crunchies.
Not just any layer cake, but a painstakingly built 25-layer affair assembled back in the kitchen. A “towel cake” which gets its name from its shape; in this case, the hue is a result of purple ube powder. Also, a rich milk cap cake doused in heavy cream and tapioca pearls.
“Everything is all hand-crafted, it’s all made on a daily basis.”
Here's where you can go:
950 W. Lake St.
312-265-1348
2167 S. China Place
312-877-5557
100 E. Algonquin Rd., Arlington Heights
847-956-6699
