Diner's dilemma: Okonomiyaki or monjayaki?
Both hot, grilled and amazingly tasty, but which "yaki" will come out on top? The Kanto and Kansai regions, home to Tokyo and Osaka, respectively, have a history of rivalry longer than a line waiting to enter a Saturday-morning department store sale.
Just as each city's people consider themselves unique, so too are their versions of the "as you like it" dish -- okonomiyaki (okonomi = honorable choice, yaki = fried or grilled) to its supporters.
This savory pancake, sometimes referred to (by only the most literal naïfs) as Japanese pizza, is a popular snack food that goes back to a Buddhist tradition of serving crepe-like desserts called funoyaki during ceremonies.
From here on out the stories of both the "original" okonomiyaki claimed by Kansai and its Kanto kin, monjayaki, (widely known as simply "monja") get a bit murky.
What seems clear is that the modern form of both okonomiyaki and monja first appeared on the tables of Japan around World War II.
As rice was scarce, people got creative with the ingredients on hand, particularly flour.
Teppan grills have always been a simple cooking method, so resourceful cooks got to work with their teppans, flour supply and whatever ingredients they had, hence the "as you like it" part of the dish.
What is also clear is that okonomiyaki is neither pancake nor pizza in the traditional sense, though you can top it with sauce and even throw some cheese in there if you like.
Both versions of the snack use eggs and cabbage in addition to the flour base, plus whatever toppings you desire, hence ... we won't repeat the obvious phrase again.
Mentaiko, or spicy cod roe, plus mochi and cheese is a popular combo, as is seafood curry. Pork, squid and shrimp also make frequent appearances in either mix.
Kansai folk swear the first okonomiyaki was created and named there in the 1930s.
Perhaps Tokyoites just couldn't handle that their Osaka adversaries had created such a delicious and well-received snack, so they decided to design their own.
Apparently, monja started out as a children's snack -- a simple rolled-up crepe sold with a few toppings in the old shitamachi, or downtown, areas around Asakusa.
There are still some traditional monja and okonomiyaki joints in the area.
So, which is better? Here's a quick face-off between monja and okonomiyaki -- see for yourself how they stack up.
Round 1: Appearance
Sorry Tokyo, okonomiyaki takes the (pan)cake here. Smothered in a tangy sauce, amid a sea of brightly colored aonori seaweed powder, waves of creamy mayonnaise play host to dancing katsuobushi flakes.
It's a messy, yet artful sight to behold.
Monja, on the other hand, lies barren of condiments and sprawled on the teppan plate in a sight that might evoke memories of a sloppy night on a Kabukicho backstreet ... if you get our drift.
Total score: Okonomiyaki 1 -- Monja 0
Round 2: Ease of eating
As monja is eaten directly off the grill, each person uses an adorable tool to scoop up their bite once the mixture is thick enough to eat.
Hint -- monja experts always press a section of the mix into the grill to get it slightly firmer on the outside, crispy even, before cutting off a piece to eat.
Though some restaurants will give you the dainty and dexterous mini-spatulas with okonomiyaki, you're often stuck with chopsticks to try and cut up the pancake, which can be tricky.
Total score: Okonomiyaki 1 -- Monja 1
More on CNN: Best okonomiyaki in Osaka
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