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Location: Sakai, Osaka, Japan

Sunday, November 13, 2005

KASHIMIN---A Type of Okonomiyaki

S and I walked down along "Kawai no Tanisuji", with which name the street which runs in front of Izumi High School used to be called decades ago. We crossed Shiro-mi Bashi crossroads. If you turn left there, you will get to Kishiwada High School. We went through Sakai-machi crossroads, and turn into the left at Uoya-machi crossing. We soon took a right turn into a narrow back alley. A banner "KORI (ice)" indicated there should be a junk food shop. We walked into "Torimi", an OKONOMIYAKI shop. The iron plate counter was thronged with middle-aged men with beers in their hands. A young couple were compactly waiting their turn to sit in front of the plate. A drunken flock bumped out of the shop. We could finally occupy small chairs surrounding the counter. At the corner, a shopkeeper cooked KASHIMINs. She first baked crepe-like things, and then put shredded cabbage and chicken mincemeat on them. So, KASHIMIN is one kind of YOHOKU-YAKI, not OKONOMI-YAKI. Its name KASHIMIN comes from KASHIWA (chicken) and MINTI (mincemeat), but chicken meat is rather chopped than minced. We wlked out of Torimi. "Shall we try another one?" "I'm afraid I'm full." We kept walking to the next KASHIMIN restaurant. The next shop, Yamato, is said to be the originator of KASHIMIN. We walked down toward the sea side through one of the old neighbourhoods of Kishiwada. In the old town, we found an old sweets shop, old warehouses along with old houses. Finally, we came to see an old embarkment. There must have been a sea shore some time ago. From the main street along wich we were walking, some alleys reache the embarkment. At the end of one alley, near a part of the old embarkment, we saw an old OKONOMI-YAKI shop. Its lantern writes "Okonomi-yaki." Its shop curtain reads "Okonomi-yaki." Nothing tells us its shop name. "Hello. Is this shop's name Yamato?" "Yes." answered a young woman, baking something on the iron plate. "Is KASHIMIN available here?" "Of course." She turned to the door to the back room, calling, "We've got guests!" An old man appeared through the door. The woman started cooking. I wondeed what did she call him for. She baked two crepe-like sheets. She turned them over a couple of times till they became crisp. This crispness gave KASHIMIN here unique taste. They were topped with shreded cabage and chopped chicken. Here KASHIMIN is YOSHOKU-YAKI, too.

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