As part of Eater's first ever Pizza Week, chefs at five Chicago restaurants that don't serve pizza agreed to make a special limited-edition pizza or pizza-inspired dish, served just this week. Today we introduce the Okonomiyaki, a Japanese pizza pancake from Sunda.
Looking for a little Asian inspired 'za? Sunda's Jess DeGuzman will serve his okonomiyaki, a Japanese pizza pancake, all this week at lunch only. The $8.88 dish starts with a mixture of dashi and egg to create the pancake batter. Shishito peppers, Napa cabbage and bean sprouts are then combined into a pan where it's topped with three slices of bacon. Once cooked golden brown, the dish is topped with tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise and green onion before being sliced and sprinkled with bonito flakes.
Okonomiyaki is a traditional Japanese pub food, literally translating to “whatever you like,” which shows the versatility of the dish and its ingredients," DeGuzman said. "They can be changed seasonally—with different types of vegetables, meats and sauces, according to your tastes. Just like pizza, everyone has their favorite type. It’s a very popular dish throughout Japan, but not incredibly common in the U.S., which exactly why I wanted to bring it to Sunda. We like to bring our interpretation of classic Asian dishes, not necessarily seen anywhere else, to Chicago and our guests. Plus, it’s an incredibly beautiful dish—aesthetically, it’s just gorgeous."