Shokado Bento (kaiseki)
The new, internationally popular bento box lunch, served in a humble wooden or plastic box and usually offered by Japanese restaurants, is directly related to the makunouchi (meaning "between curtains") bento developed during the Edo period (1600–1868). This type of box lunch was intended as a conventional meal to be eaten during intermission at kabuki plays. During the same period, a more stylish type of bento box, called shokado bento, evolved in Osaka. In this type, each food item is placed in a small individual porcelain or lacquered wood dish, and then in a larger lacquered square or rectangular box. Shokado bento are not meant to be used as portable lunch boxes. Displaying colorful food rather artfully (much like traditional kaiseki, the elegant multi-course meals served prior to formal tea ceremonies), the shokado bento can be ordered in restaurants and other formal settings.
Tako-yaki
A popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomi-yaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and bonito flakes (katsuobushi), originating from Osaka. Although tako-yaki can easily be made at home if the equipment is available, it is usually considered to be fast food and mostly sold on the streets. In the Kansai region, tako-yaki is eaten as a side dish with a bowl of cooked rice. Elsewhere in Japan, it is eaten without rice as a snack food.
Udon
Udon noodles are made from a mixture of water, salt, and wheat flour that has been kneaded, ripened, rolled flat, and cut into strips. The noodles are then boiled and served in hot broth or with a dipping sauce. Udon as it is eaten today is thought to have originated in Osaka during the Genroku era of the Edo period (1688-1704). Osaka remains one of the meccas of udon and a typical Osaka style is "kitsune udon." The kitsune udon is in a hot broth made of soy sauce, mirin (sweet sake), and dried bonito stock with green onions and a bean curd topping.
Osaka-zushi
Osaka's traditional sushi is called "Osaka-zushi" meaning "sushi of Osaka." In the 19th century, creative sushi chefs in Osaka began to incorporate their ingenuity in making box pressed sushi, oshi-zushi, using expensive seafood such as sea bream, sea eel and shrimp, and mixing some ingredients in sushi rice. This elaborately designed oshi-zushi was unique to Osaka, and was not seen in other parts of the country, and was thus called "Osaka-zushi."
Tecchiri nabe
Chiri is a one-pot dish where the ingredients are cooked in a very light konbu stock or water and then eaten dipped, generally, in a ponzu sauce. Tecchiri has become very popular in the last 20 years - fugu was not widely eaten before the war - and there are many restaurants that offer fugu courses for as little as 3,000 yen. These shops feature huge tanks with fugu swimming en masse.
Okonomi-yaki
Similar to tako-yaki but flat, okonomi-yaki means "as you like it." With a variety of ingredients from sea food to pork and cabbage, these are flat cakes that resemble a cross between a pancake, pizza, and omelette that is topped with okonomi-yaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and bonito flakes (katsuobushi). Osaka style is usually in the do-it-yourself form at smaller, independent specialized restaurants. Tables are equipped with embedded hot plates and you'll receive a bowl of ingredients, which you can cook "as you like it" on your own.
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