What are Osaka's kuidaore and konamono customs and traditions?

For a long time, Osaka has been an industrial area in Japan, a historical center of people, trade, and financial activities. People within Japan, China, and many other Asian countries have gathered and traded there. For example, it was a key place powerful samurai warriors had settled, once ruling all Japanese lands from there.

These influences have shaped the unique food culture in Osaka; some would even claim that it is an entirely different Japanese cuisine that exists there. For instance, there is kuidaore, a term customarily used for eating too much food and falling over because you’re so full, showcases This eat-till-you-drop custom indicates just how much good food there is in Osaka! 

The core of traditional foods in Osaka is mainly four flour-based dishes or konamono. These are called B-ranked foods because of their wallet-friendly prices.

Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake-like dish made of thinly sliced cabbage mixed into a batter of flour, eggs, and water, and cooked on a flat iron griddle. Most often okonomiyaki servings get slathered with a special brown sauce, squirted with mayonnaise, and sprinkled with dried seaweed and bonito flakes.

A few okonomiyaki restaurants we recommend are:

1. Fukutaro
2. Chitose
3. Mizuno

Takoyaki are snacks made with chopped octopus and condiments mixed into flour dough, poured into special ball-shaped pans, and baked until golden brown.

Three restaurants we recommend for takoyaki are:

1. Kogaryu
2. Hanadako
3. Yamachan

• Ikayaki

Ikayaki, or grilled squid is a snack unique to Osaka. It is made by layering flour with dashi seasoning and squid between high-temperature, top and bottom iron plates, grilling the layers all at once, and then serving them coated with a special sauce.

For ikayaki, we recommend the Snack Park in the Hanshin Department Store.

Yakisoba are stir-fried noodles with pork or seafood, vegetables, and a sweet and salty sauce. Chinese noodles made with wheat flour, lye water, water and salt are used to prepare yakisoba.

The restaurants we recommend for yakisoba is Fukutaro.

Negiyaki is a flour-based dish similar to okonomiyaki, made by mixing heaping quantities of green onions into flour batter and grilling it. Negiyaki is served with soy sauce or lemon soy sauce instead of traditional okonomiyaki sauce.

For negiyaki, we highly recommend the Negiyaki Yamamoto restaurant.