Monjayaki

Monjayaki is made by cooking a loose wheat-flour batter and chopped ingredients on an iron griddle. Cabbage, pickled ginger and small dried shrimp are familiar ingredients; squid, cheese and rice cakes are among other additions. The solid ingredients are fried first and arranged in a ring, with the liquid batter poured into the center. Once it cooks, everything is mixed and spread thinly. Diners use small spatulas to press and scoop portions from the hot plate.^[1][2]

Simple versions were children's snacks during the shortages after the Second World War. The name is linked to moji-yaki, or letter-grilling, recalling the practice of writing characters with batter on the griddle. As ingredients became more plentiful, richer mixtures developed. Tokyo's Tsukishima district became a center for specialist restaurants, where families and friends eat monjayaki around table griddles.^[1][2]