"Okonomiyaki" pancakes with Indian curry, kebab meat, pickles, sauerkraut or other innovative ingredients may soon be on the menu at an Osaka-based restaurant chain.
The Yukari okonomiyaki chain has kicked off its Teko-1GP, or Teko One Grand Prix, okonomiyaki recipe contest.
"Any nationality is welcome," General Affairs Manager Kazuhisa Okura said. "Even okonomiyaki chefs working for our competitors can apply."
The deadline for submitting recipes and photos of ingredients is Nov. 7. Five candidates will be selected in mid-November to cook their concoctions at Yukari's Hozenji restaurant in Osaka, where Yukari chefs and executives will pick the champion Nov. 24.
The winner will get at least ¥5 million as well as a pure gold "teko" spatula worth about ¥1 million..
Yukari will sell the okonomiyaki with the winning recipe for five years, with the winner getting 5 percent of sales, excluding consumption tax, in cash every month, Okura said. Yukari will guarantee ¥1 million a year, so if 5 percent of annual sales falls short of ¥1 million, the company will cover the shortfall.
"We want to light a fire under Osaka food culture, which is pretty cold right now," Okura said. "Okonomiyaki is soul food for Osaka."
Okonomiyaki typically consists of meat, shrimp, cabbage and other vegetables in flour, and is eaten with "tonkatsu" sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, "ao-nori" powdered seaweed and "katsuobushi" dried bonito.
This is the second time Yukari has held the Teko-1GP. The 2003 contest was for the company's 50th anniversary.
The winner was a housewife who invented Mido-Suji okonomiyaki, which contains "suji" beef and is seasoned with garlic, soy sauce and curry powder. Yukari sold about 220,000 Mido-Suji okonomiyaki, worth ¥200 million, in five years, and the winner got about ¥10 million.
Recipes must be mailed to Kabushiki Kaisha Yukari "Teko-1GP Again," Sonezaki 2-14-13, Kita Ward, Osaka City, 530-0057.
