Okonomi sauce vs Worcester sauce: the category that splits on thickness

Pour Worcester sauce over okonomi-yaki and something is missing. Pour okonomi sauce over tonkatsu and some people find it too sweet.

Both go by the name "sauce," but the two are built for different jobs. And the difference is not a matter of taste preference: it is set out in a Japanese standard.

What separates them is thickness, not taste

In Japan, Worcester-type sauces are defined under the JAS standard, and the basis for sorting them is viscosity. The thinnest is called Worcester sauce, the middle chuno sauce, and the thickest nokko, or thick, sauce. Okonomi sauce belongs to that thick class.

Why should thickness be the basis? Think about how each is used and it makes sense. Worcester sauce is mostly used to soak into a dish, or poured on to run off it. Okonomi-yaki, by contrast, means brushing sauce onto batter on a hot iron plate. Without thickness, the sauce runs straight off. It has to stay on the surface of the batter and spread under a brush.

The ingredients tend to differ as well. Worcester sauce puts spices and vinegar to work over vegetables and fruit, building its edges from acidity and heat. Thick sauce layers fruit-derived sweetness and body more heavily, building a broad surface of taste that can hold its own against a flour batter.

The sweetness turns out to be dates

You cannot talk about Hiroshima's okonomi-yaki culture without Otafuku Sauce.

It began in 1922 (Taisho 11) as Sasaki Shoten (佐々木商店), a dealer in sake and shoyu. During the postwar recovery, when okonomi-yaki from street stalls was filling stomachs across Hiroshima, the company started making sauce, and in 1957 (Showa 32) came "Okonomi Sauce," with its thickness and sweetness designed for okonomi-yaki.

The source of that distinctive sweetness is a Middle Eastern fruit: dates, from the date palm. They were adopted around 1975 when the oil crisis sent sugar prices up, and now that sugar is cheap again they are still used for the depth of their sweetness. From an iron plate at a street stall to more than 50 countries. It is a taste that walked alongside the city of Hiroshima.

Osaka has a culture of local sauces

Osaka, the capital of flour-based food, keeps a sauce culture of its own apart from the large manufacturers. Its emblem is "Hermes Worcester Sauce," made in a small factory in Higashisumiyoshi (東住吉).

In 1935 (Showa 10), the founder, Kazuo Sakai (坂井一男), registered the trademark under the name of Hermes, the god of commerce. The sauce is still made entirely by hand by a household of a few people, and the recipe is said to pass to a single heir. Tomato, onion, apple. The natural sweetness of vegetables and fruit leads, with no sharp edge of acidity. The official mail order still runs about 3 months behind. Kushikatsu counters and okonomi-yaki shops have leaned on this bottle for years.

Even under the same name, "Worcester sauce," a bottle from a large maker and a local sauce like this point in completely different directions. Sauce varies by region more than you would think.

A rough guide to which one

• Okonomi-yaki, yakisoba, takoyaki: thick sauce (okonomi sauce). It clings to the batter without running
• Dipping kushikatsu: a Worcester sauce with gentle acidity suits it
• A background note in curry or a stir-fry: one spoonful of Worcester sauce. The spices tighten the whole dish
• Tonkatsu and other fried food: thick sauce, straight from the bottle. The sweetness and body balance the oil
• Fried eggs and stir-fried vegetables: try both as you like, and the different roles of sweetness and acidity come out clearly

Keep 2 bottles in the fridge and your range in the kitchen widens more than you would expect. To start, tip the bottle you already own and see how thick it runs.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between okonomi sauce and Worcester sauce?

Mainly thickness. Japan's JAS standard sorts Worcester-type sauces into three classes by viscosity: the thinnest is Worcester sauce, the middle is chuno sauce, and the thickest is nokko sauce. Okonomi sauce falls into that thick class, designed to cling rather than run when it meets a hot iron plate.

Can I make okonomi-yaki with chuno sauce?

You can, but the result changes. Chuno sauce is thinner than okonomi sauce and less sweet, so it clings less to the batter and the outline of the taste feels a little faint. Sauces made for okonomi-yaki are built with a heavier layer of fruit-derived sweetness and body, so the purpose-made kind lands closer to what you are picturing.

Where does the sweetness in Otafuku Sauce come from?

From dates, the fruit of the date palm, grown in the Middle East. They were adopted around 1975 when the oil crisis sent sugar prices up, and now that sugar is cheap again they are still used for the depth of their sweetness. A sweetness layered from vegetables and fruit is what has carried Hiroshima's okonomi-yaki culture.