An optical recording/reproducing method and an optical recording medium capable of performing excellent optical recording with a simple structure in a recording layer made of environmentally friendly materials. The optical recording medium has a recording layer formed on a substrate and made of a mixture of a recording assist material and a dielectric material. A laser beam of which intensity is modulated in accordance with information to be recorded is irradiated onto this recording layer to cause a state change in the recording assist material and/or the dielectric material. The information can be recorded by changing optical characteristics thereof such as reflectivity. The recording assist material includes an element selected from Sn, Ti, Si, Bi, Ge, and C as a principle component, while the dielectric material as a base material for the dielectric layers is at least one of ZnS, SiO2, AlN, and Ta2O5.