Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) - East Asian Recipe

Takoyaki (Octopus Balls)

🌍 East Asian, Japan (Osaka) Difficulty: ●●●○○

Takoyaki was invented by Endo Tomekichi in Osaka in 1935, evolving from akashiyaki — the Osaka identity is inseparable from this dish.

Ingredients

• 200g all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 600ml dashi
• 1 tbsp soy sauce. Filling per ball: 1 piece octopus tentacle
• 1 piece red ginger
• scallion
• tenkasu (fried batter scraps). Toppings: takoyaki sauce
• kewpie mayo
• katsuobushi
• aonori

Method

1. Whisking — Whisk batter: flour, eggs, dashi, soy until smooth.
2. Heating — Heat takoyaki pan, oil generously.
3. Filling — Fill each cavity with batter, add one piece each of octopus, ginger, scallion, tenkasu.
4. Rotating — Rotate each ball 90° as bottom sets using skewer — this is the skill.
5. Continuing — Continue rotating until round and golden (6–8 min total).
6. Topping — Top with sauce, mayo, bonito, aonori.

Tags: all-purpose flour, eggs, dashi, soy sauce. filling per ball: 1 piece octopus tentacle, red ginger · Source: Brittani's Almanac