Recipes
Takotaki (grilled octopus balls)
A classic Japanese snack, this recipe is slightly modified to taste less fishy.
Please keep in mind that the majority of the ingredients can only be found in Japanese grocery stores or Asian supermarkets. This particular recipe I’m writing here is missing ingredients from “traditional” takoyaki recipes, but hey, it’s still pretty good!
Ingredients
Octopus sashimi (boiled octopus)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder (NOT BAKING SODA)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of dashi powder
Okonomi sauce
Japanese mayonnaise
Preparation
Take the octopus and cut them into small pieces. I’d say make them reasonably small enough so that they’ll fit in each hole of the takoyaki grill.
Take a mixing bowl and dump the flour, baking powder, salt, and dashi powder into it. Mix it well.
Put the eggs, soy sauce, and water into the mixture. Mix well until you get a smooth consistency. The batter is done!
Cooking
Heat up the takoyaki griller.
When the griller is heated, pour the vegetable oil evenly into each hole. If you’re unsure about pouring, I recommend using a silicone brush.
Carefully pour the batter into each of the holes until they are just below the fill lines. It’s important to not fill the batter all the way to the fill line. That way, when the batter eventually rises, it won’t spill everywhere.
Place one or two pieces of the octopus into each hole where the batter is cooking.
Wait a few minutes for the batter to grill.
Take a pair of chopsticks and carefully rotate the batter in each hole about 90 degrees.
Repeat the previous step for each hole until the batter forms a nice and crisp ball.
Serving
Remove the batter balls from the griller and place onto a plate.
Squeeze the okonomi sauce onto the balls, and then the mayonnaise.
Wait for the takoyaki to cool down.
CONSUME, and enjoy!