Takoyaki: Up Jumped the Octopus
Takoyaki with Mayonaise, Tonkatsu Sauce, Furikake and Katsuobushi Flakes
There are certain dishes that I LOVE ordering at restaurants: corned beef hash, dumplings, Taiwanese 1,000 layer pancake and carnitas. Most of them ethic, but most of all, time consuming. I find so much value in the “perceived” labor it takes for someone to cook a meal. Take for instance corned beef hash: great corned beef must be brined days ahead, cooked FIRST and THEN sliced and sauteed with potato, red peppers, onions etc. Bonus points if they have hollandaise sauce as a side option – which in itself is just too much butter to prepare without getting a bit queasy. lol.
I used to have the same philosophy with takoyaki, or Japanese octopus balls. It seemed as though you had to prepare a proper dashi stock with kombu (kelp), steam octopus yourself and then procure all the other ingredients as toppings. And the truth is, YOU DO. Haha. But, with all things there are shortcuts. While there’s a taste difference from the homemade option and the “good stuff,” it is small and negligible… compared to the pride that you get from making izakaya grub at home.
My co-worker Annie and I whisked together AP flour, Kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, three eggs, a packet of dashi no moto (pictured to the left) and enough water to make a “more runny than you think” batter. We then added a piece of octopus that we sliced into 1/4 inch chunks and a handful of green onions for brightness. You can add pickled ginger here, but neither of us are fans, so we 86′d it. POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
We used an Aebleskiver pan that I bought almost THREE YEARS AGO and brought it to medium high heat. We heavily oiled the pot and ladled the batter in the individual holes and waited for the outside to crisp up. You can watch the HD version of the video here:
Waiting for the bottom to crisp up is key. Then, grab a skewer and pull from the bottom to flip it! The uncooked batter in the middle will coat the bottom of the pan to create the bottom part of the ball. GRAVITY: THE MOST AMAZING SOUS-CHEF. lol. And BOOM there you go.
TOPPINGS! I drizzled in some tonkatsu sauce (Bulldog brand), Kewpie mayo, a pinch of Katsuobushi (Nishimoto brand) and furikake (JFC brand).
I’ll tell you the truth, I’d find it daunting if I didn’t have any of these ingredients. But since I’ve had them in my cupboard, I’ve always found ways to use them in fun and interesting ways like this and this! GET GOING ON YOUR CREATIVE HAPPY FUN DANCE.
creative. happy. fun. dance. 
~Spec
PS: THANKS ANNIE FOR COMING OVER AND LIANA FOR EATING IT!
