Bite-sized savory octopus balls with hints of ginger and green onion, topped with seaweed and fish flakes, drenched in two of the best sauces on the planet. Hands down my favorite food of all time and well worth the investment into the specialized pan.
You want some salty, fishy balls? Wait, where are you going?
The Chef
Takoyaki can be made as a starter, snack, side dish, or dedicated meal. If you’re planning on the latter, I recommend allocating at least 8 per person, 12 if people are hungry.
Broth – dough – fillings – assemble!
This recipe essentially has four phases that break up the work into small chunks. First, you start making the broth at least two hours ahead of time. However, if you don’t have the time or ingredients for this, you can skip it. A packet of dashi powder will also do. Second, you make the dough. This step can also be taken care of hours or even a day in advance, just store the dough in the fridge and give it a good stir right before using it.
Third, you chop, grind, mince all the fillings and toppings. They can also wait in the fridge for a few hours if need be. I like to take care of this along with the dough.
Finally, you assemble, cook, and serve the takoyaki in one go.
Breaking out the mold
You can use a Takoyaki pan (left), but a proper gas cassette (right) has a lot of upsides. The main advantage are the 20 molds; frying batches of 8 with a small pan takes forever if you’re not just making a snack or starter. Plus, the cassette is portable and can be used right at the dinner table (or even at a picnic).
Both products may seem gimmicky and much too specialized to be worth buying. However, you can use them to make all sorts of ball-shaped snacks and meals (e.g. there are great recipes for pizza balls out there). You do not need the dedicated sticks for flipping the Takoyaki. Even though they are great, other utensils such as pliers or a spatula will work as well.
Pouring the dough
You don’t need a proper dough dispenser either, any large cup with a spout does the trick. Even if a lot of dough goes over the edges, the balls will turn out clean and round in the end. In fact, Takoyaki street vendors don’t bother aiming for the circular molds at all, as filling up the whole surface is faster. Just make sure to oil all of it generously before pouring the batter.
What is stored in the balls
A few notes on the ingredients:
- Some recipes list tenkasu as a filling, but it can be hard to come by and is a hassle to make at home. The Takoyaki I had in at its birthplace in Osaka (shoutout Johnny Takoyaki!) was stuffed with it. It’s supposed to provide a crunchy contrast, but it honestly doesn’t make that big of a difference.
- Beni shoga can also be hard to find in many parts of the world. It is not red-colored sushi ginger; beni shoga is matchstick-shaped and seasoned very differently. I used minced fresh ginger in the past as a substitute, which does change the taste, but not fundamentally.
- Octopus often comes in larger portions than you need, at least the pre-boiled, refrigerated kind I usually get. If you have a vacuum sealer, you can vacuum and freeze the surplus amount (before chopping) for months.
- Finally, you can find pre-mixed Takoyaki flour mix at the store, but I find the results with cheaper, regular plain flour at least as good. If you use a flour mix, be aware that it already contains seasoning such as salt and ground-up bonito, so adjust the recipe accordingly.
Takoyaki
Equipment
- 1 takoyaki pan or takoyaki maker
- 1 silicone brush for applying the oil
- 1 dough dispenser or large cup with a spout
- 1 pair of takoyaki sticks or kitchen pliers for flipping
- 1 mortar or food processor
- 1 spice ball optional
- 1 fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth
Ingredients
General
- neutral oil for frying
- 20 g katsuobushi for dashi, fillings, and toppings!
Dashi
- 900 ml water
- 1 sheet kombu seaweed
Batter
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 eggs large
- 4 tsp soy sauce
Fillings
- 2 stalks green onions / scallions
- 1 tbsp beni shoga
- 100 g octopus tentacle pre-boiled
Toppings
- 1 tsp aonori
- 1 bottle takoyaki sauce or okonomi sauce
- 1 bottle kewpie mayonnaise
Instructions
Make the broth
- Pour water into a pot or saucepan and add the kombu. Let it sit there for at least two hours or up to overnight.
- Put the pot on the stove and set it to medium heat until it begins to simmer.
- Skim and discard the foam that gathers at the surface.
- Remove the kombu. Put about half the katsuobushi into a spice ball and add it to the hot water.
- Bring to a boil and let it boil for around 30 seconds.
- Remove from the heat and take out the katusobushi.
- If there are small debris, strain the broth through a sieve or cheesecloth. Leave it to cool at least a little bit.
Make the batter
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together.
- Add eggs, soy sauce, and mixed dashi broth. Whisk all together until well-blended.
Prepare the fillings
- Take about half of the remaining katsuobushi and grind it to a powder in a mortar (or use a food processor).
- Cut green onions into fine slices.
- Mince the beni shoga.
- Cut the octopus into cubes of around 1cm.
Assemble the takoyaki
- Heat the takoyaki pan or takoyaki maker over medium to high heat.
- Use a brush to generously oil its surface, including the space between the molds.
- Once hot, pour the batter to fill the holes to around 75%.
- Add 1 octopus piece (or 2 if they're small) to each hole.
- Now sprinkle the other fillings: katsuobushi powder, tenkasu, green onion, beni shoga.
- Once the balls harden enough to be turned without ripping, turn each one to the side and fill the gap with more batter.
- Keep turning, stuffing in the sides (and if need be, filling up with more batter) until the balls have a nice are perfectly round and browned.
Add toppings & serve
- Distribute takoyaki to plates.
- Generously zig-zag takoyaki/okonomi sauce and mayonnaise on them.
- Finish off with sprinkling katsuobushi and dried green seaweed.
- Serve and eat immediately. Careful, they stay hot on the inside for longer than you may think.
