Takoyaki

Takoyaki (Osaka Octopus Balls)

Osaka's iconic street snack: crisp-edged batter spheres wrapped around tender pieces of octopus, finished with sweet-savory sauce, mayo, aonori and dancing bonito flakes. A proper takoyaki pan is the one piece of equipment that really matters.

Prep

15 min

Cook

20 min

Total

35 min

Serves

4 (about 20 balls)

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •200 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
• •2 g (½ tsp) instant dashi powder, or 1 sachet; kombu-shitake dashi works for vegetarian
• •1 g (¼ tsp) salt
• •500 ml (2 cups) cold water
• •2 whole (2 large) eggs
• •300 g (10½ oz) cooked octopus, boiled tako; cut into roughly 2 cm / ¾ inch chunks, one piece per ball
• •60 g (½ cup) beni shoga, pickled red ginger, finely chopped
• •60 g (½ cup) tenkasu, tempura scraps; finely chopped scallion is the classic home substitute
• •60 ml (¼ cup) takoyaki sauce
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) Japanese mayonnaise
• •2 g (1 tsp) aonori, dried green seaweed powder
• •5 g (¼ cup) katsuobushi, bonito flakes, loosely packed

Steps

1. 1 Make the batter: whisk flour, dashi and salt in a bowl. Add cold water and the eggs and whisk until smooth and quite thin, like heavy cream. Set aside.
2. 2 Heat a takoyaki pan over medium heat and brush each well generously with neutral oil. The pan must be hot before you pour - a drop of batter should sizzle immediately.
3. 3 Fill each well almost to the top with batter, then drop one piece of octopus, a pinch of tenkasu (or scallion) and a little beni shoga into each well. Do not stir.
4. 4 After about 1-1½ minutes, when a skin has formed on the bottom but the top is still wet, use a takoyaki pick or small skewer to break the set batter between wells and pour the overflowing batter into the now-empty wells to form the next row. Wait 30 seconds.
5. 5 Use the pick to rotate each ball about 90°. Continue cooking and turning every 30-60 seconds for 6-8 minutes total, gradually shaping each ball into a tight sphere and filling any gaps with a little extra batter.
6. 6 Cook until the balls are deep golden brown on the outside and the inside batter is fully set, no longer liquid. Cut one ball open to check: the batter should be opaque and set all the way through, not glossy or runny. Internal temperature of a finished ball should reach at least 75 °C / 165 °F and the octopus should be heated through to at least 63 °C / 145 °F; if a ball reads under target, give it another 1 to 2 minutes and check again.
7. 7 Transfer to a plate or small boat. Drizzle with takoyaki sauce in a zig-zag, then mayo, then aonori, and finish with a generous handful of katsuobushi. The bonito will visibly curl and 'dance' from the heat.
8. 8 Eat soon, straight from the pick. Takoyaki hold their heat for several minutes, so wait a moment and bite into the edge first rather than straight through the middle; the filling is very hot and can burn the roof of your mouth. Check that the centre is fully set before letting a child eat one.