Takoyaki "Octopus Balls" | Japanese Street Food
Delicious iconic Japanese octopus ball street food item featuring takoyaki batter, octopus, imitation crab meat, scallion, Japanese mayo, Takoyaki sauce, seaweed, and bonito flakes.
Equipment
- Takoyaki Pan
- 2 Wooden Skewers
- Silicone brush
- Measuring Cup
- Whisk
Ingredients
Takoyaki Batter
- 2 cup water
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp dashi stock powder
- 1 tsp sugar
Takoyaki Toppings
- 100g octopus, diced/minced into small pieces (1/2 cm)
- 3-4 bunches scallion, diced
- 3-4 sticks imitation crab meat, diced
- Japanese Kewpie mayo
- Takoyaki sauce
- dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
- 1 package seaweed (nori), cut into thin long pieces
Takoyaki Sauce
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Prepare the takoyaki topping ingredients: octopus, scallion, imitation crab meat. Set aside.
Takoyaki Sauce
- Using a small bowl, mix together ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar until smooth. Pour into a squeeze bottle if desired. Set aside.
Takoyaki Batter
- In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, water, flour, salt, soy sauce, baking powder, dashi stock powder, and sugar. Mix well using a whisk until smooth. Pour into a liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
Cook Octopus
- Using a small sauce pan, boil 3 cups of water. Once boiling, add in chopped octopus. Cook for 2 minutes until it floats. Drain using a colander and set aside.
Takoyaki
- Heat up takoyaki pan to medium-high heat until hot. Using a brush, generously coat and brush the takoyaki pan including the individual holes. Once the oil starts to smoke, pour the takoyaki batter into the holes until overflowing into the other holes. Do not worry as we will clean this up as we go!
- Generously coat the batter with the cooked octopus (about 2-3 pieces per hole), imitation crab meat, and scallion.
- Once the batter has cooked for about 2-3 minutes, start to break up the connected batter and rotate the ball in 90° intervals. As you continue to rotate the ball, try to push the connecting "overflow" batter underneath the holes and continue to rotate until the ball has a crispy and brown outer edge. The total process should take about 6-10 minutes depending on how hot your heat is. If it browns too quickly, reduce the heat to low.
- Once your ball is cooked and browned evenly, remove from heat onto a serving plate.
Topping
- Top takoyaki with Kewpie mayo, Takoyaki sauce, cut seaweed, scallion, and bonito flakes. Serve immediately and enjoy!