I’m no takoyaki master, but I sure do like the zen feeling that comes over me while I try to make perfectly spherical takoyaki. I’ve only ever used my pan once so when my friend wanted to bring over her takoyaki pan and have a takoyaki party I was pretty excited. I even wanted to have a takoyaki off with one of my Japanese friends but he declined, saying it wasn’t a fair contest as I would no doubt win. Non-contest aside, we had a great time making individualized takoyakis. Everyone thought they tasted just like the takoyaki vendors.
Takoyaki need quite a few ingredients and a specialized pan, but I think it’s worth it. You can find a takoyaki pan on amazon.com or you can use an ebelskiver (Danish pancake) pan. As for the insides, octopus is classic, but feel free to put in shrimp, chicken, or whatever savoury filling you like. I like to do a combo of octopus, squid and shrimp. I also throw in some mozzarella cheese to get an crispy toasted cheese outside with an extra gooey cheesy inside. If you’ve never seen takoyaki being made, do a youtube search, it’ll give a good starting point for how to flip the little balls around.
