A couple of years ago a good friend of mine gave me an electric takoyaki maker for my birthday. Takoyaki literally translated means octopus fried, but takoyaki isn’t just fried octopus – it’s a tiny, piping hot ball of batter filled with green onions, ginger, crispy tempura bits and octopus. It’s crisp, it’s gooey, it’s delicious.
Takoyaki is one of Osaka’s quintessential street foods. Thankfully for us, you don’t have to travel to Osaka for takoyaki – they’re basically found everywhere in Japan and are quite popular in North America too. If you ever come across a takoyaki stand stay awhile and check out the takoyaki makers. They’re mesmerizing.
Professional takoyaki makers have rows and rows of cast iron pans with half spherical molds. A dashi flavoured batter is poured into the molds and then each ball gets a piece of octopus, some ginger, and green onions. When the bottom of the balls are cooked, they’re flipped with skewers so that the inside batter flows out to create the other side of the ball. It’s amazing to watch a real takoyaki maker. They’re fast, furious and churn out the little balls like there’s no tomorrow.
