We thought we’d try something a little different with today’s Japanese recipe. We figured that maybe some of you would like to see what goes into actually making a recipe instead of just reading about it. So David got behind the camera and I got in front of the stove and together we shot our first ever Anime Gourmet cooking show, featuring takoyaki!
Takoyaki (octopus balls) ia a popular must try Japanese street food which originated in Osaka. Some people think that the only way to make takoyaki is with a takoyaki pan or a takoyaki maker. Not true! You can still make this Osaka delicacy at home by using a mini muffin tin. If you don’t have some of the ingredients, no problem; I’ve listed some substitutions.
So, you wanna make takoyaki? Have your takoyaki pan or muffin tin handy? Let’s go!
Takoyaki Ingredients
Batter
- 1 1/4- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups dashi or vegetable stock or shrimp stock
Traditional Filling Options
- Tako (octopus), lightly cooked and chopped into bite size pieces
- Tenkasu or fried batter bits or Rice Crispies, slightly crumbled
- Dried shrimp, chopped
- Green onions, finely chopped
- Beni shoga or gari or fresh ginger, finely shredded (I actually prefer the gari over the beni shoga; it’s got more flavor.)
Other Options
- Cabbage, finely shredded and chopped
- Carrot, finely shredded and chopped
- Daikon, finely shredded and chopped
- Shrimp, lightly cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
- Mussels, lightly cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
- Scallops, lightly cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
- Squid, lightly cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
Garnish
- Mayo, optional
- ai nori (you can make this by powdering some sushi sheets in a food processor), optional
- kastobushi, optional
- beni shoga or gari, optional
- takoyaki sauce or okonomiyaki sauce or Worcestershire sauce or ketchup or barbecue sauce, optional
directions
Tako Muffies™
1.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat muffin tin in preheated oven.
2.) Beat batter ingredients together. You want to get a slightly thicker consistency for the muffies™ than with traditional balls. Use the cup and a half of flour for this.
3.) After oven and tin are preheated, carefully oil hot muffin tin.
4.) Fill muffin cups halfway with batter. Add whichever filling options you’ve prepared and top off half-filled muffin cups with batter.
5.) Cook in preheated oven for 45 minutes for full sized tin and about 17 minutes for mini tin (check back every seven minutes for mini tin to gauge progress). Tako Muffies™ are done when tops are a golden brown and are puffed up.
6.) Remove from oven and let tin cool for 6 minutes. Remove muffies™.
7.) Add garnishments and serve immediately.
Traditional Takoyaki
1.) If using cast iron pan, preheat over medium heat. If using electric maker, preheat maker.
2.) Mix batter ingredients together. For the balls, you want a thinner batter, but not too watery. You want a slightly thinner consistency than say, pancake batter. Use more or less of the flour to achieve this (Egg sizes will affect consistency. I had to finangle my batter the second time I made takoyaki since I was using smaller eggs. Do the same as necessary.)
3.) Oil preheated takoyaki pan well.
4.) Use a ladle to fill cups halfway with batter. It’s perfectly OK to slop the batter outside of the cups; it’ll all get formed into balls anyway so don’t sweat it. Add whichever filling options you’ve prepared and quickly top off half-filled cups cups with batter. Cook over medium heat.
5.) After about 20 seconds, use a skewer (a chopstick is too big, FYI, so don’t use one) to turn lightly cooked balls over (batter will still be runny and raw on top when you turn the balls- that’s the way it should be.) This part is messy and takes practice, but after your second batch you’ll be a pro! Gambatte!
6.) Keep turning balls over and gather rough, uncooked edges and other bits of batter into the main ball with the skewer (think of them as wayward balls of yarn you’re slowly gathering together. Refer to the video if you’re confused.)
7.) I like to oil the tops of the balls as I repeatedly turn them to ensure they don’t stick, but you don’t have to do that. I find they’re crisper, though, when I do oil them.
8.) Balls are done when they’re an even golden color.
9.) Remove balls from pan and add desired garnishments. Serve immediately.
Using the mini muffin tin to make this treat approximates using the takoyaki pan except that the tops won’t be as crisp as the bottoms. But the flavor is exactly the same and so is the inside texture.
I liked takoyaki because:
- It was fun to make! It’s actually a zen-like experience and very relaxing…
- Takoyaki let me experience a Japanese street food.
- It was really tasty and fun to eat
I didn’t like takoyaki since:
- It was messy to make.
- Took a while to master turning over the balls.
- The traditional ingredients are hard to come by but you can still make ebiyaki (shrimp balls) or whatever else you can get a hold of!
Try making takoyaki at home and experience the joy of Japan’s version of fast food!
Difficulty: Moderate | Time: 45 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate to Difficult
Awesome video! I love the comments (all David’s?) and the pairing at the end. *L* Are you guys Food TV fans too?
I can’t imagine trying this one myself. Some bit of takoyaki goes flying during the turning phase and then it’s molten tako all over. It’d all end with me setting the apartment building on fire.
The only thing I disagree with is the mayonnaise…I can’t imagine spreading American sandwich mayo on a takoyaki. Gives me a sour taste just thinking about it. >.<
Yes! I’ve been searching for a takoyaki recipe for ages now, and you’ve answered my prayers! I can’t wait to try this with my cast iron pan XD
The last time I made takoyaki, I used cheese (cut into lumps), as a filling and it tasted megas good o_o
@griever, thanks! No, the comments are all me and we don’t have cable, otherwise I’d be parked in front of the TV all day @_@.
You can try making this in a mini muffin tin at home, but really, you live in Japan, why bother making it when you can go up the street? Have you had takoyaki from a vendor?
I agree with you 100% on the American mayo, but for those who’ve never tried Kewpie or don’t have access to it, Hellman’s will do in a pinch.
@Lenners, You have a takoyaki pan? Cool! But I’m not seeing eye to eye with you on the cheese. Maybe if it were cheddar and broccoli or bacon bits and cheddar, or mozzarella and pepperoni, but never, and I mean never, tako and cheese, blech!
Of course! Although, the takoyaki dudes tend to be a bit stingy with the octopus…you get a much smaller chunk than what you put in yours. Almost a small square, really.
I could never put Hellman’s on takoyaki, much less any other hot food. It’s too…slimy. Gah.
I really enjoyed the video! When are you getting your own cooking show =D.
@Kabitzin, Thanks! I really enjoyed making it and so did David.
As to the cooking show, who knows, lol? We’ll be doing one LA recipe a month and one non-LA recipe a month as well. We’ll be doing new and old recipes and we’ll take requests for recipes, too!
(Marie apologizes in future for this comment as she spent five hours cleaning and de-sacking octopus for this recipe)
Emergency! I can’t stand it! My takoyaki don’t cook all the way through and I hate it that way! Is there a better way? or am I just killing the recipe because I heard they are supposed to be “soft and creamy” (”blegck” in my opinion) in the middle. I don’t like raw dough! Arrg!
also I did find my takoyaki pan at bed, bath, and beyond
@Marie Turner, First off, everything’s going to be OK ^^b.
Let’s examine possible reasons the takoyaki was raw on the inside:
Possible Reason One: The batter was too thin.
Possible Reason Two: The heat was too high throughout the cooking process. I turn the heat down about 10-20 seconds after I pour the batter. Cooking at a lower temp will ensure the batter cooks evenly.
Possible Reason Three: The ingredients were cold, making it harder for the dough to cook evenly.
Possible Reason Four: The balls weren’t turned evenly throughout. Oy, it’s a workout to keep these balls in motion, but they’ll cook evenly and thoroughly if they get turned every 15-20 seconds. Keep in mind some takoyaki will be done before others. Remove those, pop ‘em in the oven to stay warm, and move ones that are cooking slowly into the vacant cups.
Hopefully your next batch will turn out better! Practice your next batch with ebi (shrimp) or fake kani (crab) if you don’t feel comfy with your takoyaki skills. That way, you don’t have to spend five more hours cleaning tako.
A takoyaki pan at Bed Bath and Beyond? It’s a sign of the times.
Hi! Thank you for posting this information. I wanted to say that it is very helpful!
I also wanted to say that I have been making my takoyaki using whole wheat flour (since i’m on a diet T_T) and it works pretty well… a little grittier than with white flour, but better than not being able to eat them at all ^^.
@Kara, wow, whole wheat flour works? Amazing! Thanks for sharing a healthier alternative!
You can now buy an Aebleskiver pan from Amazon.com for 8.99 at http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-3114-Danish-Aebleskiver-Pan/dp/B000F741O4/ref=pd_sbs_hpc_title_2 or the pricier cast iron version for 24.99. There is also a TV Infomercial product called Pancake Puffs, which comes with some accessories for around 20 bucks, I saw one on sale at Target the other day. These are perfect for making takoyaki as well as Danish aebleskivers.
@Guy Cognito, thanks for the info! You’ve got some great ideas to help folks make takoyaki at home. I’m wondering how big those cups are on that pan at Amazon. The bigger the takoyaki, the tougher they are to cook. Heck, the small ones can be a challenge ^^;;. But if the takoyaki were cooked longer at a lower temp, the bigger size may not be an issue.
The pans mentioned above make balls slightly larger, by 1/2″ I would say then traditional takoyaki but just like you said a slightly lower temp will fix that. You can also follow a cooking method you would use for a British yorkshire pudding to make takoyaki, very much similar to your muffin pan method.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding
Keep those great recipes coming please ^_^
@Guy, thanks for the additional tips! If you like dango, I’ve got two articles, with recipes, coming up soon.
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hi,
wanted to thank you for posting the recipe, I used the shrimp stock instead of chicken. I dont have a takoyaki grill but I do have an obanyaki cast iron grill this worked well enough though they weren’t ball shaped but oh well…we have one who doesnt like seafood so for the non-tako-yaki’s we put in cheese and grilled chicken that was actually pretty good.
Keep posting recipes.
Ja!
@Raine, I’ve seen shrimp stock in Mexican grocers, but they always have beef lard in them, otherwise I’d totally buy it. I’ve used sardine dashi for this and it makes a super tasty takoyaki.
Whoa, you used an obanyaki-ki? Those must have been some big takoyaki! Did they take long to cook? We also have a friend who’s not into seafood. We made cheeseballs too!