← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 140 g Plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 Eggs
• 480 ml dashi, cold
• 1 tsp Soy sauce
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 150 g Boiled octopus, cut into 1.5 cm pieces
• 3 Spring onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Pickled red ginger (beni shoga), chopped
• 4 tbsp Tenkasu (tempura bits) (optional)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, for the pan
• 4 tbsp takoyaki or okonomiyaki sauce
• 3 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Aonori (green seaweed flakes)
• 1 handful Bonito flakes

Method

1. Whisk the eggs, cold dashi, soy and salt, then whisk in the flour to a thin, smooth batter. Pour it into a jug.
2. Heat a takoyaki pan over medium-high heat and brush the wells and the flat surface generously with oil.
3. Pour the batter in so it fills the wells and floods over the top of the pan; this overflow becomes the crisp shell.
4. Drop a piece of octopus into each well, then scatter the tenkasu, spring onion and ginger all over.
5. After 2–3 min, when the bottoms have set, use a skewer to cut the batter between the wells and turn each ball a quarter turn, tucking the loose batter underneath.
6. Keep turning for 6–8 min more, until the balls are round, evenly golden and crisp.
7. Pile onto plates and top with sauce, mayo, aonori and bonito flakes. Warn everyone: the inside is volcanically hot.

Tips

• You need a takoyaki pan (stovetop or electric). No octopus? Cooked prawns, sausage or cheese all work.
• Contains wheat, egg, fish, octopus (a mollusc) and soy.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook Japanese Cooking 101 RecipeTin Japan