Takoyaki Recipe (Octopus Balls)
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One of the famous Osaka street foods, Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) is a small dumpling with a piece of octopus in the middle. Crispy outside and gooey inside, Takoyaki is fun to make and delicious to eat.Cook Time does not include the time to boil octopus. Cook time assumes that Takoyaki balls are cooked in two batches.Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
Ingredients
Takoyaki Batter (makes about 24 balls, note 1)
Fillings
Toppings
Tools
Instructions
Dice the octopus into 1-1.3cm / ½” cubes.
Making Takoyaki Batter
Crack an egg into a jar with a capacity of 750ml / 1.6pt or more. Beat the egg.
Add dashi stock and soy sauce to the jar and mix well.
Add flour in 3-4 batches to the jar and mix well each time until lump free.
Cooking Takoyaki
Heat the Takoyaki Griller over medium-low heat.
Oil each mould and the surface of the griller generously. A little bit of extra oil makes the Takoyaki crispier on outside.
Fill each hole with the batter without overflowing (note 7). Slight spilling is OK.
Put a piece of octopus in each mould, then tenkasu, shallots/scallion and benishōga on top of octopus. Leave some tenkasu, shallots/scallion and benishōga for the second batch (1/3 in my case as my pan makes 16 balls at once).
Pour the batter over the mould and fill the entire surface of the pan/griller.
Using a long bamboo skewer or a thin chopstick, draw grid lines between the moulds to partition each Takoyaki portion.
Starting from the mould that gets the strongest heat (hence cooked fastest), use one or two bamboo skewers or thin chopsticks to scrape the edges of the batter partition and move them towards the mould
Turn the batter 90 degrees, while tucking the excess batter into the mould.
Repeat steps 11 & 12 for the rest of the takoyaki moulds.
Turn the batter in each mould another 90 degrees so that the Takoyaki batter is completely turned over from its original position.
Cook for about 5 minutes, during which turn over the balls from time to time to brown them evenly (note 8).
Transfer the Takoyaki to a serving plate, smother them with Takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise (if using), sprinkle over aonori and bonito flakes. Serve while hot.
Repeat all of the steps for Making Takoyaki, using the remaining batter and other ingredients.
Notes
- Recipe Notes 1. Depending on the size of the semi-sphere mould and the amount of batter you overflow around the mould, the number of balls you can make can change. 2. The weight of the octopus is approximate. Since I intended to make 24 balls, I cut the octopus into 24 pieces. Alternatively, you can cut it into smaller pieces and put 2-3 pieces in each mould. There are two ways to boil octopus legs: a) Fast but the octopus will be slightly hard – please visit the section HOW TO BOIL OCTOPUS in my post Octopus and Cucumber Sunomono. b) Simmer for 30-40 minutes - it takes longer but the octopus will be very tender. I give two options because I found that the option b) makes the octopus so tender that you may not recognise there is an octopus piece inside the Takoyaki ball. 3. The choice of sauce is up to you, but slightly sweet and thick sauce goes well with Takoyaki. So, I used Bulldog chūnō sauce. If you only have Worcestershire sauce, you can mix tomato ketchup into the sauce to make it thicker and slightly sweeter. Add some sugar if you like it sweeter. You can also buy Takoyaki sauce in a bottle from Japanese/Asian grocery stores. 4. I usually don’t use mayonnaise to eat Takoyaki just like how I don’t use it for Okonomiyaki. I think the addition of mayonnaise is a modern version of Takoyaki. 5. Please refer to the section ABOUT TAKOYAKI GRILL PAN/TAKOYAKI PAN in this post for more details. 6. Make sure that the sticks are at least 20cm / 8" or even longer as you will get a strong heat from the pan/grill while handling the Takoyaki balls. If the pan/griller has a non-stick coating, do not use a metal skewer as it will scratch the coating. If using a cast iron grill pan like a professional Takoyaki shop, you can use a long ice pick. 7. I fill the moulds from the outside first as they are not as hot as the moulds in the centre. 8. You may swap the positions of the Takoyaki balls between the hot moulds and the not-so-hot moulds. 9. How to Make Takoyaki Pancake: Put 1 tbsp oil into a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add all the batter to the pan and mix well. When the outside of the batter starts getting cooked, scatter the octopus pieces and other fillings in the half area of the frying pan (semi-circle area) closer to you. Cook for few minutes until the batter is almost cooked. Using a spatula, fold the half area that does not have fillings over to the other half with the fillings. Cook for a minute or so until the centre of the pancake is cooked through. Cut it into bite size pieces. 10. Nutrition per Takoyaki ball. serving: 49g calories: 50kcal fat: 2.5g (4%) saturated fat: 0.4g (2%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 1.3g monounsaturated fat: 0.6g cholesterol: 11mg (4%) sodium: 175mg (7%) potassium: 106mg (3%) carbohydrates: 4.8g (2%) dietary fibre: 0.5g (2%) sugar: 0.9g protein: 2g vitamin a: 3% vitamin c: 1.3% calcium: 0.7% iron: 2.9%
