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Passport & Plate - Takoyaki

Japan | Saturday, February 28, 2015 | 4 photos

Ingredients
Ingredients
-Cold water 340 mL
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp dashi powder
- 1 tsp soya sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 g of flour
- boiled octopus cut into small pieces
- any ingredients you like ( cut into small pieces)
- beni shoga (handful)
- tenkasu ( handful)

On top
- takoyaki sauce
- japanese mayonaise
- katsu bushi (bonito flakes)
- ao nori ( japanese seaweed)

 

How to prepare this recipe
Method:
To make the takoyaki batter

1. Stir together the water, egg, dashi powder, soy sauce, salt in a bowl.
2. Gradually shift flour into the batter - divide flour into 3 parts and stir until dissolve
3. Heat the takoyaki pan
4. Brush the hot takoyaki pan with oil
5. Add the batter into the holes until about 3/4 full
6. Add your favourite ingredient into each hole
7.Add handful of tenkasu and benishoga into each hole
8. Cover the hole with the batter until full
9. Allow to cook for a few minutes
10. Use picks to divide the semi-cooked batter on the plate between the holes. Push the batter edges over the hole
11. Gently turn each takoyaki into a ball by getting the picks between the plate and ball in a lifting and flicking rolling motion.
12. Keep turning the balls until they are fully cooked and crispy.
13. Serve immediately topped with takoyaki sauce, japanese mayonaise, bonito flakes and seaweed sprinkles (ao nori)

 

The story behind this recipe
I visited my japanese friend in Tokyo last year and I was offered to stay with her in her small apartment in Tokyo so that I could get to experience living like a local. She invited another japanese friend that I had not seen for almost 10 years and we had a small reunion over a takoyaki party ! According to my japanese friend, making takoyaki is a fun thing to do with families and friends and this is something that she used to make as a child with her family. It brought back a lot of memories from childhood for her because as an adult now, she hardly does this with her parents anymore.

It was very fun for us getting the ingredients from the local supermarket and picking our favourite ingredients to put into the takoyaki as it is customable to taste !! I had fun learning how to turn the takoyaki and forming them into a ball as it is definitely a skill ! I managed to master it after a few attempts and it was really fun to do with friends. We "fought" over who made the best looking and perfect takoyaki balls and who had the strangest ingredients in their takoyaki. We had to guess what was in each takoyaki and it turned into a guessing game.

It was a perfect night of fun and catch up with friends. It was great experience culturally to be able to make a local japanese meal that is commonly done in their home ! It brings back so much memories and even now, when I get to eat takoyaki at a japanese restaurant, I have so many stories to tell !