Batter:
200g flour
2 eggs
450ml water
pinch of dashi stock powder
Fillings:
150g fresh boiled octopus, chopped
1 bunch spring onion, chopped
Red pickled ginger
Tempura flakes
Toppings:
Takoyaki/Okonomi sauce
Japanese mayonnaise
Aonori (Powdered seaweed)
Katsuobushi (Dried Bonito flakes)
Steps & Methods
1) Start by creating the batter. Grab a large bowl and mix together 2 eggs, 200g of flour, 450ml of water and a little dashi stock. Pour in water in batches to mix well with the powder to produce smooth and even batter. Set this aside.
2) Heat up the Takoyaki pan on high heat and apply a generous amount of oil on each holes. When you see smoke coming from the pan, turn to medium heat and pour the batter to fill the holes. You can even overflow the batter out of the hole to make it easier to flip them later. Usually as you add ingredients to the batter it will overflow too.
3) Cut up your octopus into small pieces. Place a few pieces of octopus in each holes, then top with other ingredients like chopped spring onion, pickles ginger, tempura flakes, chopped cabbage... etc. The amount you add is up to you, but only a small amount of each will give enough flavour. You can also put other fillings of your choice, it’s completely optional. (I’ve omitted the ginger and tempura flakes)
4) Once the takoyaki are about half cooked, about 1-2 minutes, you will need to flip them with a wooden skewer. This takes a bit of practice to get done smoothly so keep trying if you are making a mess. Try cooking a small batch for the first time as you need to work quite fast.
5) First, turn each piece of the Takoyaki to 90 degree, pour in extra batter. Then stuff in the edges as you are turning. The batter will flow out from the inside of each takoyaki ball and creates the other side of the takoyaki ball. After you finish flipping them around, set timer for 4 minutes and turn to high heat. Keep turning constantly so each piece will have nice round shape.
6) By now, all your takoyaki should be round, so keep rotating them in the holes to make sure that they cook evenly and the surface turns golden brown.
7) Place a few Takoyaki on a plate and squeeze loads of Takoyaki/Okonomi sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. Then sprinkle a bit of powdered seaweed and some Bonito flakes on top and enjoy them
