Japanese Takoyaki Octopus Balls (Printer-friendly)

Golden Japanese street food balls filled with tender octopus, topped with savory sauce and bonito flakes.

# What You Need:

→ Batter

01 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
02 - 2 large eggs
03 - 2 cups dashi stock
04 - 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
05 - 1/2 teaspoon salt

→ Filling

06 - 4 oz cooked octopus, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
07 - 1/4 cup tenkasu (tempura scraps)
08 - 2 tablespoons pickled red ginger, finely chopped
09 - 2 green onions, finely sliced

→ Toppings

10 - Takoyaki sauce
11 - Japanese mayonnaise
12 - Aonori (dried seaweed flakes)
13 - Katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

# How to Make It:

01 - Whisk together flour, eggs, dashi stock, soy sauce, and salt in a mixing bowl until smooth and thin. Set aside.
02 - Preheat a takoyaki pan over medium heat and lightly oil each well.
03 - Pour batter into each well, filling to the top.
04 - Place a piece of octopus, a small amount of tenkasu, pickled ginger, and green onion into each well.
05 - Let cook for 1-2 minutes until the edges begin to set.
06 - Use skewers or chopsticks to turn each ball 90 degrees, allowing uncooked batter to flow out and form a round shape.
07 - Continue turning every 1-2 minutes until balls are golden and crisp on all sides, approximately 8-10 minutes total cooking time.
08 - Remove from pan and serve hot, drizzled with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise. Sprinkle with aonori and katsuobushi.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • These crispy golden orbs have that magical texture contrast of crunchy outside and creamy inside that makes them impossible to stop eating
  • Theres something so satisfying about the flipping process, almost like a culinary rhythm game you play with your hands
02 -
  • The first batch will almost always be ugly, so embrace the imperfect ones as snacks while you find your flipping rhythm
  • Oil the pan between batches but do not overdo it, excess oil makes the balls greasy instead of crispy
03 -
  • If your batter is too thick the balls will be dense, so aim for the consistency of heavy cream
  • A slightly cooler pan produces better results than a blazing hot one, giving you more control during the turning process

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