Takoyaki Recipe (Video) たこ焼き (2024)

Takoyaki, or Grilled Octopus Balls, originated in Osaka and are one of Japan’s best-known street foods. Whether you make a traditionalstyle with bits of octopus or choose creative alternatives, these ball-shaped dumplingsare fun to make with your friends and family!

Takoyaki (たこ焼き) is a Japanese snack in the shape of little round balls containing pieces of octopus. Tako-yaki literally translates to “octopus-grilled/fried” and some people may call it “Grilled Octopus Balls” or “Octopus Dumplings”.

What is Takoyaki

Here are some facts about takoyaki.

• It originated and became popular in Osaka around 1935 (according to wiki) and then spread to greater south-central Japan and beyond.
• It’s one of the most popular Japanese street foods along with Okonomiyaki.
• Takoyaki isusually sold by street vendors, convenience stores, supermarkets, food courts, and of course specialty restaurants. In Osaka, takoyaki stands can be easily found throughout the city.
• It is usually served with slightly salty takoyaki sauce, which goes well with beer and other alcoholic drinks. Therefore, many Izakaya restaurants serve takoyaki on the menu.

5 Ingredients forAuthentic Takoyaki

There are so many variations of takoyaki throughout Japan. For example, the original Osaka-style does not include any cabbage, but many regional variations (Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya,Tokyo areas) do. Even though I lived in the Tokyo area, I actually didn’t know they sometimes containcabbage till now.

Here are the ingredients for the classictakoyaki recipe.

1. Dashi-flavored batter

Very simple. It’s a mixture of Japanese stock Dashi, all-purpose flour, baking powder, eggs, salt, and soy sauce. If you don’t want to make the batter from scratch, you can find takoyaki mix in Japanese grocery stores or Amazon.

2. Octopus

You can purchase cooked (boiled) octopus (tako in Japanese) in Japanese grocery stores. If you are going to make this snack for a big party, you can purchase a whole cooked octopus at an online sashimi store like Catalina Offshore. When I buy a whole octopus, I use it for different dishes, including sashimi, carpaccio,octopus salad (Takosu), and of course, takoyaki.

3. Beni shoga (pickled red ginger)

Small bits of beni shoga (紅生姜), or red pickled ginger, give a nice pop on the color of takoyaki and a little spicy, pungent kickto the dish.

4. Green onion

The batter is yellow, octopus, and beni shoga are red… and now you need green color to make the dish look more appetizing (and delicious)!

5. Tenkasu or Agedama (Tempura scraps)

I often get questions about what Tenkasu does for the dish. We use tempura scraps for hot or cold Tanuki Udon NoodlesandOkonomiyaki(even Hiroshima-style). The oil from Tenkasu adds richer and umami flavors, and additional crispness and creaminess inside takoyaki balls.

Takoyaki Sauce & Garnish

Takoyaki is served with Worcestershire sauce-like “takoyaki sauce”, followed bysome squirt ofJapanese mayo.You can:

• Buy a store-bought takoyaki sauce
• Make a quick homemade takoyaki sauce (recipe) with several condiments

Then it’s topped with a sprinkle of a few garnishes:

• Aonori(dried green seaweed)
• Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)

3 Tips to MakePerfect Takoyaki

I received many requests for this recipe from JOC Readers(thank you!). To make the recipe as authentic as possible, I asked my best friend Yukako who lives in Osaka. She makes delicious takoyaki at home and she and her husband shared their own recipe with me and JOC readers. Yay! I adapted the recipe a little bit so that some ingredients will be easier to measure.

Tip 1:Don’t be stingy with the oil.

Apply generous oil everywhere (each hole in the takoyaki pan and surrounding flat area). How generous? You should see 1/4 inch (5 mm) oil in each hole. The oil helps takoyaki to have crispy skin and it’ll be easier for you to flip without the batter being stuck.

Tip 2: Generously pour the batter.

When you see smoke coming out of the grill/plate, fill the hole with the batter. If it overflows, that’s okay. Because the entire grill top should be covered with the batter after adding octopus and other ingredients in the hole. If you use a bigger chunk of octopus pieces, you might want to pour just enough to the top of the holes. As soon as the octopus goes in, it overflows naturally.

Tip 3: Flip 90 degrees and stuff in the extra batter.

Break the extra batter around the hole with skewers. Once the bottom of the takoyaki balls is crispy, rotate 90 degrees to let the uncooked batter pour out into the hole. Stuff and push in the extra surrounding dough inside the balls. This will help make a perfectly round shape.

For a home takoyaki grill, each hole doesn’t provide the same amount of heat. Therefore, it’s important to switch around the balls once they are in a ball shape so they’re browned evenly.

Don’t Like Octopus? Here Are Substitutions!

No problem! A lot of Japanese children enjoy different fillings besides pieces of octopus. Here are my suggestions for other fillings.

• Sausages / Bacon
• Canned tuna /Mentaiko (Spicy cod/pollock roe)
• Shrimp / Squid
• Cheese
• Mochi (rice cakes)
• Fish cake (chikuwa/crab sticks)
• Kimchi
• Corn
• Edamame
• Green peas
• Avocado

Various Takoyaki Grills

1. Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler Electric Griddle +EA-YBC01 Takoyaki Plate (Optional) ($130 + $60)

This is the takoyaki grill pan that I use. I use this electric griddle for Teppanyaki and Okonomiyaki. I switch the hot plate to the takoyaki plate when I make Takoyaki.

2.Iwatani Cassette Gas Takoyaki Device($100)

3. Iwatani Non-Stick Takoyaki Grill for Cassette Butane Stove ($40)

Do you have this Iwatani cassette feu butane stove already? I use this exact model for doing a hot pot at the table and sometimes filming my YouTube videos. If you have one already, then you can purchase this Iwatani accessory. The grill is non-stick and prevents food from sticking to the pan.

4. Yamazen Takoyaki Device ($45)

5. Ebelskiver (Danish) Pan ($25)

Many JOC readers told me they successfully made takoyaki with an Ebelskiver (Danish) pan or Appam Maker (Indian) as well.

Other Japanese Street Foods

• Yakisoba
• Okonomiyaki
• Taiyaki
• If you are interested in learning about Japanese Street Foods, check out Japanese Summer Festival Foods.

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Editor’s Note: The post was originally published onOct 20, 2013.