Takoyaki, Octopus balls

Crisp crisp, plump plump Takoyaki たこ焼き~

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Takoyaki , octopus balls are a popular bite sized ball shaped savory snack made from wheat flour, eggs and soup stock that has a piece of octopus inside. I guess most of people overseas imagine Gindaco 銀だこ when they hear the word Takoyaki, but Gindaco is not considered to be authentic Takoyaki in Osaka where Takoyaki was born.

Classic Osaka style is creamy like custard inside and crispy outside, because they are eaten right after cooked, not because of deep-fry finishing like Gindaco. Gindaco was founded in East Japan of take away culture, contrary to Osaka of eat in culture. They converted Takoyaki recipe into suitable to take away by making the batter thick and cooking the surface with oil for finishing to keep the texture for a long time.

Authentic Takoyaki is getting difficult to find nowadays as Gindaco is getting popular all over Japan except Osaka. I hear that Gindaco became too popular and their sales came to largely affect the market price of octopus in Japan, so they came to need to purchase octopus from overseas!

I introduce both Gindaco style and classic Osaka style Takoyaki. Explanation is long, but it is not a lot of work to cook. I only explained the details, must do & no no.

~Preparation the day before ~Tako=octopus King oyster mushrooms エリンギ Shio Koji 塩麹 Kombu 昆布 Cut the mushrooms into twice or three times bigger than you want them to be. Because they shrink to 1/2 to 1/3. If you have a pickling jar, put the mushrooms in it and toss with shio koji, place a piece of kombu on top, then put the lid on and let sit in the fridge overnight. If you don't have a pickling jar, putting in a zipper bag is fine. Just put the ingredients in and remove air. I recommend to get a pickling jar, they are available in 100yen shops, and very usuful.

While waiting, the living bacteria of shio koji make Umami, the kombu adds sea flavor, the salt in shio koji makes the mushrooms release excess water and firm up, the texture and flavor of the mushrooms turn into like octopus! This method can be applied to other seafood dishes too! Don't throw away the juice. It adds good umami in soup, stew, etc etc...

If you don't have shio koji, salt works similarly except fermentation. Kombu stock powder may be good too instead of salt and kombu. ~Batter for about 16pcs of small size Gindaco style 90g Cake flour or all purpose flour　薄力粉 10g Chickpea flour ( for eggy flavor and smooth texture)　ひよこ豆粉 1tsp Kombu powder　昆布粉 1tsp Shiitake powder　椎茸粉 300ml Cold water　冷水 1/2tsp Soy sauce　醤油 Classic style (This is how I usually cook with the iron pan) 70g Cake flour or all purpose flour　薄力粉 10g Chickpea flour ( for eggy flavor and smooth texture)　ひよこ豆粉 1tsp Kombu powder　昆布粉 1tsp Shiitake powder　椎茸粉 300ml Cold water (320ml when I was using a Teflon coating pan, because it was bigger.)冷水 1/2tsp Soy sauce　醤油 Gluten free 60g Rice flour　米粉 10g Chickpea flour　ひよこ豆粉 10g Tapioca starch　タピオカ澱粉 1tps Kombu powder　昆布粉 1tsp Shiitake powder　椎茸粉 320ml Cold water　冷水 1tsp Gluten free soy sauce　グルテンフリー醤油 1~2tsp Oil　植物油 * If you want to use kombu stock powder instead of kombu powder and shiitake powder, omit soy sauce. Because stock powder usually already contains sodium. If you don't have kombu powder and shiitake powder nor kombu stock powder, using cold kombu and shiitake stock instead of water is fine. Mix all the powder ingredients in a bowl. Add the mixed flour little by little in the water and mix each time. Mix well, but be careful not to overmix in order not to activate gluten. Don't worry if it has lumps, they will be gone before cooking. Add soy sauce (and oil for gluten free recipe) and stir.

Cover the bowl and let sit in the fridge overnight. The reason is hydration. You know, it is the same reason as when cooking rice. For the best flavor and texture, it is important to pregelatinize the starch. For pregelatinization, it is important to fully hydrate before cooking. I don't really feel the difference when cooking Okonomi yaki, but for Takoyaki, I do recommend to let it sit overnight, you'll feel it is very different. You know, Okonimiyaki is almost all cabbage, but Takoyaki is almost all batter. ~The day to cook! ~Other ingredients 1Tbsp Pickled ginger or raw ginger (Minced)　紅しょうが、生姜 2Tbsp Green onion (Sliced)　青ネギ or 万能ねぎ 1~2Tbsp Tempura crumbs or Crispy fried onions (Omit for gluten free)　揚げ玉 or フライドオニオン * Non-veg Tempura crumbs contain squids and shrimps for extra umami. But vegan friendly ones are just fried batter. Tempura crumbs are added in Takoyaki to raise the temperature inside so that the texture gets creamy. So vegan tempura crumbs work in the same way, but I prefer to use fried onion to add umami of onion too. Most of Takoyaki chefs use pickled ginger, but actually it doesn't have to be pickled. You know, pickling is just a way to preserve vegetables. I usually use fresh raw ginger. And I hear that some Takoyaki places known for the taste use fresh ones too, such as Wanaka in Osaka a.k.a the most popular Takoyaki place! Takoyaki chefs usually pour the batter in the hot Takoyaki pan and sprinkle ginger, green onion and tempura crumbs on it, but I add them in the batter and mix beforehand, because I don't like to be rushed.

Heat the Takoyaki pan, apply enough oil (Maybe a lot more than you think), pour the batter in. Put a piece of mushroom octopus in each pits and sink in the batter. Once it formed thin skin, separate each pieces with Takoyaki picks, chopsticks or icepicks, then turn when inside is still raw.

Usually they are shaped into balls by 2~3times turning. Try to make the skin as smooth as possible so that it keeps moisture inside and makes good creamy texture. If they have a hole in the skin, the moisture evaporates from there and the texture gets gooey and rubbery. Cook them as turning until delicious brown and crispy outside.

For Gindaco style Takoyaki, finish with deep frying process of their signature. Once skin is formed, pour some oil over and cook until crispy as turning. Using sesame oil for this process adds more flavor. Serve immediately topped with mayo, "sauce" aka Tonkatsu sauce or Okonomi sauce and Aonori 青のり 青海苔 or Aosa 青粉 あおさ seaweed flakes. About 50% of the Japanese say "No mayo on Takoyaki!", but I am a mayo person. I like wasabi, soy sauce and mayo too.

Good Osaka style Takoyaki shrink when they are removed from heat. The air in them plays an important role to make good creamy texture by "steaming" Tako and batter inside. They are crispy and creamy right after cooked, but they get soggy so fast. So eat them immediately. Gindaco style Takoyaki don't shrink like classic style. Because the batter is thick, and the skin is hard. But they still have air inside when they are cooked properly. * Ratios of Takoyaki batter If it is your first time of cooking Takoyaki, I recommend to start with Flour 1 : Water 3, same as Gindaco style. I like 1 : 4 for the taste and texture, but it is a little difficult to turn. But it will be fine after 2~3 times of practice. Some of Takoyaki chefs say 1 : 5 is excellent, but it is too difficult for me. It may be because of my Takoyaki pan, because it is eggless, or just because of my skill, I don't know... If you are interested in being a Takoyaki expert, start with 1 : 3, then step up to 1 : 3.5 → 1 : 4 → 1 : 4.5 → 1 : 5!!!