As anybody who has known me for any length of time knows, there is one food that towers above all my other favorite foods. It's not ice cream, not strawberries, nor even fresh asparagus: it is a little-known Japanese food that goes by the name of takoyaki. Takoyaki, Japanese for "fried octopus", it is a round octopus dumpling served at vendor stands all across Japan, particularly in the Kansai region.

Unfortunately, takoyaki is a downright rarity in the States - particularly so here in Minnesota, where we don't have a large Japanese population. To me, this is a crying shame – the Japanese themselves eat way more donburi, udon, ramen, soba, omuraisu, tonkatsu, takoyaki, onigiri, etc., etc. than they eat sushi, and yet all we get here in Minnesota is more or less a big heaping pile of mediocre sushi places. Hope is not completely lost - after all, Midori's Floating World Cafe sells takoyaki; it's not bad, but it's not quite the Ōsaka-style takoyaki that I pine for.


Octopus - how does it manage to simultaneously be so intimidating and yet so delicious?

Ingredients:
1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 cup dashi-flavored ice-water (I use a generous 1/2 tsp dashi powder + 1 1/4 cup water)
1 egg
1/4 lb octopus (one arm)
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 tbsp ground sakura ebi (dried red shrimp)
1/2 tbsp shōyu (soy sauce)
1/2 tsp salt
oil (rice bran oil)

Toppings
katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
ground aonori (green seaweed)
okonomiyaki sauce
japanese-style mayonnaise (I use Kewpie brand)

Instructions:
Drop the whole octopus arm into boiling water. Boil for no longer than three minutes. Note to local restaurants: YES, THAT'S THREE MINUTES. THREE. NOT TEN, NOT FIFTEEN. THREE. Octopus is almost always improperly cooked. If you've ever had tasteless, chewy octopus - and if you've ordered octopus off a menu, then you probably have - that's because it has most likely been overcooked. Properly cooked octopus should be soft and have a buttery flavor. Anyways, after the octopus has boiled for about three minutes (three!), remove it from the water and chop it into bite-size bits.

In mixing bowl, combine cake flour, dashi-flavored ice-water, egg, soy sauce, salt, and sakura ebi. Mix lightly, until flour clumps are mostly gone, being careful not to overmix.

Heat your cast-iron takoyaki pan over medium-high heat. If you don't have a takoyaki pan - and most people don't - you can do what I do and use a well-seasoned traditional Danish æbleskiver pan. Coat both the top of the pan and the holes with oil. I use rice bran oil, because it has both a high smoke point and a neutral flavor, but regular canola oil works well in a pinch. Pour the batter into each of the holes, filling them almost to the brim. Then, drop a piece of octopus into each hole, and sprinkle in the green onions.


Æbleskiver pan, takoyaki pan, what's the difference?

Wait until the pan-facing side of the takoyaki has cooked, and then rotate them up to a 90° angle. After they've been rotated, quickly rotate them so that the open end is facing downward. This youtube video does a decent job of showing the proper technique.

After they've finished cooking, remove the takoyaki using your chopsticks and place them on a plate. Brush the top of the takoyaki with a generous helping of okonomiyaki sauce. I use Otafuku-brand Okonomi sauce; it is widely available and has no hydrolyzed pork protein. Then, sprinkle on your ground aonori flakes. Squirt on some Japanese-style mayonnaise, and then finish it off with the dried bonito flakes. Consume while hot and gooey!


It's Japanese fast food, but oh-so-delicious!