Osaka Takoyaki

Ingredients

• •Octopus
• •Flour
• •Dashi stock
• •Egg
• •Green onion
• •Pickled ginger
• •Takoyaki sauce
• •Mayonnaise
• •Bonito flakes
• •Vegetable oil

Steps

1. 1Whisk flour, dashi stock, and beaten egg together into a thin, pourable batter and let it rest for a few minutes.
2. 2Brush the hemispherical wells of a hot cast iron takoyaki pan generously with vegetable oil.
3. 3Pour the batter into the wells until they overflow slightly, letting it pool across the surface of the pan.
4. 4Drop a small piece of boiled octopus, a pinch of chopped green onion, and a bit of pickled ginger into each filled well.
5. 5Once the edges of the batter begin to set, use two thin picks to slice around each ball, cutting away the excess batter connecting them.
6. 6Flip each partially formed ball a quarter turn, letting the raw batter from the surface flow down into the well to reshape it into a sphere.
7. 7Keep rotating and flipping every ball every minute or so, until each one turns a deep golden brown and cooks through completely.
8. 8Pile the finished takoyaki balls into a paper boat and brush them generously with sweet takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise.
9. 9Finish with a shower of dried bonito flakes that flutter in the rising heat, and hand the tray over still steaming.