TAKOYAKI

Got a chance to make it few days ago after I bought the grill. My first experience with takoyaki was when I visited Singapore. There were a food court stall sold takoyaki at Takashimaya Food Court, and for me, until now, the best takoyaki ever is the one sold at Takashimaya which is unfortunately Singapore becomes a very very far country to visit now :(. Therefore, I tried to make my homemade takoyaki since I can't find takoyaki shops in my neighborhood yet.

The difficulties I found are when the time for the takoyaki to be turned over. Tho when I saw the demonstration in youtube I told myself, "ah it's piece of cake!" *too arrogant huh!?*.

However, after the second round making this takoyaki, I'm getting smoother and my takoyaki are nice round looking :).

I'm really happy with my takoyaki, but my hubby dislike it because I put octopus in it. Yea, he is a big enemy of octopus, squid, clams....you name it. He said, "It just like I'm eating a rubber!". Dang.....I am octopus and squid fan :(. Oh well, there must be a sacrifice rite ;).

Got the recipe from Bento.com and this recipe is really recommended! :)



Takoyaki

Ingredients:
200g chopped boiled octopus
Cooking oil for brushing
Benishoga (pickled ginger), bonito flakes and chopped scallions (to taste)

For Batter:
450cc water
1 piece konbu (kelp), 10cm square
15g powdered katsuo-bushi (shaved dried bonito)
200g flour
2 eggs

For Sauce:
Mayonnaise (I prefer Kewpie brand)
Bulldog Tenkatsu Sauce

Directions:
For Batter:
Clean the konbu by wiping it lightly with a cloth. Cut it into 2 cm length.
In a saucepan, combine the water and konbu, and cook uncovered over low heat. Just before the water starts to boil, remove the konbu from the pot. The liquid should be a light yellowish or greenish color. Add shaved katsuobushi (bonito flakes) to the water as it starts to boil. After the liquid has been boiling a minute or two, turn off the heat.
Quickly remove the shaved katsuobushi from the liquid with a filter or strainer or cloth. Try to remove the katsuobushi while it's still floating on the surface, before it has a chance to sink.
Allow the liquid to cool, then add the liquid, flour and eggs to a bowl and mix.

For Takoyaki:
Make a small test batch of 4 or 5 takoyaki at first, to check the consistency of the batter. Add more flour or water as needed.

1. Oil the takoyaki pan.
2. Pour in the batter.
3. Add pieces of chopped octopus to each cup.
4. Add pickled ginger, chopped scallion and bonito flakes, to taste.
5. Cook the takoyaki pieces until they achieve the desired degree of firmness, turning them over frequently.
6. Remove from the pan and serve with bulldog sauce, mayonnaise and sprinkle it with bonito flakes.

Or, you can see this steps of how to make takoyaki.