I completed one of my summer goals~!
Takoyaki!!
Takoyaki or
たこ焼き is the ultimate street food in Japan, it's a ball-shaped savory pancake with octopus, green onion and pickled ginger filling. I have not had it fresh since my visit to Vancouver in 2008, so this was the ultimate treat to make! <3
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| Phase one... chopping the ingredients. |
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| Toasting the baby shrimp. |
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| Slicing the boiled octopus. |
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| All ready to go! |
First step is to ladle the batter about an
eighth full into each socket of the pan.
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| I thought the batter was too wet at first~ but then I learned this is normal. |
After this, drop a piece of sliced octopus into each socket and then sprinkle a
generous amount of pickled ginger and chopped green onion.
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| I did not fill the pan enough on the first batch. ^^; |
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| Kenny and I kept poking at it, we weren't sure when to begin turning the takoyaki over... |
I learned that the best way to do this is to
not be afraid of
overflowing the pan. And don't hesitate to top it off with more batter! This is actually a good thing, you will produce
rounder and
fuller takoyaki. Our first batch turned into half-spheres because I didn't overflow the molds enough.
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| Our first turnover was a bit of a mess! |
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| But the first batch was still gorgeous. |
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| Tasted very good with some beer! |
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Now our second batch... we were much more experienced.
It was much easier to make with two people turning them over. |
...Overflowing is key!! And swift hands.
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| So light and fluffy! I wonder if you can make donut holes with this pan? |
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| Success. |
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| Oooh. |
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| Perfect and a beautiful color! |
Takoyaki is
extremely hot fresh off the griddle. I let it sit for a few minutes so that my mouth doesn't burn from the hot batter, it's very juicy inside due to the thinness of the batter.
