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How to Make
Takoyaki
A takoyaki party is a brilliant
way to entertain at home,
particularly with kids. Gather
around the takoyaki pan and
make your own. You can vary
the !llings as you wish. I’ve
made ones !lled with crab,
prawns, cheeseburger
ingredients, with squid ink
batter – the possiblities boggle
the mind. We always !nish our
takoyaki parties with a round of
sweet aebleskiver (Danish apple
pancake balls).
Ingredients
1 medium octopus (about 800g,
but this will leave extra octopus
for other purposes)
¼ cup oil, for greasing the pan
1 cup tenkasu (tempura batter
bits)
¼ cup benishouga (red-pickled
ginger), !nely chopped
½ cup !nely sliced spring
onions
1 cup Otafuku sauce, to serve
1 cup Japanese mayonnaise, to
serve
2 tbsp aonori (dried bright
green laver, also called sea
lettuce), to serve
a handful of bonito $akes, to
serve
Dashi
1 piece kombu (about 10cm
square)
a good handful of bonito $akes
Takoyaki batter
250g plain $our
1L dashi (see above), other
stock, or water
2 eggs, beaten
½ tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp salt
Method
Remove the beak of the
octopus and clean inside,
discarding any innards. Bring a
large pot of salted water to a
simmer, then lower the octopus
into the water slowly (the legs
should curl as the octopus is
being lowered). Simmer for 30-
45 minutes. The amount of time
you cook the octopus will
depend on the size of your
octopus. A smaller octopus
simmered for 45 minutes may
be too tender so if in doubt, err
on the side of caution. Remove
the octopus from the pot and, if
you like, rub the dark red skin
from the octopus while it’s still
warm. You can leave the skin on
the octopus of course, but it is
just a matter of preference. Cut
the octopus into 1.5 cm cubes,
reserving all but about 50 cubes
for another purpose.
To make the dashi, place just
over a litre of cold water in a
pot and add the kombu. Bring
to a simmer, removing the
kombu before the water
simmers (when the kombu is
soft enough for a thumbnail
poked into it will leave a mark).
When the water simmers add
the bonito $akes. Boil for a few
seconds then turn o% the heat
and allow the pot to stand for
10 minutes. Strain to remove
the bonito $akes. Alternatively
you can use instant dashi, any
other stock or even water. Allow
the dashi to cool to room
temperature.
To make the batter, combine all
the ingredients with a whisk
and whisk to a very thin, watery
batter.
Arrange all the !llings and
toppings on the table and heat
the takoyaki grill (or ableskiver
pan) until it is hot. Brush with
oil, then ladle in the batter,
completely !lling the holes in
the pan as well as the
surrounds. Drop a cube of
octopus into each hole, and
scatter the whole of the pan
liberally with tenkasu,
benishouga and spring onion.
As the batter starts to !rm,
draw lines between the holes
with a skewer, as if marking out
a grid. Insert the skewer to the
base of each whole and roll
over the ball to create a sphere.
Cook for a further 5 minutes or
so, rolling the balls over
periodically until they are !rm
and crisp on the outside.
Remove the balls from the pan
and arrange on a plate. Drizzle
liberally with Otafuku sauce and
mayonnaise, and scatter over
the aonori and bonito $akes.
How to Mak…
(ps for Takoyaki
All of these specialty
Japanese ingredients are
readily available at Asian
grocers in Australia – bonito
$akes, benishouga, tenkasu,
Otafuku sauce, Japanese
mayonnaise and aonori. If
you can’t !nd a few of them,
just improvise. You can use
chicken stock instead of
bonito stock, pink or yellow
pickled ginger instead of
benishouga, pu%ed rice
instead of tenkasu (or just
leave them out), make your
own Otafuku sauce by
mixing tomato sauce,
Worcestershire sauce and a
bit of mustard, or chopped
chives instead of the aonori.
Takoyaki are best when they
are well browned on the
outside and crispy.
Try adding cheese or any
other !llings you might like.
The world is your oyster.
This recipe appears in my new
cookbook, Destination Flavour:
People and Places (2018) which
follows my travels across my
SBS television series of the
same name. The book covers
Australia, New Zealand, Japan,
Denmark, Sweden, Norway,
Singapore and China.
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5 Comments
David Says
26 September 2018
One of my favourite
Reply
Japanese dishes. I was so
impressed that when I got
back to Australia, I sourced
the equipment and
ingredients to make it
myself. Once you get the
technique right ( in turning
the Takoyaki ) , it is quite
easy to prepare. It is a
shame we can’t purchase
cooked Octopus here as it is
time consuming but can all
be done in advance.
Do you have any tips for
freezing left over Octopus
and how long will it keep?
Björn Says
06 September 2019
Thanks for the great video
Reply
and the recipe. The
Takoyaki came out beautiful
on the outside but quite
mushy in the inside. I think
there is too much
dashi/liquid to the $our. I
have compared a few other
recipes and they use about
half the dashi for 200g. I will
give it another go. The taste
was still great though
Stephanie Lukosius Says
16 March 2020
In reference to Bjorn,
Reply
takoyaki has many variants,
including texture! The
mushy insides are pleasing
to some (like me!) While
others prefer more
!rmness. De!nitely keep
experimenting!
Desy Trifosa Says
09 May 2020
I love this recipe! And also
Reply
love your blog, very easy to
follow and informative. I’ve
shared your amazing recipe
to a Japanese cooking
group on Facebook and
they love it too. Thanks so
much Adam!
Nowen Says
07 January 2021
A liter of stock (over 4 cups
Reply
of stock)??? For 250 grams
of $our???? Does not seem
right.
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