Takoyaki

Directions

Gather all the ingredients. Cut green onions into fine slices and mince 1 Tbsp. red pickled ginger. Cut octopus into ½ inch bite size pieces . I use “rangiri” cutting technique. Grind ¼ cup  katsuobushi into fine powder. Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. kosher salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine all together. Add 2 large eggs, 1 tsp. soy sauce, and 1 ½ cup dashi. Whisk all together until well-blended and transfer the batter to a 2-cup measuring cup with a handle . Heat the takoyaki pan to 400F over medium heat. Using a brush, generously oil the takoyaki pan . When you see smoke coming from the pan, pour the batter to fill the holes. It’s okay for the batter to slightly overflow the holes. Usually as you add ingredients to the batter it will overflow. Add 1-3 octopus pieces in each hole depending on its size and sprinkle katsuobushi powder on top. Then sprinkle tenkasu, green onion, and pickled red ginger. After 3 minutes or so, when the bottom of the balls has hardened slightly, break the connected batter between each ball with skewers. Then turn each piece a 90 degree, stuffing in the edges as you are turning. The batter will flow out from the inside of each takoyaki ball and creates the other side of the takoyaki ball. After you finish flipping, set timer for 4 minutes. Keep turning constantly so each piece will have nice round shape. Home takoyaki grill doesn’t equally distribute heat so it’s good idea to swap takoyaki balls around to get even brown color. Transfer takoyaki balls onto a plate and pour takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise. Finish off with sprinkling katsuobushi and dried green seaweed. Serve immediately .