Street-Stall Takoyaki with Dashi Batter and Bonito Snow

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Molten-centered octopus balls the way they come off a night-market griddle: a loose dashi batter that sets into a crisp shell around a custardy interior, studded with tender octopus, pickled ginger and crunchy tempura bits. You finish them in a paper boat with sweet-savory sauce, a zigzag of Japanese mayo, seaweed powder and bonito flakes that curl and dance in the steam. The only special gear is an inexpensive takoyaki pan (a cast-iron aebleskiver pan works identically) and two bamboo skewers to flip with.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cold water
• 1 piece kombu, about 4 inches square
• 1/2 cup loosely packed bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 g)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup neutral oil, for the pan

• 8 oz cooked octopus tentacle, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup tenkasu (tempura crunch bits)
• 3 tbsp beni shoga (red pickled ginger), finely chopped

• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce

• 1/3 cup Japanese mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup bonito flakes, finely crumbled
• 2 tsp aonori (green seaweed powder)

• 1 takoyaki pan or cast-iron aebleskiver pan
• 2 bamboo skewers or metal picks

• paper food boats or small bowls, for serving

Instructions

1. Make the dashi: combine the 3 cups cold water and the kombu in a saucepan and let it sit 15 minutes off the heat. Warm over medium heat until small bubbles cling to the kombu and the water reaches about 175°F (do not boil), 8 to 10 minutes, then pull out the kombu. Add the 1/2 cup bonito flakes, turn off the heat, and steep 5 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing lightly on the flakes, and chill until cool to the touch. You want about 2 1/2 cups dashi; top up with water if short.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the soy sauce, then whisk in the cooled dashi. Pour the liquid into the flour in three additions, whisking smooth after each. The batter should be very thin, like heavy cream — thinner than pancake batter. Strain it into a pitcher for easy pouring and refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Make the sauce: stir the Worcestershire, ketchup, oyster sauce, mirin, sugar and soy sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture just simmers, about 2 minutes. Cool; it will thicken to a glaze. Transfer the Japanese mayo to a zip-top bag and snip a tiny corner for drizzling.
4. Set out the fillings in small bowls next to the stove: octopus, scallions, tenkasu, pickled ginger. Takoyaki move fast once the batter hits the pan, so everything must be within arm's reach.
5. Heat the takoyaki pan over medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes. Dip a wad of paper towel in the neutral oil (held with tongs) and generously grease every well plus the flat surface between them. The pan is ready when a drop of batter sizzles immediately and sets within 5 seconds.
6. Pour batter into each well until it overflows and floods the whole pan surface — this excess is what you will fold in to build the sphere, so don't be shy. Immediately drop 1 or 2 pieces of octopus into each well, then scatter scallions, tenkasu and pickled ginger across the entire pan.
7. Cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, until the batter is set at the edges of each well and the flooded surface has firmed into a thin sheet. Using a skewer, cut through that sheet in a grid so each ball is separated, then use the skewer tip to tuck the loose edges down into the wells, pushing the cooked scraps inside each ball.
8. Give each ball a 90-degree turn with two skewers, sliding the skewer down the side and rolling the crisp bottom upward; the raw batter inside will spill out to form the new bottom. If a ball looks skimpy, drizzle a little extra batter into the well before turning it. Continue turning every 60 to 90 seconds for 6 to 8 minutes total, greasing the wells with the oiled towel as needed, until each ball is round, evenly deep golden and rattles loosely in its well when nudged.
9. Test one: it should be crisp and shatter-thin outside with a barely-set, custardy center that steams when you break it. Turn the balls out into paper boats, 6 to 8 per serving, and repeat with the remaining batter and fillings, re-oiling the pan each round.
10. Finish and eat right away: brush or spoon takoyaki sauce over the hot balls, zigzag Japanese mayo over the top, then shower with aonori and a generous cloud of crumbled bonito flakes so it flutters in the rising steam. Warn everyone that the centers are volcanic for the first minute.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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