Japanese Takoyaki

Japanese Takoyaki is a snack of grilled octopus balls consisting of a pancake-like batter and a piece of octopus as a filling. The dumpling batter is poured into a special pan molded into rows of little semi-circles and grilled for a few minutes on one side. Then the balls are flipped over with a toothpick or chopsticks and grilled on the other side until golden brown.

The takoyaki are then served up, usually in portions of 8 or so, in a plastic or paper container and topped with a sweet soy-based sauce and ingredients like green onion, pickled ginger, green onion, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (dried fish shavings).

Takoyaki has a light, airy texture, and the piece of octopus in the middle functions more as a source of chewy texture than flavor.

The most common places to find takoyaki are at streetside stands or small shops dotted throughout Japan. One of our favorite takoyaki stands in Tokyo is Dai-hachi Tako Hana Maru, a tiny shop located on Cat Street just off of Omotesando-dori in Harajuku. This little takoyaki stand serves up creative combinations of takoyaki toppings.

Takoyaki stands can also be found in and around major train stations and sometimes in supermarkets or the bottom level food section of department stores (depachika). Takoyaki is also a popular food at baseball games or other sporting events, and is especially popular as a festival food.

A serving of takoyaki usually costs around 300-500 yen. If you’re on the fence about eating this snack, the octopus is really not that prominent, so if you’re feeling adventurous and want to taste a treat that is truly unique to Japan, give Japanese takoyaki a try!