How To Make Takoyaki

My cousin Aileen introduced me to homemade Takoyaki since she recently came back from her Japan trip. She got her takoyaki pan from Japan and I was on the hunt to get one here in Singapore. Last night, we first checked out Tangs in Orchard as that place has most of the hard-to-find stuff. Problem with Tangs is that most of the items are also exorbitantly expensive. Look at the photo above where a 7-hole pan costs $96 freaking dollars! Crazy!

Luckily, I googled and chanced upon a forum where someone said Mustafa has it. So off we went to Mustafa! We walked all the way from Tangs to get some exercise haha. And that walk was so damn worth it as I found a similar 7-hole pan for a fraction of the cost! $17.90!!! What a steal!! It's actually a paniyaram pan but it serves the same purpose.

This morning, we went to Isetan Supermarket at the basement of Shaw in Orchard where they have a really good selection of japanese grocery items.

The following are the ingredients for Takoyaki:
Takoyaki Flour (Normal flour will do but of course best if you use Takoyaki Flour)
Eggs
Dried shrimp (actually this is really for Okonomiyaki but it works well with Takoyaki)
Pickled Ginger
Spring Onions
Tempura scraps (Tenkasu) or Unsweetened rice crispies (I couldnt find either of these at Isetan)
Octopus (Tako) or Squid (squid tastes almost the same and is wayyyy cheaper)

For the toppings:
Takoyaki Sauce
Japanese Mayo
Bonito Flakes
Seaweed Powder (Aonori)

Tako or Octopus is so damn expensive here - around $8-$13 for 100 grams. Thus, I opted to get squid instead. I blanched it in hot water to cook it briefly just so that it doesn't go into the batter raw.

Cut the squid into chunky pieces.

Finely chop the pickled ginger and spring onions.

To make the Takoyaki batter, mix 1 part of Takoyaki flour with 2 parts chilled water and 1 egg (e.g. 1 cup of takoyaki flour with 2 cups water). Initially, I tried mixing 3 parts of water but the batter became too thin so I later modified it to 2 parts.

Oil up the takoyaki pan. Above photo shows a little too much oil actually haha - because I later realized the non-stick pan didn't need so much oil.

Pour the batter 3/4 full into the hole. Add the cut-up squid into each hole.

Add the pickled ginger. Some people prefer to add the pickled ginger right into the batter, so feel free to experiment :-).

Add the spring onions.

Add the dried shrimp.

Add another layer of batter to cover the mess haha. But seriously, this is to add more mass to form the balls later.

Let it sit and cook for a while. Use a chopstick to gather the batter into the balls then flip the takoyaki balls to cook the other side. You may want to sit it on it's side first to make it rounder before fully flipping it over.

Feel free to add more batter if there are any holes or gaps in the balls.

Feel free to add a little bit more oil to make it crispier hehehe.

Brush the takoyaki sauce, add the japanese mayo, seaweed powder and bonito flakes.

TAADDAAAAA!!!! I was so happy to be able to make my very first homemade Takoyaki balls!!! Hehehe. Now that I can make them myself I don't need to go to Gindaco anymore haha. My flatmates said they were really good so that makes me happy haha.

Happy Eating! :-)