Takoyaki; home sweet home

Takoyaki: Octopus balls, known as soul food for Osakan & people from neighboring areas.

I know some Japanese outside Osaka think & say "It's just a ball-shaped snack, isn't it?" with an ironic tone. Ha, say whatever you want. It's our soul, it's our pride, it's an art form we've kept developing for years.

 Basically, Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. Typical ingredients for this are diced octopus, scallion and pickled ginger, but when you cook it at home, you can put almost anything you want (as long as you believe it could be harmonized with other ingredients)

If you have a chance to visit Osaka and have a small talk with the local people, or get a friend from the area, there are two questions you've got to ask to them. 

No.1: Is it true that each household has Takoyaki pan in Osaka?

This is the most frequently asked question for Osakan people, but at the same time, that's exactly what makes them really happy & talkative. Certainly, people from the region (including me) have been given this question countless times throughout our life, but we never get tired of answering to it, saying " What are you talking about? It's like a passport for us. If you don't have it, don't live in."

No.2: what's your favorite Takoyaki stand?

You might be puzzled at dozens of different answers. Though there are some well-known "must-eat" Takoyaki stands there, everyone has their own "kodawari" (very specific preference to something) While some stick to very traditional type of sauce & ingredients, younger generation tend to favor more bold & inventive approaches, embracing melty cheese inside, spices or grated radish topping. 

It's fantastic to see that more & more Takoyaki stands coming from Osaka to Tokyo in the last couple of years to cultivate a new market here. 

Takoyaki has finally started its wings proudly to keep up with sushi & ramen!

Thanks for reading.

Posted by 3e-Tokyo