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December 16, 2013

Takoyaki – Japan

octopusballs.jpg

A ball of crisp, puffy wheat batter encases a sweet, tender chunk of octopus.
The mixture is poured onto a specially designed hotplate with shallow indentations, like ping-pong balls hewn in half. A few spring onions might be thrown on top, then the whole thing cooks until golden. Once done, it’s dusted with aonori (green seaweed powder), sprinkled with katsuobushi (bonito flakes) or doused in mayonnaise or takoyaki sauce, similar to a thick Worcestershire sauce. The shell is firm and chewy, bursting open to reveal a scalding hot, creamy and not-quite-set mass of batter. The fat chunk of octopus is the final treat, something to chew on while you attack the next. - - Lonely Planet

Posted by gerardvanderleun at December 16, 2013 4:43 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

They are good, but go light on the Takoyaki sauce, which can overpower them.

Posted by: Little Gidding at December 16, 2013 8:59 PM

He lost me at mayonnaise.

Posted by: ahem at December 17, 2013 7:22 AM

Heading east of a line through Rome-Milan-Berne-Paris, the food very gradually, and unevenly, gets worse and worse......until you reach the Pacific coast of Asia (and adjacent islands). There you hit bottom.

Posted by: BillH at December 17, 2013 7:38 AM

My stomach felt queasy after just reading about it. Fair warning not to put it down the chute.

Posted by: drdave at December 17, 2013 8:34 AM

Japanese Ebelskivers!!



Whoda thunk!!

Posted by: leelu at December 17, 2013 9:52 AM

Takoyaki are reeealy overblown. Some Lonely Planet stuff should get a Pulitzer for fiction.

Posted by: JB at December 18, 2013 6:45 PM

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