1. ingredients.

i am always in pursuit of the best ingredients to be used for takoyaki. it took me awhile to really figure it out but after getting a lot of advice from a buddhist priest who had training in shojin ryori (japanese monastic cooking), there was really only one way to do it.

the old school way.

once you do it right, there is no going back to other ways. for takoyaki, the biggest factors are dashi, and octopus.

dashi--most takoyaki stores use instant dashi. i tried them too. japan makes great instant dashi, but after research and curiosity, i decided to make my own from the best ingredients i could find. after many many iterations and experimenting. i settled on a staple recipe.

from scratch. ma konbu from hokkaido, and katsuobushi from kyoto. the konbu is soaked for 24 hours then the katsuobushi is added, simmered. it is then balanced for a tri-fecta of umami with usukuchi shoyu (light soy sauce) from hyogo prefecture. a special mirin (cooking wine) sourced from kumamoto is added to balance the sweet and salt taste. it really becomes a trifecta of umami and taste. when i add the flour and egg to the batter i make sure that just enough added to the dashi so my batter is still dashi forward in taste. I don't want to have too much flour because it gets too dry, and too much egg, will make it too.....eggy.

octopus--i realized that in order to improve takoyaki, i had to learn how to boil octopus. most takoyaki stores have pre-cut boiled octopus, eigher cut in pieces already, or whole for the staff to cut. for me, it ended up too chewy when i tried using pre-boiled/cut octopus. i wanted everything to be in harmony.

realizing this, i decided to research how to prepare octopuses just like the best sushi restaurants do here in america and japan. after 7 years since the opening of my business, i came up with a 3 day process to prepare octopus. centered around the preparation is a 1 hour massage, kneading the octopus to make it soft and tender. other elements are an 8 hour brine as well as refreezing the octopus to tenderize it even more.

the prep is very extensive, but the end product becomes 'sashimi' ready and also in a perfect state for the batter since the octopus gets re-cooked and shrinks in the batter. the second end process still achieves what I want, a large but tender piece of octopus inside the takoyaki ball. if you had takoyaki before, the biggest complaint is the tiny bite size of octopus that is so small and chewy to eat.

2. techinque.

after researching over 23 stores in osaka and tokyo in 2 weeks, i came to conclusion and gathered information and observed the best takoyaki stores. i came to my own conclusion and decided to settle on using copper plates which enhance the texture and cooking process for my takoyaki. with using a copper plate and gas grill, i can easily change heating temperature and have absolute control over the cooking process.

now this is subjective and other stores use other equipment, but for me, cooking with gas is the best. this is also why i don't have a brick and mortar store yet because i dislike cooking with an electric grill despite owning one for indoor demonstrations.

my technique is also 1 handed. this is because my teacher cooks one handed and is a takoyaki master from the takohachi lineage in osaka.

3. timing.

i prepare everyting as close to the event as possible to maintain freshness and purity. also since our cooking technique is very controlled, we focus on the quality of cooking instead of the speed. yes, we do cook pretty fast, but given we also cook outdoors, sometimes we have to adjust our technique and timing of our cooking to meet humidity, temperature and wind conditions.

when it is humid, sometimes we add a bit more flour into the batter as the water content of the batter gets affected. i/we also work with our cook timing to make sure that the end acheivement is a perfectly cooked, creamy, soft, fluffy takoyaki.

what i hope to do is pay homage of my cooking to reflect and respect the art of sushi to traditional japanese culinary arts. this is a never ending pursuit of perfection, and although i am confident in my recipe, it feels like i am never satisfied as i know i can get better. since i am not a classically trained chef and not fluent in japanese language, there is still a lot to learn. once i do obtain more information or techniques, i am happy to share them to those who are passionate about preserving culture.

KARL'S SPECIAL, tangy takoyaki BALL SAUCE.

once again, when i started this business, i also realized that many takoyaki stores use similar or the same sauce. so i decided to make my own takoyaki sauce. this is interesting because it happened totally by accident as i wanted to make a steak sauce.

the only way i can describe my takoyaki sauce is that it is a homage to a1 steak sauce and traditional tokyo tonkatsu sauce. i realized that it worked well for takoyaki and many other things so i am very happy that my sauce has a voice and personality which reflects my business as well as the quirky personality of the business owner.

THE RIGHT TEXTURE

now. for those who never had takoyaki, or have only eaten the frozen ones, the pride of good takoyaki is a texture that is described as creamy, wet and gooey. some say that it seems undercooked. no! it is not! we cook on such hot grills that there really is no way to undercook takoyaki.

this is the texture we achieve to have because honestly, it is very easy to over cook takoyaki. what is the characteristics of overcooked? dry, spongy takoyaki. unfortunately, most of the frozen ones served are just that.

my menu is always evolving and changing. below are some pictures of my crafted takoyaki and octopus. for more information about these recipes, follow my instagram as i tend to be more specific about what's going on in real time. i hope to see you at the stand, don't be shy, say hello!

UPDATE! 8/22/2021: WATCH KARL PREP FOR TAKOYAKI BELOW ON YOUTUBE! OVER 1 MILLION VIEWS IN 3 WEEKS!

PLAYER STILL BLOCKED BY A BROWSER OR EXTENSION? WATCH IT DIRECTLY ON YOUTUBE >>