A Bunch of Amateurs!

Friday my friend Vivienne invited me over to make Takoyaki....and I have to say....for a bunch of amateurs we did really well! The first batch were kinda misshapen and rather ugly.....but tasted great....by the time we started the 2nd batch we had a plan and by the third batch on....they were coming out beautiful.....just like the ones you get in the night markets of Taiwan and HK. For those of you who don't know what Takoyaki is..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

Here is the recipe....there are a lot of ingredients for these little balls of yummy-ness.

50g Boiled Octopus
50g Cabbage (diced very small)
30g Green Onion (cut very small and thin)
250g Flour
2.5 eggs (I used 3 cuz I don't know how to do 2.5 eggs, lol)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Roasted Seaweed, crushed
Bonito flakes
Japanese Mayo
Teriyaki sauce (you can make your own: Soy sauce, mirin, sugar,1:1:1 ratio cook....)
(there were some other ingredients on the list, but we couldnt find it so we made do without it)
Takoyaki plate/maker

Directions:

1. Cut octopus into very small pieces
2. Beat egg
3. Add flour, baking powder and salt, mix
4. Pour the batter into a water carafe or even a condiment squirt bottle....this will make it much easier to control and pour
5. Heat Takoyaki plate/maker
6. Brush with oil (make sure you give it a good brushing so the takoyaki dont stick to the pan)
7. Fill each mold about 1/2 way with the batter
8. Add octopus, cabbage, green onion, and picked ginger to your liking
9. Once the batter browns on the bottom, use the stick to flip it sideways
10. Pour extra batter into the mold
11. Flip the cooked piece on top of the newly poured batter to get the 2 halves to "stick" together
12. Once the bottom half forms and the 2 halves are sticking together, you want to continue to rotate the each ball until it gets brown and to ensure even cooking. 
13. Once they are done, drizzle with terriyaki sauce and japanese mayo
14. Add crushed seaweed and bonito flakes
15. Enjoy!

And as always....stay consumed!