Japanese Recipes

Japanese Food Recipes

How To Make Japanese Takoyaki at home

This post is dedicated to my very young sister-like (or daughter-like?) friend, who is a Takoyaki lover and trying to make perfect Takoyaki at home.
Well… I think she is addicted to Takoyaki!!!

I found the following recipes/methods and they seem doable!

1. Make frozen takoyaki cubes and deep fry them.

How To Make Takoyaki (Without Takoyaki Pan) by My Name Is Andong


2. Make takoyaki balls with spoons and deep fry them.
How to Cook Takoyaki No Pan Molder by PagkaingPinoyTV


3. Cook halfway in a frying pan and make balls, then fry them through.
なんと!丸くなってる!?フライパンたこ焼きpart2の作り方! by けんますクッキング [in Japanese]


I also found some other videos about Takoyaki, which might be useful for making Japanese Takoyaki at home. 🙂
Well, they are different from traditional Takoyaki balls, but they look tasty!

This unique potato takoyaki how-to video includes a recipe for making the sauce from scratch.
Potato Takoyaki without a special pan (Easy Quick Recipe) | OCHIKERON | Create Eat Happy 🙂 by ochikeron


How to make Takoyaki Square using a tamagoyaki(Japanese omelette) pan.
卵焼き器で簡単! 丸めない!たこ焼き | How To Make Takoyaki with Egg Fryer [in Japanese] by DELISH KITCHEN – デリッシュキッチン
材料2人分(Ingredients for two people)
・ゆでだこ(Boiled octopus) 50g
・細ねぎ(Thin spring onions) 3本
・紅しょうが(Beni shōga – red pickled ginger) 20g
・揚げ玉(Japanese Agedama or Tenkasu – scraps/batter bits) 20g
・サラダ油(Salad oil)  小さじ(teaspoon)1
・マヨネーズ(Mayonnaise) 適量(some)
・ソース(Sauce) 適量(some)
・かつお節(Katsuobushi – bonito flakes)  適量(some)
・青のり(Aonori – green laver)   適量(some)
☆生地(batter)
・たこ焼き粉(Takoyaki flour) 50g
・卵(Egg) 1個
・水(Water) 150cc


This is like making a big pancake, and cut it into small pieces. This recipe uses plain flour and also suggests using Satsuma-age (fried fishcake) as alternative to octopus.
フライパンでたこ焼き/みきママ [in Japanese] by みきママChannel
Takoyaki Batter
・薄力粉(Flour)(75g)
・卵(egg)(1個)
・かつおだしの素(Bonito dashi stock powder)(小さじ(Teaspoon)2)
・砂糖(Sugar)(大さじ(Tablespoon)1/2)
・水(Water)(300㏄)
・ねぎ(Spring onion)(1/2本)
・天かす(Tenkasu – scraps/batter bits)(20g)
Other
サラダ油(Salad oil)(大さじ(Tablespoon)1/2)+(大さじ(Tablespoon)1/2)
たこ(Octopus diced 2cm)(1/2本 or 50g)
さつま揚げ(Satsuma-age – fried fishcake diced 2cm)(1枚 or 50g)
*If you are going to use only Octopus or Satsuma-age (fried fishcake), use 100g of your choice.


In New Zealand, you can find the following Takoyaki products at Japan Mart.
Japan Mart Online Shop Search results for: ‘takoyaki’ :
As of writing this post,
PEARL / TAKOYAKI PLATE 1p NZ$21.20
NISSIN FOODS / SEASONING WHEAT FLOUR (TAKOYAKIKO) 200g NZ$4.30
OTAFUKU / OCTOPUS BALL SAUCE(TAKOYAKI SAUCE ENGLISH LABEL) 300g NZ$5.40


Hope the above information is helpful to you, my friend, and whoever is trying to make Japanese takoyaki at home!
Thank you for reading. If you know someone wanting to make takoyaki at home, please share this post.

What is Eho-maki (Lucky Direction Sushi Roll) and why people eat it in silence on Setsubun (3 February) in Japan?

It’s Setsubun on 3 February each year in Japan.

“Setsubun (節分) is the day before the beginning of spring in Japan.” (From Wikipedia)

Setsubun is known for the special ritual called Mamemaki(bean throwing), but have you ever heard of Eho-maki?

It’s a sushi roll eaten facing that year’s Eho (lucky/good fortune direction) strangely in silence for good luck on Setsubun in Japan.
The Eho changes every year and the Eho for 2019 is east-northeast.

The following video “Lucky Eho Maki (Salmon Avocado Alasca Futomaki Sushi Roll) Recipe 福を呼ぶ恵方巻き レシピ” by ochikeron shows you how to make Eho-maki.
More about Eho-maki, ingredients and how to make directions can be found on the linked Youtube page.

I grew up in Hiroshima, and when I was little, I did Mamemaki (bean throwing and eating :)), but didn’t know about Eho-maki until I moved to Osaka for my university.

I was surprised (a bit shocked) when I first heard of the Eho-maki because a friend told me that her all family members would eat it in the same room, facing the same direction (the year’s Eho), in SILENCE!!!
Can you imagine that???

I think Eho-maki is now widely known regardless of the region in Japan.

Do you want to know how strange it is to eat Ehomaki in silence, and how it became widely known?
Ask someone who has tried Ehomaki or search articles online about how to eat Ehomaki.
I’m sure you will find some interesting stories.

I just also want to mention that Eho-maki food waste was on the news last year (2018).

‘Lucky direction’ sushi roll trend makes a wasteful winter’s end (THE ASAHI SHIMBUN on February 20, 2018)

I think it’s good to keep the tradition, but hope the food waste would be minimised this year.
Probably, one of the best solutions is to make your own Eho-maki as you need it!

Shirataki Noodle : no-calorie, no-carbohydrate, no-fat noodle

Can you believe there are no-calorie, no-carbohydrate, no-fat noodles?
Search Japanese Shirataki or yam noodles, or konjac on your favourite search engines to find out.

I used shirataki noodle for Sukiyaki or Nabe (Hot Pot) when I was in Japan, but shirataki noodle can be used for many other dishes.

Watch How to Make Healthy Shirataki Noodles by a Japanese chef, Atsuko Ikeda.