takoyaki — Osaka, Japan

Takoyaki is a snack from Japanese cuisine belonging to the konamon (flour-based) family, made of a thin, crepe-like batter cooked into small balls around pieces of octopus in a special cast-iron mold with rounded cavities. The dish is reported as a specialty of Osaka, in the Kansai region, where it is most commonly sold from street-facing yatai stalls, to be eaten on the spot or taken away, and often makes up a whole meal on its own rather than a side dish. The batter, a loose mixture of wheat flour, dashi stock and eggs, is poured into the heated mold, filled with a chunk of octopus, chopped green onion, pickled ginger and tempura scraps, then turned repeatedly with a pick as it cooks so each ball browns and rounds off on every side. Once cooked through, the balls are lifted out and finished with a thick sauce close to a Worcestershire-style glaze, mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes and a dusting of green seaweed powder. Balls are usually sold in trays of six, ten or twelve, and are meant to be eaten piping hot, straight off the plate, which is part of why the dish is treated as much as a shared, convivial way of eating as a specific recipe; toppings and the ratio of octopus to filler can shift from one stall to the next without any version being set as the standard.