Okonomiyaki/Takoyaki Food Demonstration

Above: Hiroshima style okonmiyaki, yakisoba, and takoyaki

takoyaki cooking

Hiroshima style okonomiyaki

As you read from the previous post I was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Fort Worth Japanese Society on July 18. I decided to talk about Japanese street foods and demonstrate two, takoyaki and okonomiyaki. I first heard about takoyaki on an episode of Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmern visited Osaka. He made a big deal out of sampling the takoyaki, calling it an "octopus ball" and showing the tenacles like they were nasty. When he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth (dumb!) he burned his tongue and was hopping up and down trying to chew it. I decided right then and there I would have to try it if I ever returned to Japan. I even wrote "takoyaki" down on a folder on places I would visit on my next trip.

Once I got to Tokyo I didn't really think about the takoyaki until one day when we were in the Harujuku area. I saw a small fast food type of restaurant called "The Gindaco" and there were big pictures of takoyaki everywhere. It was only 10 am so it wasn't even open yet but I told my husband we had to come back later to try the takoyaki. We were back when they opened and I ordered the traditional type and some cheese stuffed type. I thought it was delicious! Really, really good and I wanted to know how they were made. The restaurant had an open area where the cooks were making the takoyaki where they could easily be watched. I stood over there for a long time watching the process (and filming it) so I would be able to make it back in Texas.

I tried takoyaki again twice while I was in Japan, once at a street vendor by the Yasukuni Shrine (not good, soggy and undercooked) and then my cousin, Minako, pointed out that there was a Gindaco kiosk right by the Daiichi Hotel where we were staying! I had to go there but my husband was not enthused since he is not a takoyaki lover. We went but he didn't eat anything. It was wonderful again so I was determined to study up on how to make it. Once I got home I ordered a takoyaki pan from Amazon.com. You can get just about anything on Amazon. I got all the ingredients and made my first batch. It took a little practice to get it right but it turned out just fine. When I made it for the Japanese Society it was not as simple as the times I made it at home. Seems that talking, making the takoyaki, and turning it was a lot harder in front of 30 people. I made two pans at once which was a mistake because the second one cooked too fast before I could add all the fillings. Yikes! Then I turned the heat down and it didn't heat back up fast enough. I couldn't get them to turn easily so it looked amateurish. Oh well, live and learn.


Next time I will not try to make so many while I'm talking. In the end I think they tasted pretty good, although some were probably not done as well as they could be. Here's the recipe and instructions:


3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/3 cup warm water
1/2 tsp dashi powder
1 egg
pinch of salt
1/2 c cooked diced octopus (poach in water)
1/4 cup minced cabbage leaf
2 chopped scallions
1/2 c tenkasu (tempura batter bits)
pickled red ginger
Mix warm water and dashi together to dissolve. Add flour, egg, and salt. Coat takoyaki pan with oil and heat on medium high heat. Pour batter 1/2 full and add ingredients above, then pour more batter on top. Don't worry ikf it overflows a little because it will come together in a ball when it firms up. Once it starts to firm up use two skewers to form balls and start turning the balls. Brush with a little oil and keep cooking for at least 10 minutes.

Serve with okonomiyaki sauce, aonori (seaweed), katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and mayonnaise.


Okonomiyaki Sauce:
Combine ingredients in small pan and bring to boil, reduce and cook for 3 minutes.
1/4 c ketchup
1 1/2 T Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp mustard
2 T mirin
1 T sugar
1 T soy sauce

Okonomiyaki


I have always loved okonomiyaki. I used to eat it in Japan back in the 70's when I lived there during my Air Force assignment to Yokota and Tachikawa Air Bases. Cooking at the table, eating the pancake right off the grill, the unusual flavors, the whole process. During my recent visit (March/April 2010) we went to a small Okonomiyaki restaurant in Kamakura, the same one Helen (my daughter) and I went to in October 2007. We also ordered yakisoba and I enjoyed the old familiar taste of that as well.

One type of okonomiyaki I saw when we were walking around Tokyo at the various cherry blossom viewing streets was big displays of layered okonomiyaki with piles of noodles, topped with meats, vegetables, the pancake and toppings. This was Hiroshima style okonomiyaki.

I thought I would try to mke that instead of the traditional type. I had never made it before so I had to experiment at home. I made it one night and both Steve and I liked it immediately. The savory crunchy vegetables, bacon, egg, and toppings made a unique flavor combination.

My demonstration of the okonomiyaki went a lot better than the takoyaki and the members seemed to like it, particularly Ian, a college student, who was carefully observing and planning to make it in the future. His enthusiasm made the whole presentation worthwhile.

He and my son both helped me with the demonstration and I don't know how I would have made it without them!

The recipe for the okonomiyaki:


Batter

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup water or dashi
1/2 tsp salt
2 T potato starch
1 egg

Mix together, using only enough water to create a medium thick batter.


3-4 oz shredded cabbage
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
4 pieces back, cut to fit size of pancake
2 cups cooked chuka soba noodles
Garnish
2 T pickled red ginger
2 T aonori
1/4 c katusobushi (bonito flakes)
Mayonnaise


Make a pancake in a medium hot skillet. Add some cabbage and bean sprouts on top.
Take the bacon and place it on top of the cabbage and bean sprouts, then flip the pancake so the bacon can cook. In another section of the pan heat a small handful of soba, adding a little yakisoba sauce to it. After the bacon is cooked take the pancake and place it on top of the noodles. Let the pancake and noodles cook while you cook a fried egg next to the pancake.
Be sure to break the yolk. Let the egg cook briefly, then pick up the pancake and place it on top of the egg. Serve by flipping the whole thing over onto the plate. Garnish with the ginger, nori, and mayonnaise and a little katuobushi.

My new favorite okonomiyaki!