Flip them balls

 

In Japan, there's a street food called takoyaki (たこ焼き) that's usually sold at festivals in a stall. Some places have stalls or food trucks set up by the train station. They're known as octopus balls in English. They're round balls made in a cast-iron grill specially made to make takoyaki round. The better used is like thin pancake batter but no sugar and bonito stock is added. Leeks, ginger and chunks of of octopus are added in the center and topped with bonito flakes, dried seaweed, A1-like sauce, and mayo. It does hit the spot when you want something savory and not too filling.

There is a chain that specializes in takoyaki and they had a sale going on. It was a good deal, so I joined the loooooong line to get me some. I happened to be standing in front of the window while waiting and they were in the midst of making a new batch. I got a front row seat on how the takoyaki gets grilled. It looked like they were just making a mess, but it was an organized mess. The end product was pretty good.

Takoyaki in the making:

JN63JPN  9 Dec 5