Crispy Professional Japanese Takoyaki

In a large glass bowl, combine 840ml cold water, 200g flour, 1 tbsp granulated dashi, 1 tsp soy sauce, and 2g salt. Whisk lightly until combined; small flour lumps are acceptable.

Crack 1 egg into a separate small bowl and whisk thoroughly until uniform and smooth.

Pour the beaten egg into the batter bowl and whisk well until the egg is fully incorporated into a thin, smooth batter.

Place the batter bowl into the refrigerator and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Resting helps dissolve flour lumps and enhances overall flavor.

Finely slice 50g green onions on a cutting board into small round pieces.

Combine the chopped green onions with 100g tenkasu in a small bowl and stir together with a spoon.

Finely chop 20g red pickled ginger (beni shoga) on the cutting board into minced bits.

Cut 250g boiled octopus tentacles into bite-sized chunks (approx. 2.5g or 1.5cm cubes each). Place on a tray.

Take the batter out of the fridge and whisk briefly to re-homogenize. Place takoyaki plate onto portable stove over medium-high heat. Generously coat all mold wells and top rim surface with 30ml cooking oil using a pastry brush.

Using a ladle, pour batter into each heated well until about 80% full. Do not overfill wells completely yet.

Generously scatter the green onion and tenkasu mixture across all wells. Next, drop minced red pickled ginger and 1-2 chunks of octopus into each well. Finally, ladle extra batter over the entire plate until all wells and flat grid top are completely flooded.

Allow batter to cook for 1 minute until the bottom layer sets. Take a bamboo skewer and cut along the grid grooves of the plate to divide batter sheet into square sections. Then use the skewer to tuck the flat outer cooked batter edges into each round mold well.

Once the bottom shell turns lightly browned, use skewers to rotate each takoyaki ball 90 degrees. Liquid batter inside will flow down into the bottom mold to form the remaining half-sphere shell.

Continue grilling over high heat while spinning each ball repeatedly with bamboo skewers. Tuck any protruding batter pieces downwards into the sphere as you rotate until perfectly round balls are formed.

Cook continuously over high heat, turning constantly until the balls expand, release visible steam from inside, and develop a crisp, deep golden-brown outer crust.

Use skewers to pierce and transfer the cooked takoyaki balls into a boat-shaped paper serving tray. Drizzle 45ml takoyaki sauce over balls, then sprinkle with 2g aonori powder and top with 5g bonito flakes.