Here’s Kevin, making takoyaki, using a recently-acquired aebleskiver pan.

Kevin was always opposed to me buying an aebleskiver pan. He thought I’ll use it once to make the Danish pancake balls and the cast iron pan would eventually make its way to my kitchen graveyard, along with a crock pot, heavy-duty mandolin, and other appliances that I no longer use. He’s probably right,but we bought it anyway on our recent trip to Solvang. We couldn’t resit … it was $12.

To make sure that we are using our new pan to the fullest, we make the Japanese octopus pancake balls every weekend with it. Well, it’s actually Kevin who makes them, and it’s me who devour them.

Takoyaki
This is Kevin’s creation

1-1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking power
1 teaspoon dashi
1 egg
About 2 cups water (it should be runnier than the regular pancake batter)
2 tablespoon green onion, chopped
1 octopus leg, chopped
Some red ginger
Some tenkasu (tempura batter scraps), optional
Salt to taste

Here’s a little wacky but informative instructional video on how to make these balls.

We love to dress our takoyaki with bonita flakes, aonori, Japanese sauce, and mayonnaise.

Happy weekend! 🙂