Giant Takoyaki
05/18/2006 @ 12:00 am
During Ebisu Matsuri in Osaka, I ran across this vendor selling takoyaki which must have been three times the normal size! Maybe four.
An entire mini octopus fits inside, rather than just a piece of leg. I didn’t try one of these. Even while eating regularly sized takoyaki I often end up burning the inside of my mouth due to the super-heated insides.
Not quite ready to level up to these super takoyaki yet.
Maybe next year. . .
“An entire mini octopus fits inside”
May 18th, 2006 at 7:49 amNow there’s a phrase you don’t come across every day. Outside of Japan, that is.
Heh, can’t see them using that for an advertising campaign in the US can you?
May 18th, 2006 at 9:31 amMmmmm. I love the taste of your big, Schwetty octopus balls.
May 18th, 2006 at 10:11 ambwahahahaha…:lol:
May 18th, 2006 at 10:53 amNice post, Harvey. You know, down here in Taiwan-ken, takoyaki are very popular treats, brought over during the Japanese Colonial Period in Taiwan, 1895-1945, and every night market on the island has a few takoyaki stands up and running every night. There’s a [Chinese term] for the balls of dough and tako, too, but everyone knows the name in nihingo as well, and the octopus ball stands themselves use hiragana to advertise the takoyaki. HOWEVER, unlike Osaka, where the takoyaki are big and like you said so well, an entire mini-octopus could fit inside, here in Taiwan, you can hardly even SEE or taste the octopus inside the ball of dough, because they use the smallest possible amount of tako they can and the locals don’t even complain, they think this is natural. It is not. As anyone who has ever chowed down (or noshed) on a real takoyaki knows!
May 18th, 2006 at 5:06 pmBy the way, Harvey, the key to eating takoyaki without buring your tongue or mouth is to wait at least one hour before indulging, giving the contents time to cool down.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:08 pmDanny is that wait one hour IN LINE before being able to buy them? Or wait one hour after getting them
Are you in Taiwan Danny? What is the Chinese name for takoyaki? I wanna know!
I wasn’t joking about the mini octopus. These pics are a little smaller, but really. These takoyaki are twice the usual size, and literally, they have a little octopus in them. Usually takoyaki has like a section of a leg of an octopus inside, but these, really do have little octopuses…. octopii, in them. Head and everything.
Quite tasty.
You can also have Takoyaki Home Parties if you buy the gear…
May 19th, 2006 at 12:31 amHehe: wait one hour after buying them to let the contents cool down enough to eat without B.U.R.N.I.N.G the roof of your mouth or entire tongue!
Takoyaki in Mandarin is: Tzan Yu Sao
The food stalls in Taiwan selling takoyaki have signs in both Mandarin and Japanese, but like I said, they should not really be called TAKO-yaki here because there is NO TAKO inside at all, well, just a sliver of a sliver of a tiny piece, and they are a complete ripoff, takoyaki-wise. Howoever, if you like fried dough balls that “pretend” to be takoyaki, then they’re oishii.
May 20th, 2006 at 4:17 pmlink here to Taiwan photos of faux takoyaki stands
May 20th, 2006 at 4:21 pmtakoyaki in Mandarin Chinese: [ 章魚燒 ]
May 20th, 2006 at 4:23 pm