Akashiyaki

Method

1. 1 Cook dried halibut kombu in water, then season with soy sauce and mirin, and keep warm to use as a dipping sauce.
2. 2 Mix the flour with five eggs and cold broth until it forms a very thin paste.
3. 3 The high egg-to-flour ratio is what distinguishes akashiyaki from takoyaki, resulting in soft, runny balls rather than firm ones.
4. 4 Boil the octopus for 20 minutes, then cut it into small cubes.
5. 5 Pour the glue into the greased spherical molds and place a piece of octopus in each hole.
6. 6 Flip the meatballs with a bamboo skewer when the bottom is slightly firm; they are very soft, so flip gently and dip them in hot broth.

With an appliance

• Oven 46 min

  Replace step 6: after pouring the sauce and placing the octopus in, bake the spherical mold on the middle rack of the oven at 210 degrees for 6 minutes, rotate the spherical mold with a skewer at the 4th minute, then bake for another 2 minutes; still dip in hot broth as in step 1.