Takoyaki

Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.

Fried/grilled in a special takoyaki pan, the balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito (katsuobushi), however, there are many variations to the takoyaki recipe.

Takoyaki was initially popular in the Kansai region of Japan, and later spread to the Kantō region and other areas of Japan.

Trivia

 * Takoyaki was first popularized in Osaka, where a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo is credited with its invention in 1935. It is said that the snack was inspired by akashiyaki, a small round dumpling from the city of Akashi in Hyōgo Prefecture made of an egg-rich batter and octopus.