This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
Many of you are probably already familiar with tako-yaki, a popular food from Osaka that can be found at festivals and small take-out only restaurants in or near stations all over Japan.
Pictures of this food abound and many TV shows like to feature vendors standing in their booths with small towels wrapped around their heads, bending over molded cast-iron griddles, adeptly flipping thickening lumps of batter and octopus with a single skewer until they become perfectly round, golden, savory pastries.
I venture to guess, though, that many of you aren’t aware that tako-yaki can easily be made at home and is, I daresay, much better when done so.
Much like waffle irons and pancake griddles in the west, electrical tako-yaki griddles can easily and cheaply be bought throughout Japan. In addition, most, if not all supermarkets sell pre-packaged bags of tako-yaki mix to which you only need to add eggs and water before you are ready to start frying your tako-yaki.
Typically, only octopus is added to tako-yaki, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop there. At home, in your kitchen, anything goes. Some of my favorite things to put in tako-yaki are sausage and cheese, and pickled ginger and shrimp. Another combination that is popular in my house is cheese and kimchi.
Though I don’t entertain at home often, mostly because my house isn’t very big and because inviting people into your home in Japan tends to invoke many rules of hospitality (For example, treating your guests to high-quality food and drinks, not to mention giving them a gift of some kind when they leave.), one way that I do like to entertain is by having one or two families over and cooking tako-yaki together.
Everyone enjoys taking a turn at making their own flavor combinations and trying to shape these globs of molten batter into nicely rounded pastries. Plus, hot off the griddle tako-yaki goes great with cold beer!
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
That all looks delicious @boxcarblue. Wow, never knew there were so many 'rules' to entertaining at home in Japan :) but I'm sure it's worth it from time to time.
Tweeted: https://twitter.com/sandstormweb/status/854961743319228416
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the real dish, but they taste good at home with various ingredients.
There aren't necessarily rules for entertaining over here, but there are customs that run deep. Most people here would never go to anyone's house without some kind of gift, usually fruit or cookies or some kind of snack, to excuse themselves for intruding. And since a gift is almost always returned in Japan, that means you send your guests home with something too. It can be a bit tedious, but it's worth it.
That's definitely a difference from a lot of western countries, but as you said, well worth it sometimes.
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
These look delicious! Recently discovered a traditional Japanese restaurant (well I assume it is since it is quite different from any other Japanese restaurant I have ever been too)... amazing food. I hope I have the time to come and visit Japan one day! Looking forward to more of your posts about Japanese culture and foods!
Thanks! I'm glad to hear it. I'm curious to hear what makes this restaurant different from the others you've been to. If you have a chance to take some pictures and make a post about it, let me know.
I'll def do. We actually go there quite often. It is not the typical sushi, sashimi or waghiu beef restaurant. They have sashimi but from horse, liver, intestines, and other strange stuff. Love their miso soup... best one I ever tasted! Also the guy who is cooking only speaks Japanese... hence why I think this is a very Japanese resaurant (but you can probably tell me if it is once I get some pictures)....and you can drink my favorite beer there Asahi.
Sounds like a good place. Horse meat can be really good. I was surprised when I first ate it.
If the chef is speaking Japanese, that's a good sign that you are in an authentic Japanese restaurant. Next time ask him what he recommends like this: Osusme ha nan desu ka (pronounced like O-Sue-Sue-May Wa Nan Des Ka--Nan like the Indian bread and Des like the sound of the word deck). You should also see if they have Orion, a beer from Okinawa. That's good too.
I love horse meat too.. although I never had it as sashimi, only cooked. I'll keep your tips in mind next time we go there! I hope I pronounce it right and don't say any funny things! Thanks!
This post has been ranked within the top 50 most undervalued posts in the first half of Apr 20. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $1.97 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Apr 20 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.