Takoyaki

Takoyaki are ball-shaped batter fritters filled with diced octopus, cooked in a special molded pan until crisp outside and molten inside. It's Osaka's iconic street snack, sold from stalls with the same specialised pan visible right at the counter, the batter poured and turned in front of the queue.

What it actually is

A thin batter of flour, egg and dashi is poured into a pan of half-sphere molds, and diced octopus, pickled ginger and green onion are dropped in before the edges set. The cook uses a thin metal pick to flip each ball repeatedly as it cooks, folding the still-liquid centre over on itself, which is what gives takoyaki its crisp shell and soft, almost molten middle.

Getting the timing right — flipping before the shell hardens all the way through — is the whole skill, and it's why watching a takoyaki stall is as much the point as eating from one.

How it's served

• In a paper boat or tray, six or eight to an order, straight from the pan.
• Topped with takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and green seaweed — the standard finish.
• Hot, and genuinely hot inside; a first bite too soon is a common way to burn your mouth.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg, fish and soy — the batter, the bonito topping and the sauce all carry them.
• Warn that the centre is very hot; more so than the outside suggests.
• Say if the filling is octopus specifically; a cheese or corn version exists but changes what the dish actually is.
• Mention that it's meant to be eaten quickly, at the stall; takoyaki that sits loses its crisp shell fast.