Learn Japanese Pod with Ami and Alex
Podcast 19: How to eat Takoyaki

In this lesson you will learn the following:✓​ How to order Takoyaki✓​ How to cook and eat Takoyaki✓​ Takoyaki related vocabulary and phrases

LEVEL: Upper Beginner
SITUATION: You order takoyaki and ask the staff how to make it.

Learn Japanese Pod

Introduction
Food is one of our most popular subjects to talk about so in this podcast Ami sensei and I (Alex)
introduce you to one of Kansai’s most loved street snacks, the honorable Takoyaki.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to order and prepare takoyaki yourself with the correct ingredientsand utensils. We also talk about the history of takoyaki,why it became so famous plus ourrecommendations for the best Takoyaki restaurants in Japan. So get ready for a takoyaki
extravaganza!

Learn Japanese Pod

Vocabulary
Here is a full vocabulary list taken from the podcast
Japanese

Pronunciation

English

ご注文

GochuumonYour order

いかがでしょうか

Ikaga deshō

Is it OK? / Are you ready?

たこやきTakoyaki

Takoyaki (Octopus fry)

お願いしますOnegaishimasu

Please

かしこまりました

Kashikomarimashita

Certainlyすみません

Sumimasen

Excuse me

作り方

Tsukurikata

How to make something

教えてOshiete

Teach me

いただけませんか

Itadakemasenka

Would you please?

まずMazuFirst

その後

Sono ato

After that

その次にSono tsugi ni

Next

最後に

Saigo ni

Finally

生地

Kiji

Batter鉄板

TeppanIron pan

入れます

Iremasu

Put in他

Hoka

Other

好きなSukina

Something you like

Learn Japanese Pod

具材

Guzai

Ingredients

焼きながらYakinagara

While cooking

千枚通し

Senmaidooshi

Long needle like implement forcooking takoyaki

ひっくり返します

Hikkuri kaeshimasu

Turn something over

熱いAtsuiHot

気をつけて

Ki o tsuketeTake care

食べてくださいTabete kudasai

Please eat

なるほどNaruhodo

I see

ありがとうございます

Arigatō gozaimasu

Thank you very much

Learn Japanese Pod

Main Dialog
A:

ご注文はいかがでしょうか。

Gochuumon wa ikaga deshouka

Are you ready to order?

B:

たこやきをお願いします。

Takoyaki o onegaishimasu

I’d like takoyaki please.

A:

かしこまりました。

Kashikomarimashita.

Certainly.

B:

あの、すみませんがたこやきの作り方を教えていただけませんか。

Ano, sumimasen ga, takoyaki
no tsukurikata o oshietekudasai.

Um, excuse me but would you
mind telling me how to maketakoyaki?

A:

まず、生地を鉄板に入れます。

Mazu, kiji o teppan ni iremasu.

First put the batter in the ironpan.

B:

生地を鉄板に入れます。

Kiji o teppan ni iremasu.

Put the batter in the pan.

A:

そのあと、たこを入れます。

Sono ato, tako o iremasu.

After that, put in the octopus.

B:

たこを入れます。

Tako o iremasu.

Put in the octopus.

A:

その次に、他の好きな具材を入れます。

Sono tsugi, hoka no suki na
guzai o iremasu.

After that, put in theingredients you like.

B:具材を入れます。

Guzai o iremasu.

Put in the ingredients.

A:

最後に焼きながら千枚通しで生地をひっくり返します。

Saigo ni yakinagara
senmaitooshi de kiji o hikkuri
kaeshimasu.

Finally, while cooking it, turnover the batter with thecooking implement.

B:

生地をひっくり返します。

Kiji o hikkuri kaeshimasu.

Turn over the batter.

A:

熱いので、気をつけて食べてくださいね。

Atusi no de ki o tsukete tabetekudasai.

Please be careful when eating
it as it’s hot.

B:

なるほど。ありがとうございます。

Naruhodo. Arigatō gozaimasu.

I see. Thank you very much.

Learn Japanese Pod

What is Takoyaki?
Takoyaki is a speciality dish from Osaka and is usually eaten as a casual fast food. Imagine golf
sized balls of baked dough, crispy on the outside and piping hot in the middle.

What are the basic ingredients of Takoyaki?
The dough is made from water, flour and eggs and you add dashi, salt and soy sauce to taste. It
also has slices of tako which is octopus. Yaki means cooked or baked which is why we say wesay Takoyaki. It kind of tastes a little like Okonomiyaki so it’s savory with a range of interestingflavors and umami.

How do you cook Takoyaki?
We start with a takoyaki teppan which is a hot plate to cook the batter in. The hot plate has semi
spherical indents which you pour the batter into. You basically drown the whole plate in runny
takoyaki batter. Then add those slices of tako.
You then sprinkle on other ingredients including benishouga which is pickled red ginger,chopped green onions and tenkasu which are little scraps of tempura.
Then as it starts to cook you use what’s called a ​千枚通し ​Senmaidooshi​ to constantly flip overthe batter as it turns into little takoyaki balls.
And then finally you garnish it with mayonnaise, Takoyaki sauce which is like Worcestershiresauce, aonori which is green laver and Katsuo bushi which is dried flakes of bonito fish. ​But
there are other flavours too, sometimes they’ll add cheese or mochi.

When do you usually eat Takoyaki?
You usually pick them up as a snack from a takoyaki stand on the street. But you can also orderthem in Izakayas with other food. Some restaurants let you make them yourself using thetakoyaki teppan which is fun. But usually you’ll get them at a food stall at a matsuri and theyusually come in sets of 6 or 8.

Learn Japanese Pod

Where can you buy Takoyaki?
If you are in Japan, you could buy Takoyaki in almost any city. However, if you want to do it instyle, in the home of the Takoyaki, I would recommend the Dotonbori area of Osaka. It’s a very
popular tourist destination packed with amazing restaurants, Izakayas and bars. It’s famous for
its huge colourful illuminated signs, entertainment and nightlife.
All the shops run along the Dotonbori canal where it gets its name. So it’s great for food and juststrolling down the river.
There are hundreds of places where you can get Takoyaki but one place I really like is くれおー
る They’re actually a chain of restaurants that serve famous Osaka dishes including
Okonomiyaki. I would recommend going to the Dotonbori shop as it has seats overlooking theriver. It’s a little touristy but if you can get a good seat, the view of the river is really niceespecially at night. And the Takoyaki themselves are perhaps some of the best I’ve ever had inJapan. According to the website they supply various hotels with their speciality Takoyaki which
isn’t surprising because they really are that good.
To get to the Dontonbori area from Osaka station, get on the Midosuji line and get off at Namba.
It’s then a 5 or 10 minute walk north to the river. And you’ll know you’re there when you see a
giant plastic animated Crab and also the neon Glico man sign on the river next to Ebisu bridge.
Anyway check out the link in the show notes and on the website.

What is the history of Takoyaki?
As you probably know, rice, fish and vegetables have been the traditional staple diet of Japan.
Takoyaki which is made from flour and water was a relatively new food type in Japan. It has it
roots in the 1600s when battered food and other French cuisine started to be eaten in Japan.
Fast forward to the Tokyo earthquake in 1923 which left the kanto area with huge foodshortages. The government started experimenting with flour and water to make cheap filling
food. It wasn’t that popular but it kept people from starving.

Learn Japanese Pod

Then in 1935 a street vendor in Osaka called Tomokichi Endo started experimenting with flourand water batter with seafood. There was a big cheap supply of octopus which he mixed withthe batter to create the first Takoyaki. It took off and became a success. In the years after the2nd world war, wheat flour was sent to Japan as relief aid. And that’s when Takoyaki started to
get really famous throughout Japan.
It’s another one of those things in Japan that had a foreign influence but then changed into
something uniquely Japanese.

Learn Japanese Pod

Hi, this is Alex, the creator of Learn
Japanese Pod. Thanks for downloadingthese show notes, I hope you find them
useful. If you need any help with yourJapanese or have any questions orcomments please drop me a line at
info@learnjapanesepod.com
You can also get the latest info on oursocial networky thingies below:

Learn Japanese Pod

https://dojo.learnjapanesepod.com

My personal website:

http://alexbrooke.com

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/japanesepodcast

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/LearnJapanesePod/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/learnjapanesepod/

Enjoy!

AlexLearn Japanese Pod