Takoyaki Recipe– Gluten-free, Keto, Low-carb

My ex-girlfriend gave me the idea to create a healthy takoyaki recipe. ​I wanted to recreate the original takoyaki recipe from Osaka to make it gluten-free, low-carb, and keto-friendly. Just like the original (not-so-healthy) takoyaki, these umami-ful balls are still easy and fun to make with friends and family. The only difference is now you can enjoy them guilt-free!

Japan’s first healthy version of takoyaki

I’m confused. Did you really say these takoyaki are healthy? 

Yup, that’s right!

If you’re Japanese or someone who’s spent a lot of time in Japan, I can imagine your head nodded to one side with your eyebrows deeply furrowed.

“Healthy takoyaki? Um, I still don’t get it.”

If you grew up in Japan, you know that takoyaki is takoyaki. Your preconception of what that word means has been shaped, poked, smothered in mayonnaise, and solidified in your brain since childhood. 

On the other hand, if you’re someone from another country visiting Japan for the very first time, you’re going to have a completely different perspective, a fresh pair of eyes.

“Takoyaki? What’s that?”

“Octopus balls covered in mayonnaise that we can eat?”

“Oh, ok…thank you. I’ll pass on those.”

If you’ve never seen takoyaki in your life and still don’t have any clue about anything I’m talking about– great! You, my friend, are ready!

For the rest of you, I’m asking you to see these takoyaki like it’s your very first time to Japan…

Just like my My Zen teacher taught me, a “beginner’s mind is an open mind.”

What are takoyaki? 

If you asked someone in Japan what comes to mind when you imagine a healthy Japanese snack…

9 out of 9 people wouldn’t say takoyaki.

If you’d ask those same nine people what typical Japanese snack goes really well with a cold draft beer or whisky highball…

I’d bet 8 out of 9 of them would say takoyaki.

I was in Osaka, the city where takoyaki originated, a few months ago. Osaka is famous for its street food: okonomiyaki, deep-fried kushikatsu, and takoyaki. It’s all delicious, but it’s not exactly health food. Walking down one of the main shopping streets in Dotonbori, I was surprised to see locals drinking beer at izakaya that were open at 10 in the morning!

Takoyaki are ball-shaped snacks that are cooked in a special pan with round molds about the size of golfballs. Batter is poured into each round mold. Once the bottom half of the batter is cooked, poking sticks are used to quickly turn each one and push in the undercooked batter until a ball shape is formed. 

Originally, the batter for takoyaki is wheat flour-based. Each batter-filled mold is topped with small chunks of tako (octopus). Literally, tako-yaki means octopus that’s yaki-ed (grilled).

I love octopus, but I can understand why many Westerners get a bit weirded out by the chewy texture and those sucker cups on their tentacles. Ewe!

My new healthy recipe is for “no tako” takoyaki.  You can also easily adapt this recipe to make it vegetarian.

Takoyaki ingredients– the original fillings and condiments 

In addition to the minced or diced octopus, the standard recipe for takoyaki calls for negi (green onion),  tenkasu (tempura “scraps”), and beni shoga (red pickled ginger). 

After they’re cooked, the balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce, which is similar to Worcestershire sauce, decorated with thin, white zig-zag lines of mayonnaise, and sprinkled with green nori flakes (seaweed) and katsuo-bushi (dried bonito flakes). 

I know to a Westerner, it sounds like some strange recipe for seafood-flavored donut balls, but there’s a reason why takoyaki became so popular all around Japan.

Who wouldn’t want to try “octopus balls”!?

I promise you, takoyaki taste way better than they sound.

I think it’s safe to classify takoyaki as “Japanese junk food”, but the recipe I’m going to share with you is the opposite of junk…

What if junk food was a superfood?

What fillings are inside these takoyaki ?  

I decided to use minced pork, or what I now like to call “land octopus”, for this recipe. Of course, you can add chunks of real octopus instead, but I realize that not everyone can buy sliced tentacles at their local supermarket like I can. 

Chicken, both minced and small chunks, also work as takoyaki filling. Good quality pork just gives them more flavor. In Japan, I buy minced “Kurobuta” (black pig) from Kyushu or Agu pork from Okinawa. Pieces of shrimp is another more authentic-like option that I’d recommend if you can’t find octopus.

Just like the original takoyaki recipe, I added finely chopped negi (green onion) and beni shoga (red pickled ginger) at my girlfriend’s request. I used store-bought beni shoga but next time I want to try to pickle my own.

I’ve also tried out a vegetarian version of this recipe just for an afternoon snack. So even if you choose to not hunt for “land octopus”, you can still enjoy these!

Tips for how to make Perfect Takoyaki Balls: 

1. If it’s your first time making takoyaki, I recommend cooking 3 or 4 balls at a time rather than using all the batter at once. Flipping takoyaki takes some practice.

2. Use plenty of oil. Make sure all the round molds and the top surface is covered with coconut oil so the takoyaki don’t stick and are easy to turn. The coconut oil also adds a richness in flavor.

3. Flipping takoyaki is possible with a fork or chopsticks, but I highly recommend buying one or a pair of takoyaki picks. They just make flipping a whole lot easier.

4. To know if your takoyaki are ready to turn, you’ll see the outer crust starting to cook into a thin layer of cake. Stick a takoyaki pick all the way in– it will turn with very little nudging if the batter is cooked. Gently scraping around the circumference of each ball with a pick is another useful trick for removing takoyaki from the mold.

5. If you’re using an electric takoyaki maker, I recommend turning the heat on and off to maintain a lower cooking temperature to prevent the coconut oil from smoking.

6. Each hole won’t always heat up to the exact same temperature so you may want to switch around the takoyaki once they’re in ball shape so they brown evenly.

7.  Thefilling is the tricky part. At first, I wouldn’t be too concerned about making Instagram-perfect balls. I rather have ugly takoyaki with too much filling than perfectly shaped takoyaki with not enough filling that taste bland and dry.

A general rule for getting your takoyaki to turn out right: Fail your way to success! You can always eat your mistakes in the kitchen. 

Before you can recreate this recipe in your kitchen…

First, where to buy a takoyaki maker 

In Japan, you can buy electric takoyaki makers at any of the big, nation-wide electronic store chains like Yamada Denki or Bic Camera. For more options, you could also have a look at department stores, big variety/home stores like Don Quixote or Tokyu Hands, or cookware stores like you’d find in Kappabashi, Tokyo’s “Kitchen Street.”

If you’re outside of Japan, you can find an electric takoyaki maker on Amazon.

Or you can be like me, and borrow a takoyaki maker from my girlfriend’s family! From my experience, I get the impression that pretty much every Japanese family have their own takoyaki maker at home.

Note about electric takoyaki makers: I’m using the 18-hole Yamazen electric takoyaki maker, which heats up fast and the temperature isn’t adjustable. Cooking with coconut oil at high temps is not good. The chains of amino acids in coconut oil break down under high heat = oxidation. As a solution, I turn the heat on and off, on and off.

I considered purchasing a cast-iron pan to use on my stove so I could adjust the heat. Thankfully, I found one used in good condition at a recycle shop for 100 yen (plus some elbow grease and sodium bicarbonate cleaner).

The recipe– how to make the healthy takoyaki!

A New Takoyaki Recipe- Gluten-free, Grain-free, and Low Carb

Matt

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 2 people

Equipment

• takoyaki maker
• takoyaki picks
• chopsticks

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Ingredients for Batter

• 24 whole almonds alternatively, try using almond flour or almond meal
• 3 tsp coconut flour 3 heaping teaspoons
• 3 free-range eggs
• 2 pinches sea salt

Ingredients for Filling

• ½ cup minced pork approximately 70-80 grams
• ½ cup beni shoga red pickled ginger
• ½ cup negi green onions

Ingredients for Cooking

• extra virgin coconut oil enough to coat pan

Topping

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp nori flakes seaweed
• 2-3 tbsp katsuo-bushi bonito flakes

Instructions

 

Prep:

• Chop almonds into a powder.
• Put the chopped almonds, coconut flour, and salt in a bowl. Mix.
• Add eggs and mix until smooth with a fork or whisk.
  
• Chop negi (green onion) and mix into the batter. *

Filling

• Cook the pork until it's completely cooked (not pink). When done, set aside in a small dish with a pair of chopsticks or small spoon.
• Chop beni shoga (red pickled ginger) into small pieces less than a centimeter long. Remove some of the moisture from beni shoga with a paper towel. Set aside in a small dish with a small spoon.

Cooking:

• Coat the interiors of circular molds and the surface between molds with coconut oil. Put a small scoop of coconut oil inside each mold.*
  
• Turn on takoyaki maker until the coconut oil inside each takoyaki mold melts (about 1 minute).*
• With a teaspoon, scoop batter into circular molds until it's almost even with the edges.
• Add pieces of pork on top of the batter and press down with a small spoon or chopsticks.*
• With a small spoon or clean fingers, add a pinch of beni shoga on top of the batter.*
  
• Then, cover the fillings with a thin layer of batter (This is optional).
• After about 1- 2 minutes, poke takoyaki all the way to the bottom with a takoyaki stick and gently move it sideways to see if they're ready to turn.
• Once you've flipped a takoyaki ball, use takoyaki sticks or chopsticks to sweep any undercooked batter into the mold underneath the takoyaki ball.
• Turn takoyaki onto different sides until they form into ball shapes.
  
• Once light golden brown, poke sticks into balls to remove them from the circular molds.

Topping:

• Pour extra virgin olive oil on top of each takoyaki.
• Using your fingers, sprinkle nori seaweed flakes on top and then do the same with katsuo-bushi (bonito flakes). If you have extra negi (green onion), you can also sprinkle that on top.
  
• Serve warm.

Notes

(4) * Negi can be mixed with the batter or added on top with the fillings- either way, it won't make much of a difference. 

(7) *Scoop about ⅓ tsp coconut oil into each mold with a spoon. Using chopticks, I dip folded paper towel into coconut oil to coat the pan. You can also purchase a takoyaki oil brush.

(8) *I usually turn off the takoyaki cooker at this point so I don't have to rush and the coconut oil doesn't smoke. Note: in summer, your coconut oil may already be liquified in the jar. Still heat up oil for about one minute.

(10) *I find that small clumps of minced pork are the easiest to place on top of each circle of batter. Avoid pushing down the pork with your finger so you don't burn yourself with hot coconut oil. The top of the takoyaki plate is also very hot. 

(11) Avoid adding too much beni shoga– too much may cause your takoyaki balls to split in half. 

Keyword eggs, gluten-free, grain-free, healthy, Japanese, keto, low-carb, octopus, paleo, protein, takoyaki

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Healthy Takoyaki Recipe– a Matcha-Flavored Dessert: Gluten-free, Low-carb

A New Taiyaki Recipe: Gluten-free, Grain-free, and Low Carb

Tamagoyaki- “the healthiest breakfast in the world” (superfoods)

Healthy Tamagoyaki- nutrition and fillings for Japanese rolled omelets (low carb)

The “Zero Carb” Tokyo Burger and other Easy Japanese-Inspired Low Carb “Breakfasts”

Want to learn more about the original takoyaki recipe?

Check out out these recipes for takoyaki on two of my favorite Japanese food blogs:

Just One Cookbook: takoyaki recipe たこ焼き

Chopsticks Chronicles: “takoyaki the octopus balls”

I also recommend checking out these four recipes for takoyaki for inspiration: 

TasteMade: ‘Takoyaki Made 4 Ways‘

If you have any questions about the recipe or need some advice, please leave a comment below.

Follow me on Instagram for more healthy, Japan-inspired recipes. When I make new versions of this takoyaki recipe, I’ll post them there!

These takoyaki are fun to make! In Japan, having “takoyaki parties” at home is a common form of entertainment. How about making healthy takoyaki for dinner at your next home party? And for dessert, you can try this healthy recipe for matcha takoyaki!