Takoyaki Is More Than a Street Food in Osaka, Japan

Osaka’s street food district, Dotonbori, is overrun with octopuses. Look in any direction as you wander the overwhelming, neon-lit area and you’ll surely lay eyes on a giant red cephalopod. Some are three-dimensional beasts with jutting tentacles, while others are cute cartoons pursing their lips into excited oohs. Rather cannibalistically, their eight legs beckon diners inside their respective establishments to eat takoyaki, a snack that’s not only the soul food of Japan’s third-largest city, but also its cultural icon.

Takoyaki’s English translation, “octopus balls,” doesn’t do justice to the beloved cheap eat. Osakans tend to buy these round not-quite-dumplings from a yatai, or street food cart. Chefs pour flour batter infused with dashi into a grill pan with circular indentations. They add chopped up fillings — traditionally octopus, pickled ginger, and green onion — and nimbly rotate the spheres until they’re crisp outside but remain moist and slightly runny inside. To finish, they drizzle a half-dozen balls with slightly sweet brown sauce — a combination of Worcestershire, tomato sauce, sugar, and mentsuyu (concentrated soup base) — along with Japanese mayo, aonori (seaweed), and bonito flakes that wave in the heat.

In character with Osaka’s down-to-earth reputation, takoyaki is a quick street bite made from humble ingredients. The local phrase kuidadore, or “eat yourself to ruin,” seems tailor-made for it; with a going rate of six balls for 500 yen ($3), why not perch on a street corner wolfing them down by the half-dozen, before moving on to the next vendor that catches your nose?

Where did takoyaki come from?

By standards in Japan, where classic dishes are often hundreds of years old, takoyaki is a surprisingly recent invention to have achieved such cultural impact. It emerged in Osaka in the 1930s and evolved into its current incarnation in postwar Japan. But three of takoyaki’s early 20th-century precursors help explain the snack’s immediate, thorough impact on the city.

Takoyaki’s grandfather is choboyaki, a children’s snack consisting of mounds connected in a contiguous batter, resembling a Lego brick. It’s made by drizzling a flour-and-water batter onto a griddle with little divots, then adding soy sauce and simple vegetables like pickled ginger and peas.

In the 1920s, chefs turned up the dial by inserting marinated beef tendon and konjac (a local tuber), and shaping the batter into larger balls. They dubbed this version radioyaki because it was modern and fancy, like the radio technology that had just reached Japan.

Around this time, Akashi — a city west of Osaka — had a surplus of egg yolks because the whites were used to make hair ornaments favored by geisha. In keeping with the Japanese philosophy of mottainai (waste not), street vendors created Akashiyaki, molding yolk-heavy batter into freeform dumplings with bits of boiled octopus, meant to be dipped in dashi broth.

All the conditions were right for Osakan street vendor Tomekichi Endo, who finally hit upon the winning formula and created takoyaki. He mixed flour with dashi for greater flavor, poured it on an iron griddle with sizable hemispherical molds, and slotted in chunks of octopus because it was inexpensive and plentiful in Osaka Bay at the time.

The chewy, meaty flesh contrasted with the soft and complex batter, quickly inspiring copycats throughout the city. But it wasn’t until the U.S. military occupation from 1945 to 1952 that the octopus balls really took off. Americans imported large amounts of wheat into Japan to combat food shortages, which encouraged Osakans to cook and eat more flour-based foods like takoyaki. They also introduced the Worcestershire sauce, which has become so critical to the thick brown sauce served on top.

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What are the best ways to eat and cook takoyaki?

“In my childhood, I enjoyed eating takoyaki after school or on special occasions,” says Yuta Yamada, owner of Osaka’s Blast Tour, which also offers takoyaki-making classes. Takoyaki “gained popularity as it was easy to eat anywhere, inexpensive, and delicious, leading to widespread adoption.” He fondly remembers takoyaki festivals and lively gatherings at temples and parks featuring creative takoyaki variations.

Since the 1960s, when home appliances dedicated to takoyaki became popular, home chefs have also found plenty of ways to cook up the snack. “In Osaka, we often organize takoyaki parties with friends and family,” Yamada says. “We bring leftovers from the refrigerator and various ingredients, then cook and eat takoyaki together.”

The dish is easy enough for children to make on their own; many takoyaki lovers have warm memories of cobbling together their own versions with home grill plates. As diners grow older, they quickly discover the steaming hot balls go especially well with cold beer, a winning combo after a night out.

The snack also vibes with Japan’s kawaii visual culture, which emerged from the 1950s through the 1970s with icons like Hello Kitty and Astro Boy. Shops started selling takoyaki-themed merchandise, like big-eyed octopus plush toys, and in 1981, TV Osaka made its mascot Takoru-kun, a smiling takoyaki-headed creature that hangs with a tiny red octopus.

Several Osaka attractions dedicated to takoyaki have further cemented its cult status. Takopa, a museum and food court at Universal Citywalk, invites visitors to taste different varieties, learn about the snack’s history, and shop for kawaii souvenirs. In 2022, popular mall HEP Five unveiled a Takoyaki Market where vendors experiment with flavors like cheese and mentaiko or plum with grated daikon.

Fans can take takoyaki boat cruises down Dotonbori Canal, join cooking classes, or indulge at an all-you-can-eat buffet. They can munch on takoyaki-flavored burgers, rice balls, Pringles, and candy, and even buy balls from vending machines. Not every offbeat twist is a home run, but as Yamada puts it, “It’s a great way to experience Osaka’s food culture and pop culture while having fun.”

The best restaurants to try takoyaki

Aizuya

It would only be proper to begin a takoyaki tour by tasting the old-school version of the snack at Aizuya, the longest-running takoyaki store, founded in the 1930s by the inventor himself, Tomekichi Endo. The original recipe consists of smaller spheres that are served without toppings or sauces, letting you fully taste the saltiness of the dashi-flour and texture of the fillings. Order the three-ball sampler so that you can compare Endo’s takoyaki with two of its predecessors, radioyaki and Akashiyaki.
Japan, 〒542-0076 Osaka, Chuo Ward, Namba, 5 Chome−4−1 地下街なんなんタウン B1F

Odoridako

Odoridako’s dumplings were nicknamed Cthulhu-yaki on social media because each contains a whole baby octopus with tentacles poking out from the batter. The shop’s name translates to “dancing octopus” because when the chefs swirl the balls in the griddle, it appears as if the octopuses are twirling. The tiny molluscs are denser and chewier than the usual diced pieces, giving Odoridako’s takoyaki a more intense flavor.
1 Chome-7-24 Dotonbori, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 542-0071, Japan

Daigen

If the crowded food carts of Dotonbori aren’t your speed, head to Daigen in the laid-back hipster district of Shinsaibashi. The elderly owners have perfected their takoyaki recipe over the decades, doling out balls with a crisp exterior and oozy interior. This mom-and-pop shop also specializes in takosen: octopus balls mashed between light pink shrimp crackers, a favorite on-the-go snack for young Osakans.
1 Chome-7-11 Nishishinsaibashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 542-0086, Japan 06-6251-1500

Kukuru

Founded in 1985, Kukuru has received Michelin recommendations for its bold, fusion take on takoyaki. The chefs elevate the batter with a splash of white wine and fold in plumper pieces of octopus than used by most vendors. Kukuru also offers one of the most expensive versions of the street food, called Surprise Takoyaki: Each ball has a massive suction-cupped leg sticking out from it, and a plate of eight costs 1,980 yen ($13 US).
Japan, 〒542-0071 Osaka, Chuo Ward, Dotonbori, 1 Chome−10−5 白亜ビル １階

La Carmina is an award-winning travel/food/culture blogger and journalist with bylines at Travel + Leisure, the New York Times, and National Geographic, among others. She hosts and produces travel TV shows worldwide — including for Food Network and Travel Channel — and has published several books with Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House. Follow her adventures in Japan and worldwide @LaCarmina.