Takoyaki Pan

We made real takoyaki balls and waffle balls using takoyaki pan. We actually did half of this a few weeks ago and procrastinated completing everything until now...

Since octopus isn't everyone's favorite, we wanted to create fluffy balls out of waffle mix.

(The lighting for photos are not so great and consistent as cooking was done in our own kitchen.)

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Wisdom of Experiences to avoid burning the batter on the pan
(we received a wise tip on 11/27!)

1. Apply plenty of cooking oil all over the pan. There should be a tiny pool of excess oil in each hole.
   
2. Prepare a kitchen cloth/dishcloth well-soaked with water.
3. Heat the pan with high heat until it starts smoking.
4. Turn off heat.
5. Cover the pan with the soaked cloth to cool down the pan.
6. Remove excess oil from the pan.

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Here's our first attempt!

First apply plenty of cooking oil on the pan. It's hard to tell in the photo, but you should apply enough so you have a tiny pool of excess oil in each hole. Prepare one bamboo skewer for flipping. Use low heat.
The batter started rising! woo hoo!
We tried to flip waffle balls, but it was either too early or not enough oil on the pan. We think this resulted from trying to flip too early.

Disappointed yet optimistic, we then tried making real takoyaki.
We bought flour for takoyaki and a piece of boiled octopus at a Japanese grocery store.
We tried to flip too early again, resulting in loss of the prime spots. (the top 3 center holes)
A lesson learned. Look at the photo below. We had to wait very patiently to cook the balls in this golden brown color. If the batter does not come off easily when trying to flip with a bamboo skewer, just wait. When the batter is ready, balls flip easily.
When you re-use the pan, don't forget to re-apply plenty of oil.


OK, here's our another (hopefully final) attempt to create delicious waffle balls!

We blended 1/2 cup of Krusteaz waffle mix and little less than 1/2 cup of cold water just like before. Just follow the instruction on the waffle mix bag to make your batter.
1/2 cup of waffle mix was a perfect amount for filling all 12 holes.
So far so good.
We flipped one of them. Look at that beautiful brown color!
All of them were flipped successfully.
This was the pan after removing waffle balls to a plate. Pretty clean, isn't it? Patience paid off.
Pour waffle syrup on top for flavor. Very delicious!

In general, the pan gets better at cooking waffle balls after a few attempts.

In summary, here's what we learned.

1. Preferably, prepare the pan for cooking using the wisdom written above.
   
2. Apply plenty of oil.
   
3. Wait
4. Wait
5. Wait
6. Never scrape the batter off the pan. Wait until balls easily separate! If you try to scrape the burned batter, the pan might get damaged.