Takoyaki Bento

Takoyaki Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today TinySprite and I stayed home. She had a low-grade fever and no appetite last night, so I wanted to make sure she stayed warm and dry on this cold, wet day. She loved having the whole morning together, and we did exercises, singing, reading and cooking. I had picked up a stovetop takoyaki pan at Marukai long ago, and decided today was as good a time as any to try it out. I didn't have octopus but I did have shrimp, so I made a substitution. Also, I used a package okonomi batter, since it was handy. You can see tutorials at Just Hungry and Lunch In A Box, but basically what I did was: mix up batter using the prepackaged mix, water, and an egg; heat the pan on the stove; pour batter into the pan just below the rim; add a cube of cooked shrimp and some shredded cabbage (you can also add beni shoga but I omitted it for kids' tastes); let cook until bottom is set, then flip using two wooden skewers.

There's no way to easily describe how to do it without pictures, and there was no way I could take pictures while I did it. It's kind of tricky to figure out the timing and the technique to flip without spilling batter all over the pan, but you'll learn quickly. Mine didn't turn out beautifully spherical, but they were pretty good for us! The spilled batter can be scraped back into the cup with the wooden skewers. I know purists will say you have to use octopus, but these tasted great with shrimp, and the kids loved it. She asked for some in her bento, and although it won't be fresh and crispy, I hope she'll still enjoy it. I was able to squeeze 5 in her bento box, with Cara Cara oranges, cherries, broccoli and carrot in the other side. I won't add the sauce, kewpie, and aonori until the morning so hopefully it won't get too soggy by lunchtime. If she were older I might send the sauce in a separate container for her to squirt on by herself. Here's a montage of her eating her first one. She loved 'em. ^_^