Takoyaki Plate

By -Elizabeth D. Andres

 

a gift from Wakayama, Kansai area Japan





More than a decade before takoyaki became a big thing in the Philippines, I was already cooking and eating authentic Kansai takoyaki.

My students were from Kansai area—Nara, Osaka, and Wakayama—and in Japan, the place Kansai is synomymous to takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Even the Japanese people who are not from Kansai region are not confident to cook takoyaki in the presence of someone form Kansai.

Anyway, one of my students, a gentleman from Wakayama, gifted me this with this takoyaki plate. Sadly, I can’t get the right ingredients to make  authentic takoyaki, and I have forgotten the exact measurements of each ingredient.

Some people might say that I just have to estimate the amount of the  ingredients, but NO, this is a big no. Just a bit too much or a bit too little of any ingredient can drastically change the taste and texture of the takoyaki. Takoyaki stores have mushroomed in the city and even in nearby provinces, and I have tasted some of them. Nothing beats Kansai takoyaki.

Someday, when this pandemic is over, I would love to meet with my Japanese friends and cook/eat takoyaki with them again.

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