Lettuce & Takoyaki

This is the Flashy Butter Oak Lettuce which is grown in our garden. We have been harvesting and eating them almost everyday and given away some yet there are still more left in the ground.
Below are the Takoyaki or Octopus Balls prepared by my mother-in-law. She is such a good cook that her Takoyaki is comparable to the best in the restaurants.

Takoyaki cooking set

My mum-in-law bought this takoyaki set. She has been thinking of making takoyaki for a long time so we encouraged her to get this set which may also be used for frying veggies etc. It is a multi cooking set. The takoyaki was made by her. It tasted good but a bit softer than the ones we ate at the cafe. Think she needs to improve in order for me to appreciate. This set cost S$150. We thought the price was reasonable until we located one at a different store selling for about $40. However, I must confess that her's is a branded one as compared to the $40 one which is a relatively unknown branded.

This is from the takoyaki stall

Delish Takoyaki in Japan

Takoyaki  is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.Takoyaki are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito. There are many variations to the takoyaki recipe, for example, ponzu (soy sauce with dashi and citrus vinegar), goma-dare (sesame-and-vinegar sauce) or vinegared dashi.

Yaki is derived from "yaku" which is one of the cooking methods in Japanese cuisine, meaning "to fry or grill", and can be found in the names of other Japanese cuisine items such as okonomiyaki and ikayaki (other famous Osakan dishes).

The one above is sold near my relatives' house. This takoyaki is superb and it cost about 400 Yen

or the equivalent of S$5 for 6 pieces. When in Japan, you are never short of eating yummy Japanese

food. Once tasted the food in Japan, you won't want to eat them in Singapore.

Japanese Noodles and Octopus Balls

Above was the Ramen we had at Hakata Station before leaving Japan. This is Kyushu Char Siew Ramen with thicker soup than the Tokyo Ramen. The bottom picture was that of Takoyaki or octopus balls. Both items were tasty except that I prefer the Tokyo Shoyu Ramen. You won't believe that the 6 Takoyaki balls cost only 100 Yen or $1.25c. The Ramen was Y1,000 or $12.50 per bowl.