Otafuku, Takoyaki Sauce

Takoyaki sauce is a Japanese sauce used to season the famous Japanese dumpling dish called "takoyaki". These delicious morsels are made of flour dough, dashi (fish stock), egg, shredded cabbage, ginger and pieces of octopus, cooked in a special pan in the shape of a hemisphere.

Takoyaki sauce is essential to give the dish its distinctive flavor. Typical takoyaki sauce ingredients include:

Japanese Worcestershire Sauce: The base of takoyaki sauce is the Japanese version of Worcestershire sauce, which is sweeter and less spicy than the English variant. This sauce gives a sweet and sour, rich flavor to the dish.

Oyster sauce (oyster sauce): Sometimes included in takoyaki sauce to add a deep, rich umami flavor.

Soy Sauce: Soy sauce adds a salty, umami flavor to the sauce.

Dashi (Fish Stock): Dashi is a Japanese fish stock made with bonito (dried bonito) flakes and kombu seaweed. It adds a subtle seafood flavor to takoyaki sauce.

Sugar: To balance flavors and add a sweet note.

Takoyaki sauce is made by mixing all these ingredients together until it becomes a thick, velvety sauce. It is often heated before being poured over the takoyaki struffoli, which have been cooked in the special pan.

Once ready, the takoyaki struffoli are placed on a plate and generously drizzled with takoyaki sauce. They are often also garnished with Japanese mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes, crumbled nori seaweed, and sometimes katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes).

Takoyaki sauce is essential to make the dish complete and tasty, contributing its unique and complementary flavors. The experience of eating takoyaki is one of the delights of Japanese cuisine, and takoyaki sauce plays an important role in making this experience truly special.