Vegan Takoyaki Recipe - Veganiac (2024)

by Emily

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Vegan Takoyaki Recipe – Have you ever considered you can enjoy in Vegan version of this Japanese Takoyaki recipe? I’ve always liked vegan takoyaki, and now I’m sharing how I’ve made this popular Japanese streetfood vegan!

Vegan Takoyaki Recipe

A traditional snack from Japan, takoyaki is a ball-shaped dumpling with a piece of octopus inside. The food is usually served with a takoyaki sauce, similar to a Worcestershire sauce, and mayonnaise, although some serve the dish with a different variety of sauces.

In this article, I’ll share a recipe for a vegan version of traditional Japanese food. Also, be sure to check the whole article for the best results in preparing Vegan Takoyaki Recipe. Enjoy reading!

Vegan Takoyaki Recipe - Veganiac (1)

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Preparation Time: 15 min

Cooking Time: 15 min

Total Time: 30 min

Servings: 16 pieces

Ingredients

Ingredients of Vegan Dashi:

  • Kombu – 3 pieces (2–inch)
  • Dried Shiitake Mushrooms – 4 pieces
  • Mushroom Seasoning – 2 tsp
  • Water – 2 cups

Ingredients for Vegan Takoyaki recipe:

  • All-purpose flour – 1 cup
  • Vegan dashi – 1 ¼ cup
  • Rice vinegar or White Vinegar – ½ tsp
  • Baking Powder – 1 tsp
  • Soy Sauce – 1 tsp
  • Green Onion
  • Beni shōga (red pickled ginger)
  • Shiitake dashi

Ingredients for Sauce toppings:

  • Vegan mayonnaise
  • Vegetarian Bull-Dog Sauce

Directions

Instructions to prepare the dashi:

  1. Take a saucepan and put in dried kombu, dried shiitake mushrooms. Add water and switch on medium flame. When it comes to boil (slightly), give it 10 more min to cook.
  2. Use a mesh sieve and drain the water. Separate the dashi in a bowl. Take out kombu and keep it aside for another recipe.
  3. For takoyaki fillings, use rehydrated shiitake mushrooms.

Instructions for preparing the takoyaki

  1. Bread the rehydrate shiitake mushroom into small chunky pieces. Chop the green onions and Beni shōga. Keep it aside for later use.
  2. Take a bowl, add flour, baking powder, vegan dashi, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Mix them well until they are well incorporated. Make a thin batter.
  3. On medium flame, preheat the takoyaki pan. Brush the pan with oil.
  4. On the heated pan, pour the batter in the cavities. If it overflows, it is fine.
  5. Add two to three pieces of shiitake mushroom in the cavities filled with batter. Sprinkle some green onions and Beni shōga. You may sprinkle them all over the pan.
  6. For three to four minutes, cook the downsides. With the help of a wooden skewer, cut the connections among batters.
  7. Using the same wooden skewer, change the side and stuff the edges. Cooking time at this step is one to two minutes. Keep repeating the process until it is all cooked and turns crispy.
  8. Empty these takoyaki balls on the serving plate and top it with Bull-Dog sauce, mayonnaise, and aonori.
  9. Serve it hot and eat it carefully as it may burn your tongue.

Cooking Tips & Recipe Variations

  • Use mayonnaise while filling it in the squeezy bottle. So, you can pour it a little easily.
  • All the ingredients can easily be hopped from local stores, if not any, found at Asian grocery stores.
  • Use wooden skewers for flipping the takoyaki as they make it easy. Don’t use Chopsticks as they make it hard.
  • Don’t use a special pan for the takoyaki. Find the takoyaki pan in the nearby Japanese store. You may shop online.
  • Cooking takoyaki on medium heat will allow it to cook properly.
  • Using a lot of oil is good for making the outsides crispy.

FAQs

Which sauces are recommended for Takoyaki?

Takoyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise are well suited with takoyaki, however, those are not vegan. You can use regular vegan mayonnaise or this amazing Vegan Tartar Sauce and Bull-Dog sauce.

Is Takoyaki a Japanese food?

Yes, it is Japanese food. Street foods are always trendy. ‘Tako’ stands for octopus and ‘yaki’ refers to grill or fry.

They are round in shape and crispy in texture. Pan used for cooking takoyaki is a special pan designed for it.

How does Vegan Takoyaki differ from original takoyaki?

The Vegan Takoyaki recipe differs in many ways like the original recipe contains katsuobushi. Also, the instant takoyaki batter contains non-vegan dashi in it.

You have to replace eggs while making the batter for vegans. And of course, Octopus is used in the traditional takoyaki and here you use mushrooms or other alternatives.

Nutritional Value

You will get 170 kcal of calories, 28 grams of carbs, 4 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fat per serving.

Conclusion

The vegan takoyaki recipe is a fun, delicious, and super simple dish to serve at any party. This recipe is very easy to follow, and you can have it in the oven in no time!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and you’ll give it a try and let us know how it goes by leaving a comment! If you try them, be sure to tag us on social media.

We enjoy scrolling your feedback and replying to you. Feel free to suggest us recipe for the next article.

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Vegan Takoyaki Recipe - Veganiac (2024)

FAQs

What is a substitute for octopus in takoyaki? ›

If you don't like octopus, you can try making takoyaki with different ingredients such as chicken. Vegetarians can replace the octopus with vegetables like shiitake mushrooms.

What is the moving ingredient in takoyaki? ›

Bonito flakes - known as katsuobushi in Japanese - are a strange food upon first sight. They are known to move or dance when used as a topping on foods such as okonomiyaki and takoyaki. It can be an odd sight upon first viewing if moving food makes you squeamish. However, it is nothing to be alarmed about.

What is the topper of takoyaki? ›

To Serve. Transfer them onto a plate and drizzle ½ cup takoyaki sauce and Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise on top. Finish the dish with a sprinkling of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and aonori (dried green laver seaweed) and a side of pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga).

What is a vegan alternative to octopus? ›

The Kraken by Revo Foods is a plant-based alternative to octopus made with fungi protein and what the Austrian startup calls a "unique new 3D structuring approach." This vegan-friendly octopus alternative is ready to eat but it can also be grilled, fried or baked and used to recreate a wide range of globally inspired ...

What is a vegetarian substitute for octopus? ›

Revo Foods announces the product launch of their latest creation: "THE KRAKEN - Inspired by Octopus". This represents the world's first plant-based alternative to octopus tentacles, made from fungi-protein (mycoprotein). 100% vegan, each pack contains 3 pieces of the base of the "tentacle" (3 x 35 g).

What are the brown flakes in takoyaki? ›

Katsuobushi (Japanese: 鰹節) is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as okaka (おかか).

What is the green on takoyaki? ›

It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger (beni shoga), and green onion (negi). The balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito (katsuobushi).

What does yaki mean in Japanese? ›

'Yaki' literally means "cooked over direct heat", and includes cooking methods like grilling, pan-frying, or boiling. If you are in a Japanese restaurant, you will be able to identify the 'yaki' items in the menu by identifying the words '焼き'.

What is cheese bomb takoyaki? ›

CHEESE BOMB TAKOYAKI is a special takoyaki by JP KITCHEN. Topped with 3 types of cheeses (fresh mozzarella & cheddar, & nacho cheese sauce & Japanese mayo) and lightly torched. Accompanied with Takoyaki sauce & bonito flakes, packed separately.

What sauce do they put on takoyaki? ›

The blend of fruity, tangy worcestershire sauce and aromatic kombu/soy flavours in mentsuyu give takoyaki sauce a delicious umami kick. Takoyaki sauce is a little sweeter than other Japanese brown sauces, offsetting the saltiness of crispy golden fried takoyaki balls perfectly!

What does the word takoyaki mean? ›

Tako means octopus, and yaki indicates the cooking method, in this case, pan-frying. Sometimes called “octopus balls” in English, takoyaki is made of a takoyaki batter infused with dashi (dried kelp and bonito flakes) filled with diced octopus meat, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion.

Does takoyaki have MSG? ›

Chicken stock for Takoyaki dough 😆 We don't use any MSG for making Takoyaki.

What animal is takoyaki? ›

In the early Showa era, takoyaki using octopus as a filling began to be sold at yatai in Osaka.

Are there different types of takoyaki? ›

Vegetarian takoyaki swaps out the octopus for ingredients like mushrooms or cheese, while vegan takoyaki uses plant-based alternatives, like tofu or vegetables, all while maintaining the scrumptious flavors.

Does takoyaki have to be octopus? ›

The first takoyaki included beef and konjac, but later Endo switched to using the now traditional octopus and added flavor to the batter. The takoyaki are then eaten with brown sauce, similar to Worcestershire sauce.

What is a substitute for baby octopus? ›

I got my baby octopus from my local Asian supermarket (T&T if you are in Canada), but you can also substitute it with squid or shrimp, and it will still be super delicious.

What does octopus taste similar to? ›

Octopus has a light taste that some compare to chicken or even pork. A low-calorie protein, both nutritious and filling, the octopus is full of vitamins and is low in fat and high in iron. Octopus can be prepared by blanching it in boiling water and then baking it, as well as boiling, grilling, or poaching.

Can squid be used for takoyaki? ›

You can find a takoyaki pan on amazon.com or you can use an ebelskiver (Danish pancake) pan. As for the insides, octopus is classic, but feel free to put in shrimp, chicken, or whatever savoury filling you like. I like to do a combo of octopus, squid and shrimp.

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