Mitsuwa Marketplace
595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ
(201) 941-9113
web site: http://www.mitsuwanj.com
For Memorial Day weekend, the Mitsuwa Marketplace Japanese shopping center in Edgewater, NJ brought in a team of Takoyaki meisters from Osaka, Japan to make their griddled battered octopus tentacle treats for the amassing crowds. We went on location to cover this hypnotizing combination of street food and performance art.
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Are you ready for the craze that is Takoyaki? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
To get your box of freshly griddled Takoyaki, you’ll need to wait on a 45 minute line.
The complete Engrish down-low on Takoyaki:
“The secret of the Dotonbori kukuru [TAKO-YAKI] (octopus balls) lies in its unique original taste and the meticulous skills that go into making it. At kukuru, we use the “TAKO-YAKI Maestro System” incorporating the skills of making the perfect TAKO-YAKI while not standing for anything less than the best entertaining performance and presentation of our gourmet to satisfy our customers. Our goal at kukuru is to have our customers not only be satisfied from their eating experience, but also be entertained by the performance of their food preparation.
The mission of kukuru is to take TAKO-YAKI from being a representative of fine Japanese gourmet to being representative of world gourmet this is what it means to be the Maestro of TAKO-YAKI.”
First the special Takoyaki griddle is filled with a crepe-like batter.
Then pieces of cooked octopus tentacle are placed into each mold.
Then the other seasonings and fillings are added.
As the Takoyaki begin to set, they are flipped over using long metal chopsticks.
The Takoyaki “Meister” works very quickly, flipping the yaki over with blinding speed.
Almost done!
Then he boxes them to order for the sauce prep crew.
Takoyakanticipation.
Saucing the Takoyakis with Japanese-style mayo and Tonkatsu sauce.
Takoyaki Eating Time!
Off The Broiler 
dood! pulpo abelskivers!!
Wow…okonomiyaki muffins!
Mark, Okonomiyaki also come from Osaka, but I believe that Takoyaki is considered to be a totally different animal. Texture wise, they are totally different, an Okonomiyaki is more like a thick pancake, and a Takoyaki ball has sort of a crepe-like external skin with a creamy texture in the middle. They are treated very similarly, though, with bonito and mayo/tonkatsu sauce on top.
Hey jason!
Thanks for the clarification….I kinda figured that the texture wasn’t the same based on the cross-section diagram at the top of the post.
As far as I understand it, okonomiyaki provide a lot of leeway in terms of what fillings/leftovers you can put into them, whereas takoyaki seem a bit more narrowly defined (as far as I can tell)….
thx
mark
Aw, man! Why don’t you tell us about this stuff BEFORE it happens?
Actually, I didn’t find out about it until the last minute. Mitsuwa doesn’t post its event info online, it hands out flyers at the store, and they are in Japanese!. I do try to let people know about major events in advance, like Taste of Chinatown and Share our Strength. This is just one of those times when it was the last day of an event and I had just heard about it.
Jason, and whoever else might be interested – Mitsuwa also sends the fliers out by mail if you ask to be put on their mailing list (I’ve been on it for around a year now). They’re still in Japanese, but there’s usually enough English on them to get the gist of major events.
http://www.mitsuwanj.com/en/faq.htm
I wish I had been at this one – I *love* Takoyaki. So far, the best I’ve had has been in the East Village at Otafuku.
The only advance notice you’re gonna get is by signing up for Mitsuwa’s flyer. There’s a little sign-up box by the Customer Service desk in the store. DEFINITELY get it sent, this is where they tell you about store events. The next big one is probably going to be the summer festival, really a thing for the kids, but they have a taiko drum performance and a bon dance. There’s usually a big regional food fair once every three or four months.
Oh they have a different web site than the corporate one? I’ll fix my mitsuwa posts.
[…] Takoyaki: Its Octopussylicious […]
Looks so awesome. The title of the post somehow feels dirty to me.
Hi,
Thanks for posting the video. What is that liquid the lady chef is splashing on to the takoyaki? Mirin, sake?
Thanks,
Gene
Why TAKOYAKI? Why you guys didn’t used the name YASAI?