Coley's Super Easy Homemade Takoyaki Recipe (Octopus and weird ingredients not required)

When I was in Tokyo for a vacation 5 years ago, my favorite purchase was a Takoyaki maker, which I thought was a steal for less than 1,000JPY.

The box says for use in Japan only, so I lied and said I lived in Japan,
but what they actually meant was to warn me that the machine was 110volts.

After 5 years, I finally decided to try out my machine. I looked through a lot of recipes online, disregarded anything complicated and then tweaked it based on my preference.


Homemade Takoyaki Recipe


1. Measure 1 cup flour and 1 tablespoon + 1.5 teaspoons cornstarch, add 1 egg, 1 cup water and 1 knorr cube (dissolved in the water)
2. Add 1 tablespoon Kikkoman and another 1 cup water
3. Mix well with whisk and refrigerate for 30 minutes (it also turns out well if you have no time or no patience to wait).

4. Prepare your filling.
I used cabbage and cheese and spam and cheese for my second attempt. They both turned out well.

5. When you're ready to start, brush your takoyaki cooker with olive oil.
Then heat it for awhile, then put in the filling, before pouring in the batter until full.

My first attempt was quite messy.
I attempted to copy the takoyaki vendors, but it's not easy to put the filling
after the batter, and shooting them into the holes if you're not an expert. 

Taste-wise, it turned out quite well though.

Since we didn't have any terriyaki or tonkatsu sauce, I used sriracha with
Japanese Mayo instead as topping and it was delish!

I couldn't get over my messy takoyaki balls, and I remembered that some takoyaki stalls use the ketchup bottle for better control over the batter... so I went to the supermarket, bought myself a bottle for Php55, and attempted to make takoyaki again. This time with Spam and Cheese too.

The ketchup bottle is truly a game changer!

This recipe was tailored to my own personal taste and it doesn't pretend to be close to the original takoyaki you buy from Osaka. just saying.

Sofia's Unboxing DIY Gummies

Sofia loves watching unboxing video reviews on YouTube.

This is her attempt at one.

You can watch the video here.

Not bad for our first attempt, if I may say so myself. just saying.

Lyon Revisited with the fambam

My second favorite place in France, next to Paris of course, is Lyon, the country's gastronomical capital. Ady and I really enjoyed our first visit to Lyon, which you can read about here, so we convinced the family that it was a good idea to go.

We arrived super hungry, and it was surprisingly
difficult to find an open cafe on a Sunday.

I managed to buy some gauffres (waffles) and this pastry, which he snacked
on with free coffee from our serviced apartment (Citadines).

The location of our hotel was wonderful, and we could walk everywhere (though we didn't attempt to climb up to Vieux Lyon this time around).

The best part of Lyon, are the bouchons!!!

Best French Comfort Food ever... for a steal!!!!

We brought Timmy and Reen to our favorite bouchon, Aux Trois Cochons.

I've been craving for Poached Egg in Red Wine Soup since I tried in it Lyon, but they never make it as good elsewhere.

Our favorite Goat Cheese or Chevre Salad.

I might have attempted to eat healthier with a Lyonaise Salad, but it comes with a generous serving of bacon , cheese and poached egg.

For our mains, the Garlic Butter Chicken was to die for, sauce palang ulam na. It comes with a side of potatoes too.

Sof loved the chicken with white sauce because it reminds her of her favorite dish at home.

My favorite fat brother fighting food coma.

The next day I just walked to Paul and the supermarche for some petit dejeuner (breakfast).

Then we walked around the city, making our way to Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse because we didn't know LES HALLES IS CLOSED ON MONDAYS! 

We ended up eating at another bouchon, to be covered in a separate post. Then I walked with Fi to the old part of town.

I think our whole foodie family enjoyed Lyon, but the next time we come back, it will definitely not be on a Monday. just saying.

Coley's Mushroom Cauliflower Risotto

Since I lost so much weight doing the Nutribullet Smoothie (note to self, do a blog post on that), I decided to try and eat healthier as well.

My newest health kick is an attempt to go 80% Vegetarian. The 20% is loophole for the meat I enjoy like Fried Chicken Skin, Steak with Fat and Foie Gras. I try to live by a simple rule, if I don't really like the meat dish, I would opt to eat vegetables instead.

To make this plan sustainable I've been on the look out for interesting recipes of healthy alternatives for food I love to eat. I can live without eating rice forever, but put Risotto in front of  me and my self control is gone.

I was so happy to find several recipes of Cauliflower Risotto online which I tweaked to be most similar to the Mushroom Risotto recipe we know and love, and it turned out so well, even I was surprised. 

Mushroom Cauliflower Risotto Recipe

1. Pulse 1 large cauliflower head (florets only) until it looks like rice and set aside.
2. Cook a small package of Shiitake Mushrooms (cut into strips) in Olive Oil then set aside.
3. Saute 3 cloves garlic until brown, then add 1 finely chopped onion until translucent.
4. Add the cauliflower rice, chicken broth (I used 1 Knorr Chicken Cube dissolved in 1 cup water), and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Don't forget the secret ingredient: add 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese/ or any salty cheese. Put as much cheese as you want!!!
6.Top with parsley or basil.

Perfect for calorie counters as it only contains 95 calories per cup (without the extra cheese), it's so easy to make too. If your helper does all the prep, cook time is approximately 10 minutes. This recipe is a keeper. just saying.