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Step 1

To make the batter, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and dashi powder in a bowl. Make a hole in the center. Whisk together the egg and water, then whisk into the dry ingredients to form a smooth batter. Transfer to a measuring cup. Set aside to bloom for at least 15 minutes (or cover with plastic and leave at room temperature for as long as 2 hours).

Step 2

Have the filling ingredients ready near the stove, along with the batter. Make sure the garnishes are ready too.

Step 3

Heat the pancake puff, aebelskiver, or takoyaki pan over medium heat. Brush a light coating of oil in each well. Aim for a moderately warm pan as if you’re making pancakes. Too hot of pan will form craters on the surface and you want a smooth finish on these dumplings.

Step 4

When the pan is sufficiently hot, pour batter into the pan to just shy of the rim. If your burner has hot spots, fill the wells above those hot spots last. If anything, there should be just a light sizzle when the batter hits the pan. Lower the heat if the sizzling is loud as that’s a sign that the pan is too hot.

Step 5

Add 1 or 2 pieces of shrimp and generous pinches of scallion, ginger, and cabbage to each well. The batter level will rise a tad. Then wait for about 60 seconds until the edges have begun to set or small bubbles have formed at the rim. When that happens, use two skewers to loosen each dumpling around the top edge and flip it over. Expect the dumplings to be pale in color at this stage.

Step 6

Don’t fret about doing it neatly. Aim to flip it over when there’s still enough loose batter to form a round underside; some may look like Pacman but that’s fine. After about 1 minute, the batter should have set on the other side and you can tuck the dumpling into the well to cook evenly into a nice round shape.

Step 7

Cook for about 1 minute, brush with a little oil, then turn and rotate. Repeat to cook this way for about 5 minutes, until golden and crisp. Use chopsticks or the skewers to transfer (stab the dumpling if you must) the dumplings to rack. Meanwhile, oil and repeat the cooking to make more takoyaki dumplings.

Step 8

If you like, before serving, reheat or recrisp any early batches of takoyaki. Heat them in the pan with a tiny bit of oil for 1 to 2 minutes. When satisfied, present on a plate, drizzle the tonkatsu sauce and squeeze (or pipe) mayonnaise atop the dumplings. Sprinkle with seaweed and finish with the bonito flakes. Eat with forks, chopsticks, or if you want to mimic the street food experience, use skewers.