How I Recreated This Recipe
You might be wondering: I’ve already shared a takoyaki recipe, so why make a Gindaco (築地銀だこ) copycat recipe?
Did you know that there are people in Japan who say that Gindaco isn’t real takoyaki? It’s true! In Osaka (the birthplace of takoyaki), many locals won’t even recognize Gindaco as takoyaki. The reason has to do with how it’s cooked.
Watch how Gindaco makes their takoyaki for a bit.
That’s right – they’re “fried” using a generous amount of oil! That’s exactly why Osaka purists don’t consider them authentic takoyaki. For the record, I’m neither from Osaka nor from eastern Japan, where Gindaco originated. From my neutral perspective, I thought creating a copycat recipe would be interesting.
I’ll let you know upfront that this copycat recipe turned out to be spot-on. I personally think it’s the closest match in both appearance and flavor to the original. You can see the resemblance just by comparing the photos!
I’ve eaten at Gindaco many times throughout my life, but I made a special trip back to analyze the flavors specifically for this recipe. I brought my son with me this time, so I had the perfect opportunity to stare at their takoyaki-making process up close. He arguably seemed entertained watching, too.
Here are my key observations:
- The exterior is distinctly crispy due to the frying method. Using a substantial amount of oil is absolutely essential.
- Compared to my takoyaki recipe (which uses clean dashi stock), Gindaco’s flavor is definitely more “junkie.” I decided to use dashi granules and other elements to recreate this more intense flavor profile.
- Something I hadn’t really noticed before – mayonnaise is actually optional! You can choose between regular mayo or karashi mustard mayo.
- There’s a significant amount of aonori powder used. The vibrant green really does serve as Gindaco’s signature visual accent.
- For fillings beyond octopus, they use tenkasu, red pickled ginger, and the white part of Japanese leeks (negi).
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to recreate Gindaco’s Takoyaki at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
This section aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the cooking steps and techniques with visuals. It also includes more in-depth tips and tricks and explains why I do what I do.
Put all the ingredients for the takoyaki sauce into a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for about 3 minutes.
Keep the heat low and stir continuously to prevent splattering, as high heat will cause the sauce to splatter everywhere.
Grind the bonito flakes and dried baby shrimp into a powder using a mortar and pestle or a small blender.
This creates an added umami base for your batter. If dried shrimp aren’t available, you can simply omit them.
Whisk together the water, egg, and mayonnaise in a large bowl until well combined. If bubbles form on the surface, you can remove them with a mesh spoon.
Go ahead and add the cake flour, aonori powder, ground bonito flakes, dried shrimp powder, and dashi granules to the bowl. Mix it all together until there are no lumps left.
Cake flour gives you a lighter texture because it’s got a lower gluten content, but if you need to, all-purpose flour can work as a substitute.
Mix the tempura bits (tenkasu), thinly sliced leek white parts, and finely chopped red pickled ginger in a separate bowl. This advance preparation streamlines the cooking process.
Cut the octopus into small, bite-sized pieces, ensuring they’ll fit properly in each well.
If you can’t get octopus or don’t want to use it, substitute with boiled shrimp or king oyster mushrooms.
Heat up your takoyaki pan over medium heat. Once it’s nice and hot, fill each part about a quarter of the way with oil to get that perfect Gindaco crispiness.
Pour the batter over the molds, filling each one about halfway. Don’t worry about batter that spills outside the wells, as it will be incorporated when rolling.
Place a piece of octopus in each well.
Then pour more batter on top until the surface is completely covered, including the areas between wells.
Sprinkle the prepared topping mix evenly over the entire surface.
When the batter starts to firm up a bit, use a bamboo skewer to score lines between each well, dividing the surface into squares.
Then use the skewer to gently scrape around the edge of each well in a circular motion, turning the takoyaki halfway.
After a few minutes of cooking, roll each piece again to cook the bottom and tuck any loose edges underneath.
This creates the perfectly round shape that’s characteristic of takoyaki.
By the way, if you want to see the whole cooking and shaping process in action, you can check it out on my takoyaki YouTube video below.
Once all the pieces are rounded, drizzle another generous layer of oil over them and turn them occasionally until crispy all over. This extra oil is what makes the crispy exterior that sets Gindaco-style takoyaki apart from regular versions.
Give the takoyaki a turn regularly to make sure they’re all crispy all over.
If you see some browning faster than others, just swap their spots in the pan to even things out. That way, all the pieces will get that same golden-brown exterior.
This recipe makes about 32 takoyaki, and you can use the leftover oil in the takoyaki pan as the initial oil for the next batch.
The finished takoyaki should be golden and crispy outside while remaining soft and slightly runny inside. Transfer them to a serving plate, brush with takoyaki sauce.
Then, sprinkle generously with aonori powder and bonito flakes.
Mayonnaise is optional.
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsI hope you enjoy this Gindaco copycat recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Copycat Recipes
- Milano Doria (Saizeriya)
- Black Vinegar Chicken (Ootoya)
- Gyudon Japanese Beef Bowl (Sukiya)
- Baschee (Lawson)
Hungry for more? Explore my copycat recipe collection to find your next favorite dishes!
Gindaco’s Takoyaki Copycat Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Takoyaki sauce
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1 tsp honey
- ⅛ tsp dashi granules
Batter ingredients
- 1 tbsp bonito flakes (katsuobushi) powdered
- 1 tbsp dried baby shrimp (hoshi ebi) powdered, optional
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise
- 600 ml water
- 170 g cake flour or all purpose flour
- 1 tsp aonori (dried green seaweed powder)
- 1 tsp dashi granules
Fillings
- 100 g boiled octopus
- 1 Japanese leek (naganegi) white part, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp red pickled ginger (benishoga)
- 30 g tempura flakes (tenkasu)
Toppings
- aonori (dried green seaweed powder)
- bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
- Japanese mayonnaise optional
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients (3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tsp mirin, 1 tsp honey and ⅛ tsp dashi granules) in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Mix continuously to prevent splattering – I recommend using a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan and prevent burning.
- Simmer the sauce for 3 minutes to thicken, then remove from the heat and set aside for later.
- Grind 1 tbsp bonito flakes (katsuobushi) and 1 tbsp dried baby shrimp (hoshi ebi) using a mortar and pestle until they become a fine powder.
- Crack 2 eggs into a mixing bowl and add 1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise and 600 ml water. Whisk until combined and scoop the foamy bubbles from the top.
- Add 170 g cake flour, 1 tsp aonori (dried green seaweed powder), 1 tsp dashi granules, and the ground bonito flakes/dried shrimp powder. Whisk until no lumps of dry ingredients remain.
- Cut 100 g boiled octopus into bitesize pieces.
- Start heating your takoyaki pan over medium heat and fill each crevice ¼ of the way with cooking oil – this is the key to creating an extra crispy exterior like gintaco. (It also prevents sticking.)
- While you wait, add 1 Japanese leek (naganegi), 3 tbsp red pickled ginger (benishoga) and 30 g tempura flakes (tenkasu) to a separate bowl and mix until evenly distributed. This mixture will streamline the cooking process.
- Pour the batter into the preheated takoyaki pan until each well is halfway full. Add a piece of octopus to each well.
- Pour more batter over the top until all of the wells are full and the area around the wells are fully covered, then sprinkle with the leek/pickles/tempura flake mixture.
- When the batter starts to firm up, use a bamboo skewer to draw lines vertically and horizontally between the wells, dividing them into individual pieces.
- Use the bamboo skewer to scrape around the edge of each well in a circular motion and turn each takoyaki halfway.
- After a few minutes, roll each takoyaki again and tuck in any excess batter.
- Once all of the takoyaki are round, add more oil and continue to turn them occasionally until crispy all over.
- Remove the takoyaki and repeat these steps until all of the batter and ingredients are used. Brush generously with the sauce and top with aonori (dried green seaweed powder) and bonito flakes (katsuobushi). Japanese mayonnaise is optional. Enjoy!
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