Foodie is the New Forty: takoyaki

Friday, April 8, 2011

Food Photo(s) Friday - Love Balls Bus

Thank god for food trailers. They've been scurrying to plug up some of the holes in our food scene. Take Love Balls Bus, for instance. They've brought a Japanese street food called takoyaki to East Sixth Street. In case you're not acquainted with takoyaki (I wasn't), they're balls of savory pancake filled with octopus, pickled ginger, and green onions, and fried to order. Before serving, they top the balls with a brown sauce, kewpie mayo, aonori, and bonito flakes, which curl and twirl as if they are alive and look disturbingly like giant flakes of fish food.

Takoyaki - $6 for eight balls.

This was my first foray with takoyaki, and I'll admit that I wasn't quite expecting them to be quite so...glutinous...inside. I liked them, but preferred Love Balls' garlic yaki-onigiri, which was like a big, delicious ball of comfort food to me. Sushi rice is formed into a ball and grilled in garlic soy sauce till it's just a little crunchy on the outside. I could've eaten an army of these, and at $3 for two large balls, that's a possibility. It comes with a slice of nori, so you can just wrap it up and go.