• Preheat oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
• Grate butter using a box grater into the flour mixture. Be sure to toss the flour throughout this process to incorporate the butter evenly. The trick is to have very cold butter, as you do not want it to melt until it's baking in the oven.
• Create a well in the middle of the dough and pour in 1 cup buttermilk. Stir to combine. Just before it begins to come together, dump out onto your lightly floured work surface.
• Bring your dough together and work into a 1" thick rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds (e.g. imagine folding a letter to place in an envelope). Using a rolling pin (or your hands), gently pat your dough back into a 1” thick rectangle. Repeat this process two more times. Work quickly, to avoid melting the butter.
• Roll your dough back into a 1” thick rectangle. Using a 2½” round biscuit or cookie cutter, press down to cut out the biscuits and place onto baking sheet at least a half inch apart (Tip: Do not twist, pull dough away from the cutter and lift up and place on baking sheet. Bring together dough scraps and form another 1" thick rectangle and cut more biscuits.
• Brush the tops of your biscuits with melted butter and bake until tops are lightly golden in color, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with butter and/or honey.

Candied Pecans

• Heat water, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a skillet over medium heat.
• Stir until sugar and cinnamon are dissolved
• Add pecans and toss until completely covered
• Simmer for 5 minutes until sticky and then remove from heat.
• Place candied pecans on parchment paper in a single layer and let cool. (Note: for any pecans you don't use, you can keep for up to 5-7 days).

Dressing

• Whisk together rice vinegar, shallot, dijon mustard, and olive oil in a glass bowl.

Salad

• Thinly slice apples to your preference.
• Combine mixed greens, sliced apples, candied pecans, crumbled blue cheese, and dried cranberries in a large bowl.
• Drizzle salad with dressing, toss, and serve immediately.

Preparations:

• Stab the chicken a couple of times with folk so it gets soaked well when marinated.
• Mix all the marinate sauce ingredients well in a bowl.
• Put the chicken in the bowl and mix well with the sauce.
• Seal the bowl with kitchen wrap.
• Put it in a fridge and let it soak in at least for 30 mins.

Instructions:

• Bake the chicken in the heated oven (355-360°F) for about 25-35 mins.
• Itadaki-Masu! (Japanese greeting word to say right before you eat. It means "thank you for the food!")

Preparation:

• Cut the octopus into roughly 1/2 inch cube size.
• Chop the spring onion into small pieces.
  
• Chop the red pickled ginger into small pieces.
• Beat the egg in a large mixing bowl.
• Add water and Tsuyu-no-moto to your large bowl and mix well.
• Add flour and dashi powder into the bowl and mix well until no dried (clumped) flour remains.
• Place some batter into the measuring cup to get ready to pour it. Set this aside. 

Instructions:

• Place the takoyaki grill pan on the stove on medium heat.
  
• Place a small amount of oil in the individual holes with the oiling brush and also coat the other surfaces of the pan with some oil as well.
  
• When the pan is heated, pour the batter into each hole about half way full (we will add more later).
• Place a piece of octopus into each hole.
• And some tempura flakes, spring onion, and red pickled ginger into each hole.
• Fill up each hole with the batter and let it overflow out of the hole. But be sure not to pour too much, that it overflows from the pan. The goal is to cover the entire top portion of the pan without overflowing onto the counter/grill top.
• Flip the Takoyaki Balls:

  Once the batter outside the holes starts to look like it's not liquid anymore, it's time to flip those half balls over within the hole. This is where the skill comes into play.

  To do this you will be testing your chopstick skills. Use one of the chopsticks to hook the outside cooked part of the half ball on the opposite side from you. Hook from the inside of the ball angle and try to flip it by dragging the point in the direction towards you. For example: in a circular motion, swipe the ball around to flip it over.

  Then, use your chopsticks to push some of the half cooked batter around the hole on the surface of the pan, into the hole that you just flipped.

  Repeat this process for each Takoyaki ball.

  This process might take a little practice to be able to do it smoothly but don't worry, you will get there eventually 🙂 I will also create a video showing how to do this, as it's quite difficult to explain in text.

  Please Note: If you can’t turn the Takoyaki easily, it probably needs to cook for a bit longer. Let it cook longer and try again. This is often the mistake most people make. Practice makes perfect!

  * The picture is an example image.
  
• You can usually only flip each ball about 2/3 of the way around, so allow it to cook a bit more before flipping it again. The balls will become easier to turn the more they cook.
• Once all the balls start to look like actual balls (refer to picture), then add more oil outside of the holes onto the pan evenly to let it seep into each hole to make the outside of the balls get a crunchy texture by lightly deep frying in the oil. Note: Don't put too much oil.
  
• Keep rotating them in the holes until they turn a golden brown color on all sides. Make sure they are cooked evenly.
  
• Congratulations! Now you successfully made the Takoyaki balls! Now move on to dress them 🙂
  

Finish:

• Place Takoyaki on a plate and drizzle with Takoyaki sauce and Japanese Mayonnaise. Then sprinkle some Aonori and some Katsuobushi on top of them. They are gonna have the best look if you follow this order 😉
  
• Time to eat! But be careful not to burn your mouth, the insides are really hot! Allow them to cool a little, but definitely enjoy them while they are still hot. The trick is to bite into the side of the ball and let the steam release, blow to cool down and then enjoy the goodness!

  Ita-daki-masu! (Japanese greeting word to say right before you eat. It means "thank you for the food!")

If you want to try with a different taste…

Alternative Version 1: Dashi soy sauce with spring onion (My favorite way to have Takoyaki <3)

• You can swap Takoyaki sauce with special Dashi soy sauce and add some chopped spring onion with the rest of the toppings.
• Mix Tsuyu-no-moto with water. (Ratio 3:1)
  
• Add Dashi powder to it and mix well, and this becomes the Dashi soy sauce.
  
• Chop the spring onion into small pieces.
  
• Pour the Dashi sauce onto your Takoyaki, then cover them with the chopped onion.
• Drizzle with Japanese Mayonnaise, then sprinkle some Aonori and some Katsuobushi on top of them. Hmmmm, yum!

Alternative Version 2: Ponzu

• You can swap Takoyaki sauce with Ponzu and put the rest of the same toppings on top of it as you desire.
  

Alternative Version 3: Mayonnaise Seafood-yaki (This goes well with both Takoyaki sauce and Dashi soy sauce.)

• Instead of octopus, add shrimp/scallop with a drop of Japanese mayonnaise. (The rest of the instructions stays the same.)

Alternative Version 4: Bacon Cheese-yaki (This goes well with both Takoyaki sauce and Dashi soy sauce as well.)

• Instead of octopus, add small diced bacon with some shredded cheese. (The rest of the instructions stays the same.)

• Measure and prepare all ingredients
• Boil enough water in a pot for boiling broccoli
  
• Cut broccoli into small pieces (refer to picture)
  
• Add sesame seeds, sesame oil, and garlic powder into a medium bowl and mix well
• Once the water starts boiling, add salt (about 5 shakes) and place broccoli in the pot and boil for 2 minutes
  
• Drain the broccoli into a strainer (throughly drain water)
  
• Add the broccoli to the bowl with the mixed ingredients. Mix well.
  
• いただきます – Ita-daki-masu! – A Japanese greeting, which is said right before you eat. It means "thank you for the food!"

Preparation:

• Quickly rinse cabbage with water and cut into pieces about 2 x 2 inches in size, and separate the white and green parts.
• Peel the skin of the carrot and slice horizontally into 1/4 inch thick pieces.
• Cut off the bottom portion of the Shimeji mushroom, so that each mushroom top becomes separated from the stem.
• Quickly rinse the Tofu with water and cut into 1/2 inch thick squares.
• Cut the chicken thighs into bite size pieces.
• Cut the pork belly into 2-3 inch long pieces.

Instructions:

• Pour the broth into the pot and bring it to a boil. (DO NOT ADD any water to it).
• Place all ingredients into the pot in groups as shown in the picture.
  
• Close the lid and bring it to a boil again.
• Turn the heat to low and cook for about 15-20 mins until the meat and vegetables are fully cooked. Note: Keep the lid on while cooking.
• Ita-daki-masu! A Japanese greeting which you say right before you eat. It means "thank you for the food!"