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 :)