Thursday, December 29, 2005

Resolution #1 for 2006: Eat more octopus balls

Why is it that when someone says, "Hey, let's have Japanese tonight," what they really mean is they want sushi? Japan has an amazing variety of food, much of which is actually cooked. One of my favorites is takoyaki, which translates roughly to octopus balls. Usually sold by vendors at festivals, octopus balls are a fun and delicious treat (check out one of my favorite blogs for more info). Alas, most Japanese restaurants in Chicago do not deal with grilled goodness. So, I had to go out and buy a special takoyaki pan and learn to make the darn things myself. One of my many billion-dollar ideas is to open up a little restaurant called "Octopus Balls, Etc." In addition to takoyaki, I'd sell other yaki favorites: okonomiyaki, sukiyaki, yakisoba, yakiniku and yakitori. Sound intriguing? Then I invite you to come over to my place and try my balls. I guarantee you'll leave satisfied.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Um, I don't think "balls" should be in a restaurant name. What about "Yaki Stuff" or "Lots of Yaki" instead?

Did you make those in the picture? Hope you're bringing some for New Year's! They look really good.

1:46 PM  
Blogger teacherman said...

I'm making octopus balls at this very moment! (So, yes, I made the ones in the picture.)

As for the name of the restaurant, another idea was "Yummy Yaki," but I still prefer Octopus Balls, Etc., mainly because in Japanese, it's "Takoyaki Toka" which is such a beautiful name.

2:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

look out your window, you'll see a long line of investors wanting to get in on the balls eatery. Not seeing anyone, oh balls!

2:48 PM  
Blogger Marley said...

my co-worker and i just had a long discussion over the AC/DC song 'Big Balls' last week because her 15 year son has taken a liking to it and insists that there are no sexual connotations. i think i'll give them your blog to read, i'm conflicted.

3:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can't you share the Octopus Ball recipe with your faithful blogees? Impressive.

3:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I ate some saucy balls served from a street vendor in Japan once. It would have been great if they were an octopuses but instead they were made of chicken skin. It took eating a couple before I realized it. Learned my lesson, be suspicious of conspicuous looking food from Japan. -Hai

3:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So you ate Chicken McBalls?

4:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Possible theme song for the restaurant:
My balls are always bouncing to the left and to the right / It's my belief that my octopus balls should be eaten every night!

4:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ashamed to say I chuckled.

4:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ashamed to say i read this.

4:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ashamed to say I am not anonymous

By the way Marley, the ac/dc song, c'mon, they throw in a couple curves in there to make you guess, but them balls are all sexual. Unless they really liked to dress ib tuxes and do the waltz.

10:44 PM  

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