Sausage stepping in for increasingly expensive octopus at takoyaki stands around Japan
As much as Japan tries to fight it, the rising cost of just about everything is gradually taking hold. Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi managed to fulfill his promise of lowering the price of rice, but whether that can last for long remains to be seen. Now, it appears it's octopus' turn to become painfully expensive and takoyaki vendors are feeling the pain.
▼ Takoyaki
Takoyaki are little balls of batter grilled with various ingredients, the centerpiece of which are diced bits of octopus or ' tako ' in Japanese. It's known to be a cheap street food but with the very ingredient it's named after now nearly twice the price it was 10 years ago, vendors are forced to raise their own prices to make ends meet.
However, when Mr. Sato was walking by a candy store named Horaiya in Toyko's Arakawa district, he found another way some places that sell takoyaki are getting around the octopus dilemma.
▼ Horaiya
On their front window, signs were hung informing customers that their takoyaki no longer use octopus and instead have bits of sausage inside. Thanks to this, a five-pack of these 'takoyaki' only costs 200 yen (US$1.38) and a 10-pack is just 400 yen ($2.76). Even for takoyaki back in the day, those are pretty solid prices.
It was easy for Mr. Sato to see why this shop made the decision they did. It also sells candy, shaved ice, ice cream, and other snacks aimed at children. Not wanting to price out their target customers, they decided to change the food itself so kids could still buy it with their pocket money.
It was that kind of sweetness that Mr. Sato respected and wanted to support while also being curious about these hot-dog-yaki balls. So, he grabbed 10 of them and also picked up a taiyaki, which is a grilled fish-shaped cake that usually has sweet bean paste inside. Horaiya had a range of fillings available like curry and spaghetti sauce, so our writer selected one filled with ham and mayo for 150 yen ($1.03).
After getting to the office, he first put the taiyaki onto a plate for a visual inspection. The tricky thing about taiyaki is that it's often really difficult to know what's inside by looks alone. If he were to have ordered one with sweet bean paste but bit into ham and mayo, it could have been a rude awakening.
Thankfully, Mr. Sato got exactly what he ordered. The cake was thick and there was a good amount of ham and mayo inside. For the price, which is around half of what a lot of taiyaki go for in Tokyo, it was a really solid snack.
As for the takoyaki, our writer gazed at it and couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary.
It seemed that the only change was the swapping out of octopus. The rest of the ball was made in exactly the same way and slathered in a rich sauce. In fact, Mr. Sato was starting to wonder if this really wasn't takoyaki with octopus.
But when he tore one open, sure enough, there was a sizable chunk of hot dog inside.
Eating it, he felt it was not bad at all. The sausage went well with the dough and other ingredients and the flavor was good. The texture was certainly different from octopus but it was still satisfying.
The main difference in taste was that sausage has a more upfront and bold flavor while octopus has a slightly more sophisticated flavor that builds up gradually. The distinctive texture of octopus was also missing which can feel like a bummer for those who really enjoy it.
Mr. Sato gave some to his coworkers and they all agreed that it was 'not bad' as well.
Considering it's a move born out of necessity, it's hard to criticize Horaiya for making this takoyaki, which is still perfectly suitable for a nice little snack even if it isn't quite what it used to be. Mr. Sato also wondered if shops like theirs would continue to be OK with the possibility of flour experiencing price hikes down the road too. At least their prices are so low right now, they still have some wiggle room if they need to raise them.
Store information Kanmi Horaiya / 甘味 宝来屋 Tokyo-to, Arakawa-ku, Arakawa 6-21-3, Ogasawara Bldg. 1F 東京都荒川区荒川6-21-3 小笠原ビル1F Hours: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Closed: Sundays and Mondays
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