I NEED TO EAT

尋味之旅The street snack that took over Osaka’s tastiest two kilometres

The story of Osakan takoyaki

尋味之旅

大阪美食章魚燒

OBSESSIVE : CATHY ADAMS MILES TRAVELLED : 1,545 (HONG KONG – OSAKA)

AT A GUESS, Osaka’s most photographed stretch is Dotonbori: a wide alley stacked with a rainbow of neon signs advertising everything from karaoke and pachinko to ramen and barbecue. Tourists whisk up and down the Dotonbori-gawa canal on narrow boats. Locals swig cans of Asahi on the street. Everybody shoves past each other to grab greasy, hot bags of Osaka’s finest takoyaki.

Dotonbori is also Osaka’s tastiest two kilometres, lined on all sides with street food stalls. The sellers are flipping okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake, usually filled with pork or prawns; and prodding signature Osakan snack takoyaki – battered golden balls filled with scraps of octopus and vegetables – with toothpicks.

Neither dish looks particularly appetising at first glance (and honestly, okonomiyaki wasn’t particularly to my taste). Both usually come smeared with a slurpy concoction of ginger, green onion, lashings of mayonnaise and what tastes like Worcestershire sauce. Fortunately, appearance hasn’t stopped takoyaki from becoming Osaka’s bestloved snack.

Takoyaki fans can thank an Osakan street seller called Tomekichi Endo, who invented the dish in 1935. That’s invented in the loosest sense: rather, he likely refashioned takoyaki from rajioyaki, meatballs filled with beef; or akashiyaki, a small dumpling hailing from the city of Akashi in Hyogo prefecture.

Unlike many dishes that have lowly beginnings, takoyaki’s natural home is the still the street. With so many stalls on Dotonbori, the best advice, if your hunger levels can stand it, is to look for the biggest queue and join it. Warning: they’re served nuclear hot, so have a cold beer ready.

Osaka’s all-night convenience stores also do a roaring takoyaki trade, where the dish is better known to Japanese millennials as the perfect after-party snack. And for a more refined takoyaki experience, try the restaurants in the narrow alleyway next to Dotonbori’s Hozenji Temple.

Takoyaki has also ended up the star of a signature cocktail. The 40 Sky Bar & Lounge, at the new Conrad Osaka, has introduced the most Osakan wheeze yet: Takoyaki in the Sky, where a takoyaki ball comes rotisseried on top of a gin and blue curacao drink. 尋味者： CATHY ADAMS旅程哩數： 1,545（香港—大阪）

根據我的猜想，大阪最常被攝入鏡頭的地方，一定是道頓堀。這條寬闊的小巷內掛滿五光十色的霓虹招牌，從卡拉OK與彈珠遊戲機中心到拉麵與燒肉店，吃喝玩樂，應有盡有。遊客坐在船身狹窄的小船，沿著道頓堀川穿梭往還；本地人在街上拿著罐裝Asahi啤酒大口地暢飲。街上人來人往，大家不約而同，都想去買一袋熱辣辣的大阪美食章魚燒來解饞。

全長約兩公里的道頓堀，兩旁小吃攤林立，是大阪最美味的一段路。小吃攤有兩種食物最常見，一種是日式煎餅御好燒，裡面有豬肉或蝦等材料。另一種是大阪招牌小食章魚燒，那是以混入切碎的章魚和蔬菜的粉漿烤成金黃色的丸子，然後用牙籤挑著吃。

驟眼望去，這兩種小食的賣相都不甚吸引（老實說，御好燒真的不合我的口味）。兩種小食都會配以由紅薑、蔥花、蛋黃醬和一種味道像喼汁的醬汁混合而成的調味料來吃。章魚燒雖然賣相平平，但卻依然成為大阪最深受愛戴的平民小食。

在大阪街頭開小食攤的遠藤留吉於1935年發明了章魚燒。雖說是發明，其實是再創造；他將以牛肉丸做的rajioyaki，以及源自兵庫縣明石市的明石燒加以變化改良而成。

不少平民小食後來都升格成為餐廳內的名菜，然而章魚燒卻一直留在街頭。道頓堀上出售章魚燒的小食攤多不勝數，選擇的秘訣是：如果你還未至於飢不擇食的地步，最好就是加入最長的那條人龍，耐心排隊。重要提示：章魚燒新鮮做好的時候滾燙熱辣，吃之前記得預備好冰凍的啤酒。

大阪的通宵便利店內也有章魚燒，而且十分暢銷。對於日本的千禧世代來說，章魚燒是派對之後最佳的宵夜小食。如果想在較佳的環境下享受章魚燒的美味，可以到法善寺旁那條小巷的店子裡去。

章魚燒最後更成為一款招牌雞尾酒的主角。全新的大阪康萊德酒店內的40 Sky Bar & Lounge酒廊推出一款極具大阪特色的雞尾酒，名為Takoyaki in the Sky（空中章魚燒），以氈酒及藍柑橘酒調製而成，然後在酒杯上橫放著一支竹籤，上面穿了一粒章魚燒。