One of the Popin Cookin kits more focused on Japanese food, this one makes takoyaki, which are fried octopus balls. And it uses the microwave! Judging by how simple this one looks compared to the others, I think they will be going for accurate flavor recreation here, but I could always be wrong. Also like the ramen kit, it comes in a bag, not a box, so no serving mat, but not a problem because the circular mold can almost serve as that.
One thing that I haven't shown so far is the molds after I cut them, and I happened to cut them first this time, so here they are. It's cool that Kracie puts perforations in the molds to do this, stops everything from accidentally mixing together. Also only 4 packets this time, and one utensil, as well as the toothpick for eating.
First up is the octopus itself. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how they were going to make seafood work in powdered DIY form but they nailed it from the smell! It smells like octopus but isn't overly fishy, just smells aquatic and fun and slightly sweet. First this is pressed into the mold shown below and then into the takoyaki mold to be baked into the middle of the dough.
Now for the dough, it was rather difficult to get these all divided evenly given the octopus already in there... but I tried!
After baking though, everything rose to a wonderful amount and the octopus smell shines even more with it inside hot baked dough... aruff!
The last steps were applying the sauce and mayonnaise, which was again difficult to apply evenly and non-messily but who cares? It's all going in the mouth anyways. Interestingly the mayonnaise was mixed inside its powder bag and then squeezed out. I think I would've preferred a separate plastic bag for this because it was difficult to tell when the mayonnaise was fully mixed.
I took a bite and immediately the mayo, octopus, and sauce, and bread blend so well together. It's like a creamy, tangy, fish concoction that just melts in your mouth. The only distracting thing is at this point it's cold... If only there were a way to keep it warm. But it still tastes quite nice with all that said, actually scarily close to real takoyaki. It's also got a tiny bit of chewiness but not a whole lot, meaning just a few bites to fill your mouth with the goodness of the sea. The role of the sauce in this can't be understated either... it adds this tangy sweet umami that really ties the whole thing together. Kracie took a stab at authenticity with this one and they really succeeded - it's both fun to make and delicious! When can we get life-sized Kracie kits that go in the oven? I'd love it if making takoyaki were always this easy!
Rating; 9 - Arooooo!
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