Its officially been one week since the Overhaul and I’ve learned a lot about using this site. From shipping, to basic SEO, and how to be just a little boastful in terms of advertising the jerky. I’ve learned from just using the site as well as the people around me. I am extremely grateful and I’ll keep the mushiness to a minimum. (Made a post about that already lol) I wanted this to focus on the secondary title “Takoyaki”.
1. What is it?
Takoyaki is a Japanese street food originating from Osaka. It is a sphere shaped ball of dough griddle fried in special molds with bits of Tako (octopus) and Benishoga (pickled red ginger) embedded in it. It is then topped with unagi sauce, kewpie mayo, furikake and Bonito. There is no more hypnotizing sight then Bonito “dancing” on currents of air emanating from the Takoyaki. Best eaten hot and fresh from the vendor but be careful, the insides are hot!
2. How did it end up as Jerky?
This is a two part answer. One containing my experience with the Jaycees and the actual creation of the flavor.
2a.
I had just recently joined the chapter of the Honolulu Jaycees around early December. I’ve known a lot of the people personally, cook outs, nights out, etc. A lot of the early sample tasting was with these people! So, they knew that I had started this business making small batch crispy jerky. I thought why not make a flavor for them that would raise money for them. Like the girl scouts but beefier. I brought up this idea and they asked me what flavor would be made for them? I thought, “we meet at a literal temple, a lot of the members are Japanese…what would be super extra?” The only logical answer was Takoyaki.
2b.
With this thought in my mind I went about internally formulating a recipe. I wanted to incorporate all the aspects of Takoyaki in a single bite. Everything. Including the mayo. However, I did some googling and found out, its not wise to dehydrate mayonnaise. Heartbroken, I had to move forward. This is where I love doing what I do. Its the experimentation, the wonders of “how will it turn out?” And the freedom to be able to try things. I’ve not known anyone with a takoyaki flavor of beef jerky. Which is the case with a lot of my flavors. So, every new flavor that pops in my brain is new ground.
The marinade itself kinda stemmed from seeing dehydrated octopus at Costco and figuring out a way to incorporate it somehow. How can you have Takoyaki without the Tako? After that it was putting each part together as a cohesive whole.
The toppings were clear cut from the start. With mayonnaise out of the way, I knew I wanted Furikake, Bonito, Tenkasu, and that thick unagi sauce. I needed to figure out the order in which to apply them though.
The earliest point I could try this recipe out was after the MTA Christmas fair. Not only were we busy fulfilling the orders for the fair itself, but the regular customers as well. When that time came, it was time to play!
Here comes that boastful part by the way. That first experiment turned out pretty damn good. It was a textural experience and a flavor experience too. You could taste the beef, the sharp acidity of the Benishoga, the umami from furikake; bonito and unagi sauce. The textural aspect was the crisp beef, some parts of where the unagi sauce pooled became slightly chewy and the crunch of the Tenkasu. Something special was forming. All that needed to be done was to tweak it.
Which brings us to today. The overwhelming response for the Takoyaki flavor has been extremely positive Its so different from anything on the market and each piece weighs about a pound (joking, though packing it and hearing a piece hit the cambro is truly something else) and the best part is, $5.00 of each bag goes to supporting HNLJCI which focuses on growth, leadership and giving back to the community. Educating children through STEM based projects, beautifying high schools, public parks and maybe even the temple where we held meetings for the first part of the year.
A joke message I would send my friends while on the way to deliver their orders in person when the company was relaunched was “thank you for supporting the Beef Scouts of America” in a way, it kinda came full circle. So, I must say to you, dear reader “Thank you for supporting the Beef Scouts of America”
S/O again to Sean Takehara for this amazing picture. One of the many ways to enjoy Crispy Takoyaki Jerky.
S/O to Chapter President Jenna Nakagawa for designing the label and giving this project the go ahead!