Six balls and they’re out.

There’s certainly been a lot going on to keep Japanese baseball fans on their toes, with the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Japan Series going on and the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki appearing in the MLB’s World Series. So, there’s perhaps no better time to bring the takoyaki served at Dodger Stadium by Japanese chain Gindaco back to Japan.

They’ve been here before, but only for painfully limited times, making it really hard to get one’s hands on them. First, they were sold at Gindaco locations in Japan, and then at 7-Eleven stores in a microwaveable version. But even the pre-cooked ones sold out fast, leaving our reporter Takashi Harada without his official Dodger’s octopus balls.

But with baseball fever in full effect, it looks like they’re making another fleeting appearance at 7-Elevens, where you can pounce on a pack for 646 yen (US$4.20) and finally try them out.

They’re called “Umami Takoyaki” because they have the rich umami taste of various kinds of seafood, which sets them apart from other takoyaki. Despite these battered balls’ core ingredient being octopus, they tend not to have much of a seafood flavor to them, so Takashi was intrigued.

He opened the package and found a tray of the takoyaki balls, some sauce, seasoned squid tempura flakes, and green onions. All he had to do was heat the balls up in a microwave and then throw all the toppings on. It only took about five minutes in total.

During the initial microwaving, Takashi thought he smelled something burning, but after he put on all the toppings, it had a pleasant seafood scent.

Taking his first bite, he experienced the same taste of seafood waft in his mouth, but at the same time, he was taken aback by the texture. Gindaco takoyaki tends to have contrasting textures, with a gooey center and an outer surface that’s gently crisped, but these were very soft all over. He could barely even pick one up with a toothpick, which they are usually eaten with.

The medley of seafood flavors, like squid, flying fish, and bonito, really brought the flavor to another level and showed Takashi that seafood and takoyaki really do go well together.

There was also a touch of chili pepper that was a nice accent and made our writer’s tongue tingle just a bit. The flavors seemed to gently sway like the tides of the ocean, and he felt it would go really well with beer, which makes sense for ballpark food.

The balls were also nicely-sized, with plentiful green onion and generous cuts of octopus inside. The pack of six turned out to be very satisfying overall.

Takashi would put it among the best packs of pre-cooked takoyaki he ever had, and felt that this take on takoyaki could easily be a big hit in Japan as well as Dodger Stadium. If you want to try some too, you’d better act fast, because they tend not to stay in stores for too long.

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