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Tofu and Octopus Meatballs

Name: Tofu and Octopus Meatballs
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 400 gram firm tofu; 300 gram octopus; 1 egg; 6 tablespoon katakuriko/potato starch or cornstarch; 1 tablespoon chicken stock powder; 1 tablespoon grated garlic; oil, for frying; ponzu sauce; onion, thinly sliced; scallions, thinly sliced

Last updated: May 8, 2024 — Published: May 8, 2024 — By: Anita — Leave a Comment

Use firm tofu to prepare these delectable Japanese meatballs. These fried meatballs with octopus filling are irresistible, especially when paired with the ponzu dipping sauce.

Tsukune (つくね) are Japanese chicken meatballs served in many izakayas/Japanese pubs. Although chicken is the meat of choice for tsukune, we can make tsukune with all kinds of ingredients.

Today, I will introduce a recipe to make tsukune with tofu and octopus. I usually serve these tofu and octopus meatballs (たこと豆腐のつくね) with ponzu sauce and sliced onions and scallions, but you can use other dipping sauce of your choice.

Ingredients for Tofu and Octopus Meatballs

For the meatballs, we need:

firm tofu
octopus
egg
katakuriko/potato starch or cornstarch
grated garlic
chicken stock powder

For the dipping sauce, we need:

ponzu sauce
thinly sliced onion
thinly sliced scallions

(1) Mash tofu. (2) Boil octopus. (3) Chop octopus and add it to mashed tofu. Add katakuriko, grated garlic, chicken stock powder, and egg. (4) Combine into a homogenous mix.

Prepping Octopus

You can use fresh or frozen octopus, but I usually go with already cleaned frozen octopus, meaning they no longer have internal organs or beaks. I thaw the packet of frozen octopus overnight in the fridge before using it.

If you start with fresh octopus, you can get your fishmonger to prepare the octopus for you. Otherwise, please remove the internal organs and beaks from your octopuses before using.

To save time and effort, you can buy a packet of boiled octopus (ゆでたこ) if you don’t want to prepare octopus from scratch.

Shape tablespoonfuls of tofu and octopus mixture into round patties and fry until golden brown.

How to Cook Tofu and Octopus Meatballs

1. Prep tofu

Pat dry tofu with kitchen paper, cut it into small pieces, and mash it with a fork/masher or your hands.

2. Prep octopus

Boil a pot of water and blanch octopus until they turn red. Remove the octopus from the pot and plunge them into a bowl of ice water. Strain them and chop them into small pieces.

TIPS: If you buy a boiled octopus, skip the cooking portion and chop it into small pieces.

3. Meatball mix

Combine mashed tofu with chopped octopus, egg, katakuriko, grated garlic, and chicken stock powder.

4. Fry meatballs

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Shape tablespoonfuls of tofu and octopus mixture into round patties and fry until golden brown. Arrange them on a serving plate.

Arrange fried tofu and octopus meatballs on a serving plate and garnish with sliced scallions.

Ponzu Dipping Sauce

These meatballs are perfect with the simple ponzu dipping sauce.

Cut half an onion and a couple of scallions into thin slices. Divide them into four small bowls, one per person.

Pour ponzu sauce into each bowl and mix well with the onion and scallions before serving.

If you need a saltier sauce, please add more salt to suit your taste.

Add sliced onion and scallions to ponzu sauce to make a dipping sauce that goes well with the tofu and octopus meatballs.

How to Serve Tofu and Octopus Meatballs

Garnish meatballs with thinly sliced scallions and serve them with ponzu dipping sauce.

If you prefer store-bought sauce, the meatballs are also great with okonomiyaki or takoyaki sauce.

If you have some tonkatsu sauce lying around, you can also use it as the dipping sauce for these meatballs.

Since tsukune/meatballs are a staple in Japanese pubs, don’t forget to serve these meatballs with cold beer.