Ikayaki

The grilled-squid form is old and unattributed, a natural way to cook squid over fire wherever it is landed. The Osaka pressed ikayaki is the documented one: it is said to have been devised around 1950 in the Momodani district of Osaka, and the shop Momodani Ikayaki-ya claims to be its originator. The dish became a city-wide icon through the Hanshin Department Store in Umeda, where an ikayaki counter opened with the store in 1957 and has run on essentially the same recipe ever since — its 'Hanshin meibutsu ikayaki' sells in enormous numbers daily from the basement food floor. The Momodani origin rests largely on the shop's own account, so it is best taken as the claimed birthplace.

The grilled squid is chewy and springy, smoky at the charred edges, the soy glaze salty-sweet and caramelized; overcooked, it turns rubbery and tough. The Osaka pressed cake is different — chewy and dense rather than fluffy, the wheat batter compacted thin under the iron so it is part pancake, part chew, with firm nuggets of squid throughout and a savory sauce; eaten hot and folded, it should be soft-centered with crisp, browned faces, not dried out. The egg-bound 'deluxe' version is richer and more tender.

Both forms run on browning. Over fire, the squid's surface proteins and the sugars in the soy glaze undergo Maillard browning and caramelization, building the roasted aroma; the trick is high heat and speed, since squid is mostly water and lean protein that toughens and goes rubbery if held too long on the grill. In the Osaka cake, the squid is pressed between two hot iron plates so it cooks through and browns on both faces in well under a minute; the heavy top plate forces batter and squid into firm contact with the iron for fast, even searing and compresses the gluten network of the wheat batter into the dish's signature dense, chewy crumb rather than a light, risen one.