by Sharna Steer

Japan is well known for its interesting foods. Osaka is famous for being the nation’s street food capital with many items originating from the city. Your first stop has to be the iconic takoyaki. These are savoury ball snacks that are made from an almost pancake-like batter. They get the name takoyaki from the small piece of octopus or ‘tako’ inside. When made properly, they have a slightly crunchy outside and ooey gooey centre. Just be careful when you eat them though because they are piping hot! I personally recommend getting them the original way, which is topped with takoyaki sauce, mayo and spring onions.

Another iconic street food item you must try in Dotonbori is the 10 yen coin. This is a bready treat made from a sweet pancake batter. The batter is placed into the hot cooking mould and then a block of cheese is put in the middle. There is something about the sweet batter and then the melty salty cheese that is so addictive and crave-inducing.

Finally, the strawberry daifuku is a personal favourite of mine. This treat is a piece of strawberry mochi that has been cut open to place a filling inside and then topped with a strawberry. My personal favourite flavour is the strawberry and custard. It is the best custard I have had in Japan so far because often it is just flavoured whipped cream, but this treat had proper custard.

I am not sure if this is a year-round treat because I mainly ate it in summertime when it was strawberry season, but if you see it I would highly recommend trying the dessert. If you cannot find it in the wintertime, a nice custard alternative is taiyaki which is a fish-shaped dessert made with a pancake batter as well. Typically, it is made with red bean paste in the middle but I prefer a nice warm custard, especially on wet and cold days.

These are just a few items of all the interesting things you can try in Osaka and how fun it is to get a bunch of street food items to share with friends.