In reply to Marc Matsumoto.

Wow, it must be tough living in your mind sometimes! So much in there! I have a hard enough time focusing with my limited experience and puny knowledge. Oh man, I've only had Bacalhau once, but I crave it still. Pataniscas!?!? 🤯 Ever have that moment when you go, "Why hasn't anyone thought of this?" I mean, that looks like it was made specifically to be in a fish-shaped pan.
My latest Taiyaki adventure happened because I was messing around with your recipe and, of course, failing. I put coconut flour in the batter, but it didn't quite work. I messed with it a little bit, then got bored of failing, so I chucked out the batter and quit. There were 2 Taiyaki sitting on the rack, but I couldn't bear to throw them out. I stuck them in the freezer. Today I remembered them while I was trying not to eat my husband's last Puerquito cookie I brought him back from the flea market. I just pulled it out and started munching on it. It was fantastic! Somehow it had the perfect texture for being eaten frozen. I started dreaming of a Taiyaki ice cream sandwich as I polished off the second fish. Of course, now I can't remember what was in the batter!🙄🤣😋

Thanks Kathy! Ironically "winning" is probably something I cared more about in my 20's and early 30's 🤣 So on fish, I was thinking a creamy bacalhau filling might be pretty tasty. Or just add Pataniscas batter straight into the taiyaki mold.

In reply to Marc Matsumoto.

There's no Reply button to reply to your last comment, so I'm putting it here.😄 Sounds like you've developed a wonderful regimen for staying healthy! And you look great, as I have said; you look younger and more fit than you did three years ago. You've probably replaced fat with muscle, so you haven't gone down in weight, just gained fitness. Some people actually gain weight when they start exercising regularly and eating healthier. You are winning your forties!
Ham and cheese is definitely on the list of fillings I'm going to try. Cheese in the batter and bechamel would certainly level it up! The only thing I really haven't thought of trying to fill these with is fish!😂

Ugh, that's not supposed to happen. Just tested it and it looks like the emails aren't going out. Won't have time to get to this before my trip, but I'll try and find a day after I get back to figure out what's going on.

As for fasting I'm with you on being an "all or nothing" type. I don't like to calorie restrict my meals, so I generally avoid breakfast(when I'm not hungry anyway) and take most of my calories in an 7-8 hour period with a regular-sized lunch and a big dinner (I might even sneak in dessert). Then I'm usually up for another 6-7 hours during which time I don't eat anything else until lunch the next day. This was enough to maintain my weight, but not enough to lose any, so for the past few years I've been adding 20-30 minutes of body weight cardio into the mix 7 days a week. Haven't actually lost any weight yet but I've gone down from 33 waist to a 29, and my body feels lighter with less aches and pains.

Love the idea of using cornbread batter in the Taiyaki maker. Would be awesome to do one filled with chili, or pulled pork, or jalapeno cheddar. The only thing is it doesn't hold a ton of filling (you could probably get away with 2 tablespoons max), so whatever you add needs to be pretty concentrated. I've been thinking about doing a Croque Monsieur filled with Comté in the batter and filling with ham and bechamel because by putting the cheese in the batter it leaves more room for the filling (and the cheese should get crisp).

In reply to Marc Matsumoto.

I have not been getting notifications for a long time. I vaguely remember getting them years ago. I only get your newsletter announcing this week's recipe.
As for the fasting, it suits me. I've become quite proficient at it. It's easier than anything else I've tried to improve my health. I'm kind of an "all or nothing" type, so not eating is so much easier than trying to figure out what, when, how, etc.. I put it out of my mind, and when I have eating intrude into my consciousness, I just make a plan to have that item when I'm done fasting.
I try to stay away from food media during a fast, but I'm not very good at it. I love reading, watching, and thinking about cooking so much! This recipe for Taiyaki has my mind doing backflips. I want to try a hundred things with it! I woke up today thinking about corn batter, like a cornbread, with blueberry filling or bacon and sweet corn. I told my husband that I will start experimenting with it after my fast ends on Sunday. Getting the pan will take a few days, anyway.
I hope that Nanmadol doesn't treat you too badly this week. We had a hurricane graze us a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't too bad, but we don't usually get rain in August! It pushed the temperatures up, along with the humidity.

So glad to hear Chrome is working out better for you. How's the fast going? Regarding keeping track of comments, are you getting email notifications when I reply to your comments? They're supposed to go out automatically, but now I'm worried they're not working right.

In reply to Marc Matsumoto.

Thanks for the reply, and thanks for wishing me luck! My husband LOVES the name!😁 I love an excuse to get out one of my gadgets and use it. Thanks to you I have loads of potato starch in my pantry! I have tried using tapioca starch to keep wrappers from sticking, but it affected the product when I cooked it. Potato starch is much friendlier.
I'll come back and let you know how it goes. It might be a couple of weeks because I have a fast planned for next week, and I definitely need to eat these when I make them!
BTW, I keep losing track of my comments here. I'm going to have to keep a log so that I don't miss one of your replies. I always love hearing what you think of my comments! If you don't have time to reply it's fine, but if you do and I don't get back to read it, I feel like I've wasted your time. I've been here a lot since you helped me solve my browser problem. It's Heaven!💗

This was after I stopped doing creatively named recipes (in favor of more search engine friendly names), but I just couldn't resist🤣

Good luck with the gyoza wrappers. I've only done it once (when I was cooking in Saudi Arabia), and it was a lot of work. The dough is a hot water dough, and I used a pasta machine to roll it out thin as well. Want to use a lot of potato starch to keep them from sticking together.

This is amazing!!! You should make a video of this one; it's pure genius! Just the words, Gorgongyoza, and Balsamic Soy Sauce are exploding in my mouth! And that is the most stunning presentation of gyoza I've ever seen. You could at least put this up on the Patreon. This dish really shows how a sophisticated palate works across cuisines.
I'm going to be tackling gyoza in the next week or so. I found a recipe for fresh wrappers on Just One Cookbook's website. It's the only reason I don't make them: the wrappers I can get here are pretty gross. I usually make Potstickers for that reason. I have Ming Tsai's recipe, which includes the dough. I wasn't sure if the doughs were similar enough to just substitute. I know gyoza wrappers are much thinner. I'm going to use a pasta roller to get them thin enough.
I will be sure to make some Gorgongyoza while I explore. I hope my plate will be as pretty as yours!

Hi Ikeasha, I don't usually make my own wrappers, but these use a hot water dough (made by mixing boiling water into flour).