Crack the eggs in a small mixing bowl and add the water as well as the stock granules, then beat the mix manually or with an egg beater. Pour the egg-water-stock granules mixture into the flour, then add salt and mix well (with an egg beater or manually) until you’ve successfully created the batter. Now, heat up your cake pop maker to get started!
Two minutes into heating the device, pour the takoyaki batter into the spherical molds until they are full. Try to do this as accurately as possible, but it’s okay if you accidentally make the batter in the molds spill over the brim. Those will be some really crispy bonuses when you're done! While you’re pouring the takoyaki in the cake pop maker, add the green onions in each ball, add your octopus, the shredded cheese, and the tempura bits, or use rice Krispies.
Two to 3 minutes into cooking the takoyaki, you may now flip it over in order for the other side to cook. Use a bamboo or metal skewer when flipping the ball over in order to not ruin its spherical shape. Flip it over halfway and add more batter in the side of the cake pop sphere that opened up by flipping the ball to the side. Then slowly turn the ball so the cooked batter is up top and the runny batter at the bottom. If you can’t turn the takoyaki easily, it probably needs to cook for a bit longer. Let it sit in the pan for another 60 seconds before flipping it over. The takoyaki balls should be easier to turn over once they’ve cooked through because the batter will no longer stick to the pan. Don't close the cake pop maker because the top part of the ball will overcook if you do that.
You will know when the takoyaki is done because it will have a light brown crispy texture on the outside and you can flip them easily in their holes as they no longer stick to the pan. The overall cook time is estimated to be 10 minutes per batch from the time you’ve placed them on the stove to the time you’ll take them out.
Place the hot takoyaki on a clean plate, then drizzle them with Japanese mayonnaise and takoyaki sauce. Sprinkle them with aonori and bonito flakes as well. Then serve them to your guests.