Barbecued Baby Octopus

[Marlene]

Barbecued Baby Octopus

Really Nice's recipe

• 1 lb baby octopus, tenderized
  
• 2 T soy sauce
  
• 2 T sake
  
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
  
• 2 big cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 1 chili, chopped (seeds removed if you don't like heat)
  
• big dash sweet chili sauce
  
• squeeze lemon juice
  

Prepare the octopus as follows: wash well under cold running water (to remove any excess salt). Cut off the head below the eyes and discard (or alternatively, split head open then clean and cut into strips).

Next remove the tiny beak from the middle of the tentacles simply by pushing gently from underneath until it is visible, then remove and discard.

Combine soy sauce, wine, ginger, garlic, chopped chili, chili sauce and lemon juice and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove octopus from marinade and cook on a hot greased barbecue plate, basting often with the marinade.

Cook quickly until the center is cooked. To cook evenly, press octopus down with a spatula when they start to curl. The trick with octopus is to cook briefly otherwise they can be tough.

To serve, pile them onto a plate, squeeze over some lemon juice and season with a little salt and a generous quantity freshly milled black pepper. Alternatively, boil up with remaining marinade hard for a minute or so then drizzle over the octopus. I sometimes add a little mirin (sweet sake for cooking). Scatter over some sliced shallots.

Keywords: Main Dish

( RG489 )