Cooking Octopus

[Stone]

Some japanese chefs pound the octopus to soften it.

On an Iron Chef octopus episode, Iron Chef Chinese said you have to pound the octopus with a daikon radish.

[Adam Balic]

I wonder if this Italian obsession with cooking octopus with corks comes down to it being mentioned in some popular book etc. Anybody got a copy of Ada Boni's cook books?

[carswell]

The tenderest octopus I ever ate had been run repeatedly through the wringer from an old-fashioned washing machine.

[Kevin72]

At the risk of veering slightly off-topic, I happened to cook an octopus "arm" for the first time a few weeks ago, first simmering it in a pot (with a cork) and then tossing it on the grill.

The meat itself was tender but there was an unpleasant fatty or chewy layer in between the meat and the suction cups. When I've had it elsewhere this had not been the case; anyone have experience with this?

[bleudauvergne]

Hi Kevin, I have no idea about a fatty layer... Hmmm.

I cooked up some octopus without cork and it came out very tender. They were little ones. I followed my fishmonger's intructions and froze it first, however.

Here's a link to my recipe with pics.

Has anyone else experienced what Kevin did when cooking larger tenticles?

[agbaber]

Why not just do like they do at Kyma (Atlanta Greek restaurant) and marinade it in red wine for 24 hours, then wood grill it and serve it in a red wine vinegar sauce?

Best octopus I've ever had, ever. (and I don't recall ever seeing any corks go in.)

That reminds me, I think I'll email Chef K and ask him for the recipe.

(Gonna have to cut it down a bit, they do it at 3 octopusesses at a clip)

Edited July 16, 2004 by agbaber (log)

[hathor]

Hi Kevin, I have no idea about a fatty layer... Hmmm.

I cooked up some octopus without cork and it came out very tender. They were little ones. I followed my fishmonger's intructions and froze it first, however.

Here's a link to my recipe with pics.

Has anyone else experienced what Kevin did when cooking larger tenticles?

Do you think the 'fatty' layer could be that it wasn't skinned as you did in your recipe? (which by the way, sounds and looks delicious).

I passed up some beautiful octopus in the market, as I got intimidated by all this debate...but I think I'm going to have to try some experiments this weekend.

[bleudauvergne]

Do you think the 'fatty' layer could be that it wasn't skinned as you did in your recipe? (which by the way, sounds and looks delicious).

I passed up some beautiful octopus in the market, as I got intimidated by all this debate...but I think I'm going to have to try some experiments this weekend.

Hathor, I would doubt that's it, I don't think so. That peeling thing was kind of instinctive as I was getting to know the animal the first time I made it, it was kind of satisfying to peel it, as I cut up the animal I saw it shrink back and then I just started pulling it off, and that's what I do every time now, I start by peeling it. But I'm not sure that peeling off the outer skin is really necessary, nor is it logical to do when you have bigger animals?

I'm thinking this "blubbery layer" in this big tentacle under the suckers that Kevin had was possibly due to specific conditions to the animal or to the cooking process. But what?

Edited July 16, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Why not just do like they do at Kyma (Atlanta Greek restaurant) and marinade it in red wine for 24 hours, then wood grill it and serve it in a red wine vinegar sauce?

Best octopus I've ever had, ever. (and I don't recall ever seeing any corks go in.)

That reminds me, I think I'll email Chef K and ask him for the recipe.

(Gonna have to cut it down a bit, they do it at 3 octopusesses at a clip)

That would be a really nice recipe to have, agbaber.

[Kevin72]

I've cooked the smaller octopus before and not had that problem. I just was intrigued to try it since I saw Mario do it on one of his shows and the Central Market here had a sale on the bigger ones. On Mario he served it whole and didn't peel it, and also when I've had it at a Tapas place in Dallas here it wasn't peeled.

I did wind up shaving off that layer and then wound up with . . . meat. Which was good but kinda ruined the visual appeal I thought it had.

Edited July 16, 2004 by Kevin72 (log)

[Kevin72]

Great recipe and pics, btw bleudauvergne.

[Samhill]

Wow.

I have never eaten octopus.

Now I must.

[fifi]

Fascinating Nature program on PBS all about octopus... now.

[Kevin72]

Wow.

I have never eaten octopus.

Now I must.

It's great. Very meaty in texture, takes well to vinegary or acidic preps or spicy flavors. Totally different from calamari, which I used to assume it would taste like.

[hathor]

Here's the Monday morning report on the octopus.

I had to buy a frozen one, which I didn't mind because a Portugese friend, and this eG thread all mention freezing first to tenderize.

After it was thawed, and the fishmonger had explained to me how it was cleaned, so I didn't need to do anything to it, I followed the Batali recipe. I did not even mess around with the ends of the tentacles, which were really long, drippy and sort of gross, but just threw it in a crock pot with some chilis and garlic and a cork. I had plenty of corks on hand, so figured, why not?

The plan was to follow the Batali cooking time of one hour...but I got sidetracked by a baby bird falling out a nest ordeal....and the octopus was cooking for 2 hours.

When I opend the crock, well, the octopus just looked beautiful. All tightened up, and with lots and lots of juice. The juice tasted good, but thin, so I reduced it down from about 1 1/2 cups to 1/4 cup, which produced a really spicy, garlicy liquid that I 'smoothed' out with a little butter. A note on the cork: it doubled in size. So, scientists out there, what does that mean? It also felt very, very dry, not wet as if it absorbed moisture, but inflated/roasted.

We threw it on a hot grill for 2 minutes and served. It was delicious!!

Now, if somebody posts a red wine vinegar recipe...I'm up for that experiment next!

[Kevin72]

So no fatty layer between the meat and the suction cups?

[hathor]

So no fatty layer between the meat and the suction cups?

Nope. No fatty layer anywhere! I probably melted it away with the overly long oven time.

[blixa]

We had lunch awhile ago at Salumi, which included a delicious orecchiette with octopus dish. I asked Armandino how he cooks the octopus, and he mentioned the cork thing. I just figured that it was better after a bottle of wine. :)

[saltedgreens]

Wow.

I have never eaten octopus.

Now I must.

It's great. Very meaty in texture, takes well to vinegary or acidic preps or spicy flavors. Totally different from calamari, which I used to assume it would taste like.

With a diet of primarily crabs and mollusks, octopus is a great tasting food (of course, that is a subjective opinion of mine...(smile)).