Content

• Resources
• Steps
• What you need

Octopus is a rather intimidating ingredient when first handled, but contrary to its appearance, this delicious seafood dish is easy to cook. The best cooking method is to cook for a long time until the meat is tender, while the quick methods of cooking often make the octopus hard and chewy. If you are interested in making octopus at home, here are some things you can try.

Resources

Boiled octopus dish

Give 4 servings

• 1.4kg frozen octopus, thawed and cut out
• 6 liters of water
• 1 onion, cut into areca zone
• 1 carrot, cut into small cubes
• 1 stalk of leek
• 2 laurel leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped thyme
• 2 teaspoons black pepper

Grilled octopus dish

Give 4 servings

• 1.4kg frozen octopus, thawed and cut out
• Salt, just taste
• Ground black pepper, taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, separate each spoon
• Half a lemon, cut areca zone
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Poached octopus dish

Give 4 servings

• 1.4 kg frozen octopus, thawed and left whole
• 1 cup of white vinegar wine
• 4 liters of water
• 8 black pepper
• 4 laurel leaves
• 8 teaspoons salt

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Before You Begin: Prepare the octopus

1. 

   Thaw the octopus. Frozen octopus can be thawed in 24 hours in the refrigerator.
   • Frozen octopus has an advantage over fresh octopus, as the freezing process helps to soften the meat. If you choose fresh octopus then soften it first with a meat tenderizer.
   • Before you cook it, however, you must thaw the octopus completely.

2. 

   
   
   Cut the tentacle out of the body. Use a sharp kitchen knife to cut the tentacles out of the octopus body.
   • Note, however, that some recipes require whole octopus processing before being cut into small pieces. You should carefully read the instructions in the recipe you will be using before chopping up the octopus.
   • Put the octopus on the cutting board, pick up one of the tentacles and cut it right next to the body. Cut the other tentacles in the same way.
   • If you have kitchen scissors, it's easier to cut than with a sharp knife.

3. 

   
   
   Cut the body and head. Cut the head off the body and cut the head in half.
   • The part between the tentacle and the head is very hard, doesn't taste good so you can discard it. However, the top can be processed with tentacles.

4. 

   Remove the octopus teeth and ink bags if needed. This step is not required when handling frozen octopus as most of the frozen octopus available for sale have already been removed.
   • Even if you are using fresh octopus, you can still have the seller clean it before you pack it for you to take home.
   • When cutting the head or body of the octopus in half, you will see the ink sac and internal organs. You can cut them off and take them out, though it's a bit difficult to do.
   • The octopus teeth may still be stuck in the hardware you removed, in which case you don't need to do anything more. However, if the octopus teeth are still inside the body, you can push it out by gently squeezing. When it shows up, just cut it off.
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Method 2 of 4: Boiled octopus

1. 

   Pour water into the pot together with the aromatic spices. Make the water about 2/3 high. Then add herbs and vegetables.
   • If you have one, you can use a pot of stewed vegetables instead of pouring water and spices into the pot. The vegetables and herbs in this recipe are mainly meant to add flavor to the octopus.
   • This recipe needs onions, carrots, spring onion, bay leaf, parsley, thyme and pepper, but you can replace the above vegetables and herbs with available spices.

2. 

   Put the pot on the stove. Heat over high heat until it boils. This takes about 5 minutes.
   • When the herbs and vegetables boil in the water before adding the octopus, you will create a fragrance in the water, which is the first stage in creating vegetable broth.

3. 

   Boil the octopus. Put all the tentacles and the body of the octopus in boiling water. The water will not boil after adding the octopus, so let the water boil again before moving on.
   • This recipe works only when the tentacles and octopus head are cut into small pieces. However, don't cut it too small. You can still cook the octopus chopped up, but for cosmetic reasons it is not recommended.

4. 

   Cover the pot and heat until tender. This will take about 20 to 45 minutes.
   • Check the octopus with your fork after 5 minutes. The octopus will not be ripe yet, but it will let you know what it will be like when it is hard. After 15 minutes, poke at the octopus again and feel the softness difference.
   • Once done, the octopus meat will slide out of the fork as you lift it out of the water.

5. 

   Take out the octopus and enjoy. Boiled octopus is cut into small pieces and eaten with rice or salad, but you can also eat it on its own.
   • If you want, you can filter and keep the water to make a seafood broth.
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Method 3 of 4: Grilled octopus

1. 

   Preheat oven to 130 ° C. Prepare a large baking tray lined with foil.
   • The baking tray should be placed under the middle of the oven so there is plenty of room for the octopus inside the oven.
   • The entire baking process is done inside the oven. Grilling on a grill is a great way to spice up the octopus, but this method completes quickly and cannot make the octopus soft enough to eat separately.

2. 

   Place the octopus on a baking tray. Sprinkle in a little salt and cover with foil.
   • Cover the octopus by gently folding the edge of the foil against the edge of the baking tray.

3. 

   Bake until soft octopus. It will take about 2 hours. Let the octopus cool after baking.
   • When stabbed in by a sharp knife or fork, the meat will be very tender.
   • When you let the octopus cool, remove the foil to let it cool faster.
   • At this point, you can also wrap the octopus and put it in the fridge for about 2 days, but be sure to remove any leaks from baking them.

4. 

   Heat the grill. Spread 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the grill and heat for about 10 minutes on high.
   • If baking on a gas stove, turn on the stove on high heat and heat up the grill for 10 minutes.
   • If baking with charcoal, pour a thick layer of charcoal into a tray underneath the grill and ignite it until there is white ash on the surface of the charcoal.

5. 

   Cover the octopus with oil. After you coat the octopus with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
   • The oil will make the outer layer of the octopus shiny and crunchy. It also helps the salt and pepper penetrate the meat.

6. 

   Place the octopus on the grill. Place the octopus pieces on the grill and bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until brown.
   • After placing the octopus on the grill, cover the grill and the entire baking process will close. You should only flip the octopus at a time and do this in between.

7. 

   Enjoy octopus with olive oil, lemon juice and parsley. When finished, you can eat the octopus immediately or slice it and add to other dishes. If you want to eat separate octopus, olive oil, lemon juice and parsley will add flavor to your dish. advertisement

Method 4 of 4: Blanch the octopus

1. 

   Boil water and vinegar. Place both ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
   • You can add aromatic ingredients before the water and vinegar boil, but boiling the water before adding other ingredients will keep the boiling temperature high and make the water boil faster.

2. 

   Add other spices. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze it into a pot of water, and then drop both halves of the lemon peel in the water. After that, you can add pepper, bay leaf and salt.
   • Reduce to medium heat and simmer all ingredients for 10 minutes. Boil these ingredients first to create a fragrant water before you add the octopus to cook.

3. 

   Dip the octopus in boiling water. Use tongs to dip the whole octopus in boiling water 3 times, each time let the octopus under water for about 5 seconds.
   • You can also wear rubber gloves and hold the tip of the octopus with your hand when dipping.
   • This method is suitable for whole octopus. You cannot dip a sliced ​​octopus, for the purpose of this method is to make the tentacle curl when it is quickly dipped in boiling water.

4. 

   Blanch the octopus. Fill the octopus with water and raise the heat to medium high heat or until the water boils slightly. Blanch for 30 minutes or until tender.
   • When the meat is tender enough, you can use a fork to poke it.

5. 

   Let the octopus cool and enjoy. Let the octopus cool for a few minutes, just cool enough to touch and enjoy.
   • You can wrap the octopus and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.
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What you need

Prepare the octopus

• Sharp kitchen knife
• Kitchen scissors (optional)
• Chopping board

Boiled octopus dish

• Large pot with a lid
• Clip
• Fork

Grilled octopus dish

• Baking tray
• Silver paper
• Sharp knife or fork
• Furnace bar

Poached octopus dish

• Cauldron
• Rubber clip or glove
• Fork