This can be accomplished by cooking the octopus in a copper pot or by throwing a few clean copper pennies in the broth. Jose Andres says cooking octopus in copper results in a chemical reaction that turns the octopus a beautiful red. It may just be a good excuse to open a bottle of wine or two. I have researched this and have found no compelling reason for it. Some call for a single cork and others a handful of corks. Many Mediterranean chefs, including Mario Batali, swear that putting a cork in the pot helps to tenderize it. When it comes to cooking octopus there is a lot of folklore, here are three of my favorite: It requires a few more ingredients, but takes only about and hour and a half on the stove. The good news is this is all hands-off time and the results are phenomenal.īraising also results in tender and delicious octopus. Prepping for sous vide takes just a few minutes, but it takes four hours in the sous vide bath. The sous vide method results in extremely succulent and tender octopus. Both methods are included in the recipe below.
The method I recommend is cooking it low and slow either by braising or cooking it sous vide. Other touted methods include beating it with a rock, cooking it in a copper pot or massaging it with a daikon radish as they do in Japan. As you stroll down the street you will see octopus hanging out in front of many tavernas. In Greece they hang the octopus in the sun to dry. Tenderizing happens differently in different cultures. The good news is that if you are using previously frozen octopus, the tenderizing process has already begun. No one wants to eat chewy octopus and there are a lot of ways to tenderize it. Each time you dip it in the water the tentacles will curl up a bit more. Pull the octopus out of the pot and you will notice the tentacles have curled up nice and cute.ĭip the octopus two more times. Simply bring a pot of water to boil, thread the wooden spoon through the hole where the beak was and dip it in the water for a few seconds. This may be a bit more tradition than science, but it does work and if you have an audience while you are cooking they will love this step. I use the Spanish method of cooking octopus that calls for dipping the octopus in the water three times. With the head removed, find the beak and push it through the flesh. Later I will use this hole to thread the end of a wooden spoon through so I can dip the octopus in a hot pot of water. I then use my knife to make the small hole where the beak was a little bit larger. Lay out the octopus and cut the head off just above the beak. I've read the head can be eaten, but I have not done so yet. I start by cutting off the octopus' head, which is really just a thin, empty balloon-like sack. The beak is located inside the octopus mouth and is used to cut into its prey. It is the only hard part of this gelatinous creature. Now comes the part where you need to get over your squeamishness. Thaw the octopus overnight in the fridge.
The good news is that most octopus you buy in the US will be frozen and cleaned. Plan on spending $55 to $70 for one 4 - 7 pound octopus. Once prepared it will provide an appetizer quantity for eight or dinner for four. (More on that later.) A 4 - 7 pound octopus sounds like enough to feed an army, but they shrink a lot. They are cleaned before frozen, but will include the head and the beak. A whole Spanish octopus will typically weigh between 4 and 7 pounds. I purchase mine at Santa Monica Seafoods in Costa Mesa, California.
I provide two different ways to tenderize it both work beautifully.įree e-cookbook: 15 Recipes To Make You Look Like A Star How to Buy Octopus This octopus recipe is almost foolproof if you follow my instructions.
Fear not, cooking these cephalopods is not hard and makes for a fun group activity.
Here is my seared octopus recipe so you can enjoy this Greek dish at home.įor most Americans, the idea of cooking octopus sounds challenging, unsettling and plain old scary. Grilled octopus was always on the menu and I dare say we ordered it every night. It was a fabulous experience in so many ways, but we particularly enjoyed exploring the islands and finding new tavernas (small Greek restaurants) for dinner each night. We rented a boat with three couples and cruised the Saronic Gulf. I fell in love with grilled octopus last summer when I was in Greece.