Grilling Octopus Is Much Easier Than You Think
Welcome back to Sunday Sus maintenance ! I ate roughly a pound of grilled French toast bread and pecans last week , so I’m looking for lighter snacks this week.
Although I live in a coastal state famous for its seafood, I do not cook them. It is expensive, and the expensive instills fear in me. If I screw up, I can spend $ 20 or more on the main course alone. Even shrimp are fast approaching $ 15 a pound for anything a decent size. So what could I turn to when wanting to write about one of my biggest culinary fears? It should be something that people are not necessarily familiar with and, in keeping with the topic of this column, simple and inexpensive.
I have given myself ample time to prepare this article and really try to understand this leviathan. So many things come to mind – taste, texture, preparation time, cost, combinations, but most importantly, appearance. If you’ve never tasted a dish, however intimidating in terms of production or taste, you really can’t judge it. Scary food is as delicious as it is pleasing to the eye. So join me, dear reader, in exploring one of the most controversial seafood available: the mighty octopus.
Listen, I get it. You are probably thinking NO . You probably see visions of suckers, tentacles, beaks, ink, and cans of dirt . But trust me, friend. Octopus is as delicious as it is easy to prepare. So a lot of it doesn’t require intervention, and the only real work that needs to be done is choosing a cooking method.
Commercially available cephalopods – squid and octopus – do not tolerate high temperatures for a long time. Each of them contains a significant amount of liquid, and when it is gone, little is left but a rubbery sadness. There are many solutions for different cooking methods, but I will stick to the method I was taught that is arguably the least difficult of all: braising and grilling. We’ll be stewing the octopus in our own liquid and grilling it, but you’ll need the octopus first.
Even in coastal states, don’t expect to find widely available fresh specimens. The octopus is most often sold whole and frozen, without its beak or ink sacs. I’m lucky to have bought some fresh ones from my local supermarket, but I don’t think it’s that easy to find in, say, North Dakota. Some markets may purchase it in a few days, so just call them ahead of time. Once you’ve got one, defrost it completely (in the refrigerator or in a bowl in the sink), place a decent sized saucepan on the stove, and cook the rest of the ingredients.
Braised and fried octopus
- 2-3 pounds octopus, whole, peeled
- 1 glass of red wine
- ΒΌ cup fresh oregano (I’d skip dried oregano, but use 1 tablespoon dried if needed)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Ground black pepper
- Fine kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (half a large lemon)
- Extra lemon wedges for serving
After thawing, separate the robe and tentacles from the body by cutting above and below the eyes.
You may need to turn the robe over to clean up any remaining pieces. Most of the frozen samples have been cleaned, but it doesn’t hurt to check.
However, make the mantle feel – just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean that something isn’t there. More often than not, I find these little pin bones there.
Place the octopus in a saucepan over high heat and cover. After five minutes, make sure the liquid comes out – the octopus should be plump and almost completely covered in its own juice. If not, add water almost to the coverage level. Close the lid and simmer for 45 minutes, checking from time to time to see if there is enough liquid (if not, add more water). When the octopus is tender, remove the pan from the heat.
At this stage, you can remove the skin from the tentacles and / or separate them into separate pieces. It should slide off the paper towel. But don’t forget to leave the suction cups on – they go well on the grill.
Add wine to the cooking liquid and let the octopus brew until it cools to room temperature, or refrigerate overnight covered in a container in the refrigerator. After the octopus is resting, drain the water and transfer to another large bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and oil, and why not, some juice from these lemon wedges. Stir and let sit for an hour while you heat up the grill to the highest possible temperature.
Grease the wire rack liberally with oil, fry the octopus for two to three minutes on each side, remove it, put it on a serving dish and place it on the table. No matter how tender you cook it, the pulp will begin to break down and rubberize over time, so eat it.
Octopus, like squid, is versatile and can be used in a variety of dishes. Because it takes longer to grill, it remains a popular stew and can be used for just about any time you use squid. Now that I know I can get them very close, I am tempted to try the Tandoori version or maybe even the General Tso style octopus. Take advantage of this tasty and affordable animal this summer for an unforgettable experience.