Whenever I happen to be in an Asian supermarket like Ranch 99 or HT Market, I go to a frozen seafood isle and get a package of baby octopus. They are very delicious and can be braised in a variety of sauces and served with pasta, couscous, beans or potatoes. If you love seafood, you should definitely give these guys a try.
Thaw them before cooking by putting them in a sink filled with cold water right in their plastic package. Then remove the package and give the octopus a quick rinse. Cut each into three parts (body, beak-n-eyes, and tentacles) like shown on the picture below.
Discard the middle part with eyes and a beak. With scissors, cut the body open and remove the innards.
Cut the tentacles into several pairs. If the octopus are too teeny, you can divide the tentacles in two parts or leave them whole.
Rinse thoroughly and keep ready in a strainer.
In a braising pot, make a sauce and when it comes to a boil, add octopus. As the octopus gets heated through, it will shrink significantly, releasing lots of water. Keep this in mind and make your sauce on a thicker side. Cook octopus for about 45-55 minutes on a mild simmer or until it gets very tender.
Now, if the sauce is too thin, scoop the octopus out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Simmer the sauce down to a desired thickness and return the octopus back to the pot.
These are the major guidelines how to braise baby octopus and now I’m getting to one of my favorite recipes. In it, I braise octopus together with potatoes and chard and serve it like a thick stew with a side of crusty bread or warm pita.
You will need:
- 2 lb package of baby octopus, prepared for cooking as described above
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 2 tsp paprika
- A pinch of saffron
- A generous pinch of cayenne
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- About ½ cup dry vermouth or off-dry white wine
- From ½ to 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
- 2-3 medium red or Yukon gold potatoes or about 4-6 fingerling potatoes, cut in large cubes (it should be even proportions of octopus and potatoes in the stew)
- 3-4 chard leaves, hard lower stems trimmed off and leaves cut into short ribbons
In a pot, heat both oil on a medium high heat and add shallots. Cook for about a minute or so or until shallots start becoming translucent. Stir in garlic and spices and cook for another half minute.
Add vermouth and boil down until it gets reduced by half. Add chicken broth and bring the sauce to a boil. Season with salt and black pepper.
Add the octopus, bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to maintain mild simmer and cook octopus until they become tender, but not too much yet, about 30-35 minutes. Now add potatoes and cook them on the same mild simmer until they become tender. It may take another 20 minutes.
When the potatoes are almost done, stir in chard.
When everything is cooked and tender, check the consistency of the sauce. If it’s too water to your taste, pour it into a separate pot and reduce to a desired thickness. Return back to the pot.
Adjust the seasonings and the remove the pot from the heat. Let rest about 7-10 minutes.
Ladle the stew into a soup plates or bowls. This time I served it with freshly baked homemade flatbreads.
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