On cooking octopus....
Octopus is one of those proteins that you really need to
know what you're doing if you're going to attempt to cook it. These cephalopods can
be a thing of beauty as long as the proper technique is applied to them. There's nothing
better than a perfectly seared piece of octopus with a squeeze of lemon (I speak for myself here). I'm sure every chef at
one point or another has or will experience the unpleasantness of chewing on an improperly prepared rubbery piece of octopus. Believe me you'll know it if you encounter such a thing, because you will chew and chew and chew and then chew some more (maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but
you get the point).
There are many techniques out there that claim to be the best one when it comes to cooking octopus. Many of these techniques I've tried, and most of them result in a really good product. There's one technique though that I use 9 out of 10 times whenever I have octopus on hand. I like to use it because its simple and gives me favorable results. For the most part I'll get in an 8-10 pound frozen octopus from our fish company. You want to defrost the octopus and then place it slowly in a big pot of boiling water . You'll notice that the legs will curl up as you insert the octopus slowly into the water. Once you get to the head just drop it completely in and let it cook for 1 minute. Remove the octopus from the water, cut the head off, remove the beak, and cut into individual tentacles. At this point you want to add your mirepoix along with aromatics and spices to the pot of water. I like to use onions, fennel, carrots, celery, star anise, coriander, lime leaves, and lemon grass. Let the mirepoix cook for one minute and add a heavy amount of salt. Turn off the heat and place the octopus back into the pot. Turn the heat on its lowest setting and cook the octopus for 1 hour. The water shouldn’t be simmering it should only be hot enough where steam is coming out of it but no motion is occurring in the water (about 170 degrees Fahrenheit). Once the octopus has cooked for one hour, turn off the heat and let it cool at room temperature in the cooking liquid. Remove the octopus from the pot and store covered in the cooler until needed.
There are many techniques out there that claim to be the best one when it comes to cooking octopus. Many of these techniques I've tried, and most of them result in a really good product. There's one technique though that I use 9 out of 10 times whenever I have octopus on hand. I like to use it because its simple and gives me favorable results. For the most part I'll get in an 8-10 pound frozen octopus from our fish company. You want to defrost the octopus and then place it slowly in a big pot of boiling water . You'll notice that the legs will curl up as you insert the octopus slowly into the water. Once you get to the head just drop it completely in and let it cook for 1 minute. Remove the octopus from the water, cut the head off, remove the beak, and cut into individual tentacles. At this point you want to add your mirepoix along with aromatics and spices to the pot of water. I like to use onions, fennel, carrots, celery, star anise, coriander, lime leaves, and lemon grass. Let the mirepoix cook for one minute and add a heavy amount of salt. Turn off the heat and place the octopus back into the pot. Turn the heat on its lowest setting and cook the octopus for 1 hour. The water shouldn’t be simmering it should only be hot enough where steam is coming out of it but no motion is occurring in the water (about 170 degrees Fahrenheit). Once the octopus has cooked for one hour, turn off the heat and let it cool at room temperature in the cooking liquid. Remove the octopus from the pot and store covered in the cooler until needed.
I hope this cooking technique comes in handy.
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