How to prepare an octopus (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook octopus so it's not rubbery? ›

For large octopus (around 5 pounds), boil for a good 8 to 10 minutes. Add a tablespoon of vinegar into the simmering liquid as the acetic acid can help break down the connective tissue in the tentacles. Marinate the octopus overnight in whole milk to help tenderize the meat.

Tenderize the octopus with a mallet, starting from the middle body extending down the tentacles. Transfer to a pan and lightly sprinkle the baking soda over both sides of the octopus, then let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

The simplest way to enjoy our fully cooked octopus is to briefly marinate the pieces in olive oil, lemon, a little garlic, rosemary, thyme, or the fresh herbs of your choice. After just 30 minutes the octopus will take on the flavor and can be served as is with olives, feta cheese, sliced onions, or on a bed of greens.

How do you cook frozen raw octopus? To cook frozen raw octopus, add the octopus to boiling water (without salt). Once the water comes back to a boil, cook for 15 minutes, uncovered, on medium heat for a 2-pound octopus. Then allow to rest off the heat for 15 to 20 minutes with the pot covered.

This collagen makes octopus flesh rubbery, at least initially. With enough heat and time that collagen breaks down into silky and tender gelatin, and the octopus grows tender with it.

Salting is essential to tenderness, or fatal; brief dips in boiling water tenderize, or long slow cooling, or a rubbing with grated daikon, or the addition of a wine cork to the cooking liquid. Last week I stumbled on a Greek food scientist's report that small amounts of vinegar tenderize octopus.

It might be surprising, but frozen octopus is better than a fresh octopus. The process doesn't change the flavor, on top of that, it breaks the fibers which make it more tender.

It is. more work, but the result is so much better.

While proponents of the cork method believe adding a cork to the pot is key to tenderization, your safest best is to frequently test the Octopus meat. Use a knife to pierce a tentacle every 15 minutes or so. You'll know the octopus is tender when the knife easily goes in.

Why do you soak octopus in milk? ›

The trick to making octopus tender? Soak it in milk, preferably overnight. It's so much easier than boiling it with herbs for an hour and smelling up the house.

The best way to judge freshness is to smell - the aroma should be of seawater, nothing else. (An octopus that is going bad will reveal itself to your nose in an instant.) Most but not all fish markets carry frozen octopus, and any should be able to get it for you with a day or two notice.

Cleaning an octopus is the first step to making exquisite seafood dishes in your own home. Although you can buy pre-cleaned frozen octopus, some fresh octopus is sold without being cleaned. Cleaning an octopus involves removing the internal organs, skin, and beak, leaving the tentacles and body for cooking.

Fresh octopus tastes similar to calamari or squid when raw and is relatively flavorless. When properly cooked, octopus is moist and tender and picks up the flavors of the sauces and herbs used during preparation. The taste of cooked octopus has been compared to chicken, pork, or lobster.

You can put the octopus straight on the grill, but it's not recommended, since the flesh will burn before it is tenderized. Instead, our method ensures tender octopus through boiling before grilling.