My flat is still a mess after the water damage, with the floors taken up and the concrete drying underneath, but I got my laptop back from repair and even managed to whip something up in the middle of the debris. Today's recipe may not be haute cuisine, and it is definitely not what I had in mind before I started cooking, but the end result was surprisingly pleasant. I love anything octopus, so maybe that's why.
I used to associate all tentacled seafood with rubber, mostly because of the deep-fried "octopus rings" served in so many restaurants. That lasted until I spent a few weeks in Milan on business and tried the local octopus salad, insalata di polpo. The dish had bite-sized pieces of tentacle in olive oil and lemon juice, and the meat was more tender than the best chicken I have ever had. Ever since that day I have looked for octopus, calamari and cuttlefish dishes wherever I go. Unfortunately I haven't spent much time in the Mediterranean countries that are famous for their seafood, but besides Italy I have had great octopus in Puerto Rico and in Macau. In Singapore in December I bought a box of Japanese octopus balls at a metro station, mostly because of the cute octopus logo. They were nice enough, but I still like my octopus best marinated, boiled or simply raw.
By the way, those rubbery, breaded and fried "octopus" rings are actually made of calamari. Three different animals often go by the name of octopus, namely calamari, cuttlefish and the octopus proper, although apart from the tentacles they don't have that much in common. Apparently calamari and cuttlefish can be cooked tender too (MM, tell me how!). I read somewhere that all of them want either a very short time in the pot or a very long one, and that rubber is what you get from anything in between. Even so, I prefer octopus and its thick, juicy tentacles. Unfortunately Finland is the worst place in the world to buy them, as the only ones on offer seem to be small frozen ones, half a kilo (1 lb) at most. Many Mediterranean recipes call for octopi of two kilos or more each, something I have yet to find here.
But since I am living amid havoc and haven't really had the energy to replenish my food supplies, a bag of frozen baby octopi was all I had at home. A quick googling gave plenty of tomato-based recipes, so that is what I tried myself. As they cook, the little creatures turn reddish and their tentacles curl up tight, and none of them is much bigger than a basil leaf. The end result was rather plain, to be honest. Then I remembered the bottle of sweet chilli sauce in the fridge door and tried to spice things up with it. Totally yummy! My original recipe was going to be something like "Baby octopi in tomato and white wine sauce with pine nuts", and the pine nuts did make it into the picture, but scrap that. Just boil the octopi quickly and enjoy them with sweet chilli sauce. Here goes the "recipe".
Recipe card
Baby Octopi With Sweet Chilli Sauce
- Serves 2-4 as a starter
- Simmering 5-10 min
You will need
| 900 g | frozen or fresh baby octopi |
| 1 can | crushed tomatoes |
| fresh basil | |
| 1 | big onion |
| lots of garlic | |
| sweet chilli sauce | |
| salt, pepper | |
| olive oil |
Method
- Thaw the octopi in cold water if frozen. Set aside.
- Cut the onion into small cubes, crush the garlic, and saute them in olive oil until soft and golden brown.
- Add the tomatoes and boil for a few minutes.
- Add the baby octopi and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Run through a sieve to discard the extra juices.
- Serve with sweet chilli sauce and fresh basil.
I liked the leftovers straight from the fridge, too.
10 comments
Hi! 🙂 Sorry to hear about your floor! Besides it looked like a nice one and I hope that hasnt been damage too much!
Glad you are "almost" back then 🙂 The picture looks fantastic I bet the babies were too! 🙂
ciao!
Antti,
While I'm sorry to hear about the damage to your home, I must say this recipe sounds delicious!
We eat baby octopus often and will definitely be trying this recipe.
Ciao!
Hi Fiordizucca, the floor was damaged all right, but the contractor's insurance buys me a new one, so no worries 🙂 I have an octopus craving again, and actually *saw* a couple of quite big octopi in Helsinki - but the price was a totally outrageous €27 / kg.
Ivonne, I'd be super interested to hear your best baby octopus recipes!
Blogissani käyneelle Annalle teehuoneen osoite:
http://www.chaikhana.se/
Paikka löytyy Tukholman vanhasta kaupungista, saksalaiskirkon kupeesta. Pääkujalta yksi "ylöspäin", jos mennään rantaa kohti niin vasemmalle siis.
Kiitos tiedosta! Pistän ehdottomasti mieleen seuraavaa Tukholman-reissua varten. Olen täysi teeaddikti, Amerikassa testailin viimeksi pu erh -teestä pitämistä ja juuri nyt hörpin Helsingissä rooibosia jonka mustikanvarpumaiseen makuun jäin kerrasta kiinni 😉
Mistäs sait nuo octopukset? Olivatko niitä Stokkalla myytäviä italialaisia pakasteita? Pitää ehdottomasti maistaa!
Aseanic Tradingista 3. linjalta. Vii Voanissa lienee myös. Molemmissa on mainiot valikoimat eksoottisia pakastekaloja.
Hi Antti,
I was looking for an e-mail address to send you the octopus recipe but I couldn't find it so here it is:
1 pound of fresh baby octopi or 2 or 3 larger octopi (they're better if they're fresh), washed and cleaned with the ink sac removed
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup good quality white wine
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
crusty loaf of fresh bread
Heat the oil in a pan with a lid.
Add the onion and saute until the onion softens.
Add the chili flakes and stir well (we usually use about a tablespoon as we like spicy food)
Add the octopi and saute on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes if using baby octopi, 5 to 6 minutes if using larger octopi, being sure not to burn the onion or octopi.
Add the wine and stir well.
Lower the heat and partially cover the pan.
Cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the wine and liquid in the pan has reduced and thickened.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with the fresh bread.
Enjoy!
Ivonne, thanks for the recipe! And also for pointing out that I've completely forgotten to show our email addresses =)