Cooking little octopuses: the secrets of the best chefs. How to clean an octopus - and is it worth it How to clean an octopus at home

Octopus. I still can’t sit down and tell about my recent acquaintance with him.

Below is a photo of how to butcher an octopus and two ways to cook an octopus.
I never held it alive in my hands, but there was a recent post in my bookmarks (yeah. In the month of August) trio_mia about this handsome man and I decided not to look for a new one, but to use exactly what was already in my favorites.

So. First you need to remove the eyes - it's simple.

The sharp knife and eyes were gone. Further "beak". It's also simple. Two incisions and it's already available for review. Such a funny one!

I should have removed the ink bag, but I couldn't find it. Well, I've looked all over and can't find it. Somewhere he was clearly hiding, because then the broth was colored!
But nevertheless, I prepared everything for cooking.

Cut large carrots, onions, lemon, poured water and put on fire. I read “take a big pot”. Well, I got the big one... But not as big as it should be. I explain. You need a HIGH, not a wide pan, because ... all this jelly-like octopus comes into tone at a high temperature, the tentacles twist beautifully, the head (which I did not cut off) acquires a strong roundness and rises vertically. So in the water, he just simply “Standed up” with me and stood with his head above the water among the floating carrots and yellow barrels of lemon. This is where I cut off his head.

When the water boiled, I lowered the octopus there.
Well, in this way, he safely boiled for an hour on a quiet fire, after which he was left to swim in the same water until the next evening.
So the next evening, when I saw his color, I began to think that somewhere there was his ink, which I did not find. Well, nothing, I washed it from this color. Looked a little nicer. She cut off a piece. I tried. I expected that it would be quite rubbery, but no. Soft, in a pleasant tone, without a sharp taste and smell. Neutral yet recognizable taste.

I cut it into two parts and started making two recipes.
So. I had half of the octopus already cooked.
I peeled and chopped 4 potatoes.

I cut them into medium cubes and fried them to a crisp.

In the meantime, I cut the octopus,

onion, garlic clove,

a few sprigs of parsley and chopped into two pieces of dried white bread.

When the potatoes were ready, I added all the ingredients, and literally warmed them up in a pan for half a minute, salt, a mixture of 5 freshly ground peppers and a little lemon juice.

This was more than interesting. Firstly, potatoes with bread crumbs - already interesting, lightly fried parsley (this technique is somehow little used and I recently read in one book of the late 18th century about French cuisine that fried parsley was very much used in the then cuisine, now with using a microwave and food film to make chips from leaves), the sourness of a lemon and among this the taste of an octopus is not lost.

The dish went with a bang, especially taking into account the more than fastidious taste of my sister, who does not consume half of my dishes)))
Repeat and repeat - give only an octopus)))
The other half of the octopus was left for dinner on the second day.
I marinated her.

Chopped parsley, chopped 1 clove of garlic, squeezed half a lemon, added olive oil, salt, pepper and octopus pieces. In the container and until the evening of the next day.
It was clearly a white wine. So cold, dry and toasted slices of bread.

My conclusion is natural - everything is simpler than it seems and there are so many interesting things around that I have enough for a couple more lives and a dozen stomachs. And the octopus for me is impeccably modest and pleasantly caresses the sky with its tenderness, without bothering my jaws with long chewing.
Want an octopus? Come visit me with him. I already have 4 recipes in my bookmarks with him in the title role))))

If until recently we saw exotic inhabitants of the deep sea only on TV screens, today they can be found on store shelves. And some of them make very tasty dishes! And how to cook an octopus so that it is tasty and healthy?

How to make the right choice?

First of all, you should choose an octopus.

Frozen or fresh? If you want to get the maximum benefit and enjoy a delicate taste, then it is advisable to choose fresh. But you will probably have to cut it, although you can ask the seller about it (he will probably have to pay). And if you want to save time and effort, you can also buy frozen octopus, in this form the carcasses are usually sold already completely cut and cooked even faster, and this is very convenient.
Pay attention to the size. Small octopuses have more tender flesh, medium ones are more nutritious, but a large adult octopus weighing about two to three kilograms can be “rubber”.
Rate the look. But such a criterion will be relevant only if you buy a fresh octopus. The surface of the carcass should be shiny, the color should be burgundy-brownish and uniform. No damage is allowed.
Study the smell. It is specific, but quite pleasant. He definitely shouldn't give away "rotten stuff".

Proper cooking preparation

Preparation consists of several stages:

First, the carcass must be thawed if it is frozen. But this should be done only at room temperature, that is, in a natural way, and not in a microwave oven.
Next, rinse the octopus thoroughly under running cold water to remove all the mucus.
It is not worth cleaning the carcasses before cooking, the skin is removed very, very difficult, so it is better to get rid of it after heat treatment (then it will peel off quickly). But if the octopus is adult and large, then its shell will be quite dense, so that it can be scraped off with a knife already at this stage.
Now you need to cut the carcass (the frozen one will probably already be cut). To do this, it is more convenient to first cut off the tentacles, but this is not necessary. Next, cut off the lower part of the head, that is, the support on which the tentacles are held. In it you will find a mouth opening that looks like a tooth or a beak. It needs to be removed. To do this, first, as it were, squeeze it out, and then cut it out with a knife. Also cut out the eyes.
Now wash the inside of the head well to remove all offal, as well as ink, if any. Then you can turn it out and rinse again.
If the octopus is large, then it is advisable to beat it off before cooking.

How to cook?

If you decide to cook octopus for the first time, then the easiest way for you will be boiling. But how long to cook it to make it tasty? Processing should be short, otherwise the meat will become stringy and tough, like rubber (this is a very common problem).

Your task is simply to exterminate all pathogenic organisms. Small octopuses need to be boiled for only about five to seven minutes, larger ones - about 20. But a large octopus can be cooked for about an hour.

You can check readiness with a toothpick. Pierce it with the largest part of the carcass, that is, the head. If the toothpick comes in easily and quickly, then the octopus is ready. If not, cook it some more. And after cooking, you can remove the skin.

How to cook?

How to cook octopus if you want to make a more interesting dish? Below are some interesting options.

Option number 1

You can bake octopus with potatoes. Here's what you'll need:

1 kg of octopuses (or a whole carcass);
1 kg of potatoes;
parsley;
five cloves of garlic;
three tablespoons of lemon juice;
olive oil;
salt to taste.

Cooking:

Potatoes need to be peeled, cut into slices and boiled.
Boil the octopus and cut it (small octopuses can not be chopped).
Grease the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil.
Put the potatoes mixed with the octopus in a dish, sprinkle everything with lemon juice and olive oil, and sprinkle with minced garlic and chopped parsley. Don't forget to salt the dish.

Option number 2

Try stewing octopus at home using sour cream and milk. Prepare:

500 grams of octopus;
2 glasses of milk;
half a glass of sour cream;
five tablespoons of flour;
three tablespoons of white wine;
a tablespoon of lemon juice;
three cloves of garlic;
two tablespoons of olive oil;
salt and pepper to taste.

How to cook?

Octopuses need to be boiled for about 10 minutes, adding lemon juice and wine to the water.
Now clean the carcasses and cut into portions if they are large.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, fry the garlic.
Add milk, and when it is hot, dissolve the flour in it.
Boil the sauce until boiling, then add sour cream.
Now lay out the octopuses.
Put pepper and salt in the pan, simmer the dish for five minutes and remove from heat.

Option number 3

You can make a delicious salad. Here's what you need for this:

500 grams of octopus;
4 potatoes;
head of red onion;
10 cherry tomatoes;
lettuce leaves;
60 grams of pitted olives;
5 tablespoons of olive oil;
1 tablespoon lemon juice;
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar;
a teaspoon of liquid honey.

Cooking:

Boil the octopus, peel and cut.
Potatoes need to be boiled in their skins, peeled and cut into cubes.
Cherry cut into halves.
Onion cut into half rings.
Just tear lettuce leaves.
To make the sauce, combine vinegar, oil, lemon juice and honey.
Mix the ingredients, salt and season with sauce.
Salad ready!

You need to lower the octopus only in boiling water. Moreover, real experts advise doing this gradually: first, immerse the tentacles, and when they slightly change color and begin to curl, you can lower the whole carcass.
During cooking, in no case do not add salt, it will harden the pulp. For taste, you can use some fragrant seasoning.
If you do not want to beat the octopus, then you can freeze it, this technique will also allow you to soften the meat.
It is desirable to reduce the fire to a minimum, the carcasses should literally languish in barely boiling water, and not boil in a bubbling broth (then the taste will go bad).
To make the pulp more tender, you can add a cork from a bottle of wine (of course, not plastic) during cooking.
Octopuses go well with a variety of sauces, especially cream and soy sauces.
You can serve dishes with any side dishes, for example, with vegetables, spaghetti, rice.
To quickly remove the skin, after heat treatment, you can pour cold water over the octopus.

Choose the best recipe and be sure to surprise your family and guests with an unusual and delicious dish!

Feb 5, 2016 Olga

Whole body octopus is one big muscle. For this reason, to make the meat soft and tender, octopus preparation requires a special procedure.

So we have fresh octopus. It should be firm-fleshed and have a slight fishy smell, its skin should be brown and shiny, and the white part of the eye should certainly be large and transparent (usually better cook octopus about a kilogram in weight, they have more tender meat). octopus wash well under running water, going over each tentacle to remove any residue that might remain in them, remove the insides. Thoroughly clean the head and wash well inside and out.

Preparing the octopus

Under the skin octopus there is a complex structure of the muscular membrane, consisting of five layers of muscle fibers that overlap with each other. The strength of the tissues is ensured by a tight fit and complex interweaving of the structural elements of the muscles, and during cooking, these muscles contract. There are two ways to avoid this.

First way lies in freezing octopus before cooking (to soften the octopus, you can beat it off, but freezing is more effective). Put clean octopus in the freezer and leave for at least 24 hours (preferably 2-3 days). Octopus contains enough water and it, turning into ice, tending to expand, breaks the nerves and fibers. To thaw, just leave octopus in the refrigerator (in the same way defrost octopus, if you bought it already frozen, so it is advisable to buy a day earlier, at least).

Second way probably the most famous is " scare the octopus". How to scare an octopus? It is necessary to quickly, holding the octopus by the head, about five or six times, lower it into boiling water and only then finally lower it into the water and boil. Due to a sharp temperature drop, collagen (the basis of the connective tissue of the body) is destroyed and the result is softer and more tender meat (when heated, collagen has the property of denaturation, the triple helix unwinds, the chains separate, then, when the denatured mass of tangled chains cools, it absorbs all the surrounding water to form gelatin).

Cooked octopus

Is always boil the octopus in a large wide saucepan so that it is completely covered with water, without salt, with the addition of bay leaf, onion, garlic clove (do not peel, just crush with a knife), cloves and peppercorns, which will provide a rich taste octopus(although this is not required).

As soon as the water boils, "scare" the octopus and cook it together with potatoes (put a medium potato on 1.5 kg of octopus).

When the potatoes are cooked, turn off the heat and leave the octopus in the water for about 25 minutes. To test for doneness, you can pierce the top of the tentacle with a fork, and if the fork goes in easily, the octopus is done. Remove it from the water.

Final preparation of the octopus

Now we need to finish cleaning. Cut off the part of the body with the head between the bag and the tentacles and discard. Squeeze out and cut out the chewing organ of the octopus, located between the tentacles.

Little octopuses: how to cook moscardini meat

Photo Shutterstock

Cleaning little octopuses

In our country, it is rather difficult to find fresh octopuses in stores, they are usually sold frozen, but experienced chefs say that excellent dishes can also be prepared from them. Before cooking baby octopuses, thaw them at room temperature. Then clean, remove the eyes, turn the carcass inside out (like a mitten or glove). Locate and remove the beak, cartilage, and all innards. Rinse the moscardini under running water.

Raw octopuses have an unpleasant gray color, but when cooked, they will acquire a beautiful pink hue.

Little octopus salad

To prepare this dish you will need: - 800 g of small octopuses; - 0.3 cups of olive oil; - 2-3 cloves of garlic; - 1 PC. sweet red pepper; - 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice; - greenery.

Chop the garlic. Boil the cleaned octopuses. To do this, boil water and carefully lower the carcasses into boiling water. Do this slowly so that the tentacles wrap up nicely. Simmer for a few minutes until the octopuses change color. Remove from water and cool.

Mix boiled octopus with chopped garlic and olive oil. Leave to marinate for 1-2 hours in a cool place. Cut up the sweet pepper. Put it in a salad bowl, add herbs and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Put the marinated octopuses on this mass and mix everything.

Stuffed Moscardini

To prepare this delicacy you will need: - 800 g of small octopuses; - 100 g of peeled shrimp; - 60 g butter; - herbs (oregano, parsley, basil); - ground black pepper; - 1-2 cloves of garlic; - 50 ml table red wine; - 2 tomatoes; - 1 shallot; - 1 lemon.

Clean the octopuses, rinse thoroughly. Heat up a frying pan and lightly fry them in butter. Drizzle with freshly squeezed lemon juice and let marinate for about 15 minutes. While they are marinating, prepare the shrimp and vegetable mince.

Boil and clean the shrimp. Finely chop the greens and vegetables, add spices and mix everything. Place the octopuses on a baking sheet with the tentacles up and gently stuff them. Pour a little water on a baking sheet, put a small piece of oil on each octopus. Heat the oven to a temperature of 175-180 ° C and put a baking sheet with stuffed octopuses to bake for 15 minutes. Garnish the finished dish with lemon slices and herbs.

The octopus is one big muscle. The larger the octopus, the tougher the meat. To make the meat of this cephalopod soft, juicy and tender, it must be properly cleaned and prepared.

Instruction

Fresh octopus should be firm-fleshed, have a marine fishy odor, skin color should be brown, and the whites of the eyes should be clear and white. It is recommended to purchase octopuses weighing up to a kilogram, they have more tender and soft meat.

Rinse octopus under a stream of running water, go over each tentacle, remove all sand and residual dirt.

Cut off the head just below the eyes, remove the tentacles, set them aside. Cut off the eyes, use a knife to clean the cavity of the carcass. Squeeze out the beak with force, cut it out and discard. Rinse the head, cleaned from the insides, inside and out.

Skin from fresh octopus very difficult to remove. Therefore, cooks most often leave it until they heat it. If you still want to skin, boil octopus in water for 5-10 minutes, cool it, and then remove the skin from the cold carcass.

Now octopus can be cooked or frozen for storage. Experienced chefs recommend always freezing the carcass octopus before, it essentially softens the tough muscle meat. Put the cleansed octopus in the freezer and leave for at least a day, but better for 2-3 days. Water contained in the muscle structure octopus, turning into ice, will expand, tearing the nerves and hard fibers. To unfreeze octopus, it is enough to place it in the refrigerator for 6-10 hours.

From octopus you can cook a huge number of dishes. This meat goes great with onions, garlic, tomatoes, lemon, olive oil, rice, wine and soy sauce. Octopus is not only great in salads, it's great as a main dish. For example, try to cook a barbecue from octopus or stew it in red wine.

note

Octopuses are very helpful. Properly cooked octopus meat is a source of calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, iron, selenium and a huge amount of vitamins.