Cooking little octopuses: secrets of the best chefs. Cooking little octopuses: secrets of the best chefs Octopus how to clean and cook

If just recently we saw exotic inhabitants depths of the sea only on TV screens, today they can be found on store shelves. And some of them turn out to be very delicious dishes! How to cook 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 the delicate taste, then it is advisable to choose fresh. But you will probably have to cut it up, although you can ask the seller about it (he will probably have to pay). And if you want to save effort and time, you can also buy frozen octopus; in this form, the carcasses are usually sold already completely cut up and even cook 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 “rubbery.”
• Rate appearance. But such a criterion will only be relevant if you buy fresh octopus. The surface of the carcass should be shiny, the color should be burgundy-brown and uniform. No damage is allowed.
• Study the smell. It is specific, but quite pleasant. It definitely shouldn’t taste like rotten meat.

Proper preparation for cooking

Preparation consists of several stages:

1. First, the carcass must be thawed if it is frozen. But this should be done only at room temperature, that is, naturally, and not in a microwave oven.
2. Next, rinse the octopus thoroughly under running cold water to remove all the mucus.
3. It is not worth cleaning the carcasses before cooking; the skin is very, very difficult to remove, so it is better to get rid of it after heat treatment (then it will come off quickly). But if the octopus is adult and large, then its shell will be quite dense, so it can be scraped off with a knife at this stage.
4. Now you need to cut the carcass (frozen 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 similar to a tooth or beak. It needs to be removed. To do this, first squeeze it out, and then cut it out with a knife. Also cut out the eyes.
5. Now wash the inside of the head well to remove all the offal, as well as ink, if there is any there. Then you can turn it out and wash it again.
6. If the octopus is large, then it is advisable to beat it before cooking.

How to cook?

If you decide to cook octopus for the first time, then in a simple way there will be cooking for you. But how long should you 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 destroy all pathogenic organisms. Small octopuses only need to be cooked for 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 the largest part of the carcass, that is, the head. If the toothpick goes in easily and quickly, then the octopus is ready. If not, then cook it some more. And after cooking, you can remove the skin.

How to cook?

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

Option #1

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

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

Preparation:

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

Option No. 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?

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

Option #3

Can be cooked delicious salad. Here's what you'll 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.

Preparation:

1. Boil the octopus, peel and cut.
2. The potatoes need to be boiled in their skins, peeled and cut into cubes.
3. Cut the cherry into halves.
4. Cut the onion into half rings.
5. Just tear up the lettuce leaves.
6. To prepare the sauce, mix vinegar, oil, lemon juice and honey.
7. Mix the ingredients, add salt and season with sauce.
8. Salad ready!

1. The octopus should only be immersed in boiling water. Moreover, real experts advise doing this gradually: first immerse the tentacles, and when they slightly change shade and begin to curl, you can lower the entire carcass.
2. During cooking, do not add salt under any circumstances, it will make the pulp hard. For taste, you can use some fragrant seasoning.
3. If you don’t want to pound the octopus, you can freeze it; this technique will also soften the meat.
4. It is advisable to reduce the heat to a minimum; the carcasses should literally simmer in barely boiling water, and not cook in a seething broth (then the taste will deteriorate).
5. To make the pulp more tender, you can add a cork from a wine bottle (not plastic, of course) during cooking.
6. Octopus goes well with various sauces, especially creamy and soy sauces.
7. You can serve the dishes with any side dishes, for example, vegetables, spaghetti, rice.
8. To remove the skin faster, you can pour it over the octopus after heat treatment. cold water.

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

Feb 5, 2016 Olga

Do you think exotic octopus meat tastes fabulous only in the dishes of chefs at elite restaurants? Don't underestimate your abilities! Believe me, everyone can cook delicious octopus at home. You just need a little patience, skills and knowledge of a few secrets. We will talk about them further.

Only fresh!

If you are offered chilled or fresh shellfish, focus on the following quality indicators:

• transparent eyes (no matter how creepy it may sound);
• shiny brownish skin;
• when palpated, the skin remains intact;
• light fishy aroma (intense indicates staleness).

The taste of an octopus dish depends on the initial size of the mollusk. Only experienced chefs can handle large specimens (body size more than 60 cm, weight more than 1.5 kg), so for homemade It is better to take medium-sized and small shellfish. They are sold whole, so choosing them is easier.

How to properly prepare frozen octopus

Experienced chefs know how to cook frozen octopus. Without the proper skills, it is better to defrost it first. After removing the packaging, the meat is placed in a saucepan or deep bowl and defrosted at room temperature.

Do not fill it with cold water to speed up the process - the mass will escape from the meat useful substances. Absolutely cannot be used hot water- it loses its delicate taste.

When the meat becomes soft, it is placed in a colander, allowed to drain, then cut and prepared according to any recipe for preparing fresh shellfish.

How to cut an octopus

The mollusk is a solid muscle, which is eaten. But he also has inedible organs. They must be carefully removed using the following algorithm:

• We thoroughly wash each tentacle under running water, removing dirt, sand, and mucus. The latter is problematic to remove from young individuals, but if it remains, the meat will taste salty or bitter. The mucus is scraped off with a knife or removed with a rough cloth while washing, and then each tentacle is wiped well with salt.
• Using a knife, separate the tentacles from the head just below the eyes, then remove the eyes themselves, the ink sac, and the beak. Rinse the meat again.
• It is almost impossible to remove the skin immediately; it is recommended to scald the meat with boiling water and then peel it. You can blanch in boiling acidified or salted water and clean the clam while hot.
• Afterwards, wash thoroughly again, beat and cut into small pieces.

We take it in parts

You can also find individual octopus tentacles TM NUCHAR on sale. Chilled or frozen - the rules for choosing them remain the same. Externally, their skin should be shiny, brownish, without damage. If black spots, tears are visible on it, and it separates from the meat, most likely the tentacles were stored incorrectly.

Press the tentacle and watch how quickly the surface recovers - the fresh one will definitely return to its original state. A sharp fishy smell indicates that the meat is not fresh.

Cleaning and preparing tentacles follows the same rules as for a whole octopus. It is important to thoroughly beat the meat before cooking, since large tentacles are taken from large individuals, whose meat is not as tender as that of young ones.

If you don’t have time for processing, buy octopus TM NUCHAR, which is marinated in its own juice and is almost ready to eat. To prepare dishes, the limbs are crushed: cut into circles, cubes, slices.

Cooking octopus on the grill

Immediately after cleaning, the meat can be baked in the oven or on the grill. For this simple and quick recipe Use small octopuses, but sliced ​​pieces of adult octopuses will also work. You will need olive oil, garlic and lemon.

Grilled fried octopus takes about 10 minutes. Coat the meat with oil and place on a preheated grill. When it is browned, turn it over to the other side. After a gentle blush appears, remove.

Grilled octopus is served with a sauce of grated garlic, olive oil and squeezed lemon juice.

We cook quickly, but carefully!

Almost all recipes suggest using boiled meat. But first you need to remember: we cook octopus only in fresh water! It actively absorbs salt, which makes it hard, almost “rubbery”.

Another important point in the question of how to cook octopus tentacles or a whole shellfish: cooking method and time. They should only be lowered into boiling water with the tentacles forward: as soon as the immersed tentacles curl, lower the mollusk completely. Depending on the size, you need to cook it for 7–10 minutes, otherwise the meat will become tough. If you miss this moment, you will have to leave it to cook for at least an hour. The finished meat is removed and allowed to cool.

The same rule answers the question of how to cook small octopuses. The only difference is that their cooking time is minimal. Baby octopuses are often used for salads. How to cook octopus in this case? 800 g of prepared meat is mixed with 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic, a third cup of olive oil and left in a cold place for a couple of hours. Then put lettuce leaves in a salad bowl, sliced Bell pepper, greens, and topped with pickled octopus. The final touch is to sprinkle the salad with lemon juice.

For cooking, you can use medium-sized clams. But then you need to cut the tentacles so that each piece has a sucker. This makes the salad look more beautiful.

How to fry octopus

For a fried dish, a medium-sized clam is usually taken: pre-boiled (about 5 minutes) and then cut into cubes. Separately prepare a mixture of several cloves of garlic, lemon juice (to taste), and olive oil.

This octopus recipe calls for frying pieces of meat in a hot frying pan over high heat, draining any water it releases. After this, the prepared mixture is added and fried again until all the water has evaporated (about 10-15 minutes). Before removing the meat from the heat, add pepper, oregano or any herbs to your taste. The finished dish is laid out on plates and served hot.

You can stew octopus!

When searching for an octopus dish with a photo, you probably came across incredibly mouth-watering images of amazing dishes. One of the best combinations is shellfish meat and beans. To prepare the dish, first soak it and then boil it in clean water a glass of beans (about an hour). During this time, prepare shellfish meat (2 kg): peel and boil with the addition of 1 onion and a tablespoon vegetable oil(6 minutes).

While the beans are cooking, prepare the vegetable base in a saucepan or saucepan. In oil or lard, fry onion (1 onion), carrots (3 medium-sized), garlic (half a head), cut into slices. When they are sufficiently browned, pour in half a glass of dry white wine, olive oil (6 tablespoons) and bring to a boil. Cut the finished meat into pieces and place into the boiling mixture along with the beans. Pepper to taste (you can use a mixture of peppers), salt, mix well and cook over low heat for another 15 minutes. Place the dish on a plate and garnish with herbs.

Cooking young octopuses is not limited to these recipes. It is only important to properly wash, peel and boil the meat. Everything else is a matter of your imagination.

Octopuses in the cuisines of the world

Shellfish meat is common in the cuisines of Asia and Europe. It is used in seafood cocktails for making soups and salads. Squid is an ideal companion in such mixes. Greens, vegetables, legumes, as well as wine vinegar, olive oil and soy sauce go well with octopus.

More often the octopus is simply boiled. The Portuguese love to cook meat in batter, the Chinese top it with all sorts of sauces, and the Japanese combine it with seaweed, rice and wasabi. Italians prefer roasting and stewing, preferably with wine. Cooked meat is usually served with vegetables. The most extravagant way of consumption is adopted by Koreans - they eat shellfish alive!

The octopus is one huge muscle. The larger the octopus, the tougher the meat. In order for the meat of this cephalopod to be soft, juicy and tender, it must be properly cleaned and prepared.

Instructions

1. A fresh octopus should have dense flesh, have a sea fishy smell, the skin color should be chestnut, and the whites of the eyes should be transparent and white. It is recommended to purchase octopuses weighing up to a kilogram; they have more tender and soft meat.

2. Rinse octopus under running water, sort out each tentacle, remove every sand and remaining dirt.

3. Cut off the head a little below the eyes, remove the tentacles, and set them aside. Cut off the eyes and, using a knife, clean out the cavity of the carcass. Squeeze the beak with force, cut it out and throw it away. Rinse your head thoroughly, cleaned of entrails, inside and out.

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

5. Now octopus You can cook or freeze for storage. Experienced chefs always recommend freezing the carcass. octopus before cooking, this significantly softens the tough muscle meat. Put the peeled octopus into the freezer and leave for at least a day, but preferably 2-3 days. Water contained in the muscle structure octopus, turning into ice, will expand, tearing nerves and harsh fibers. To defrost octopus, it is enough to place it in the refrigerator for 6-10 hours.

6. From octopus You can cook a large number of dishes. This meat is in delightful harmony with onions, garlic, tomatoes, lemon, olive oil, rice, wine and soy sauce. Octopus is not only great in salads, it's amazing as a main dish. Let's say, try making shish kebab from octopus or stew it in red wine.

In large supermarkets you can find products on sale that cannot be called familiar. But you still want to try them, just as you want new adventures, brilliant events and new tastes. And here the questions creep in: how to cook it? Which side should you approach from? Including the octopus.

You will need

• one octopus weighing about 1 kg.

Instructions

1. First, understand the theoretical part: the octopus is a cephalopod; it is eaten in many cultures. The Japanese, for example, prepare sushi with raw octopuses . The octopus's body has no bones; it consists entirely of muscles. The muscles have a complex multi-layer structure; When cooked, the protein coagulates and the meat can become tough.

2. Take the octopus; choose a younger one, weighing up to 1 kg. The flesh should be firm, the skin should be shiny and chestnut brown, and the white part of the eye should be large and transparent. The smell of octopus is similar to that of an ordinary fish, but not very strong.

3. Wash the octopus in running cold water, going through each tentacle and removing dirt, mucus and other “surprises”. After this, you need to gut it: cut the part of the head above the eyes of the octopus. Turn over the body and remove the entrails, eyes and ink sac. After this, remove the beak: to do this, you need to squeeze up part of the body between the tentacles and cut out the organ. The skin from the tentacles can be pulled off a boiled octopus like a stocking.

4. To ensure that the octopus meat remains soft, there are two methods to choose from for preparing the octopus. The first method is freezing. The water contained in the tissues will turn into ice and break the natural intramuscular connections. Place the octopus in the freezer for at least 24 hours, and then leave it to thaw on the top shelf of the refrigerator. You can do the same with purchased frozen octopus. The second method is suitable when there is no time to freeze. This method is called “scare the octopus.” Prepare two pans: fill the first with ice water, and fill the second with water and boil it. Take the octopus by the head and lower it alternately, first into a pan of boiling water, then into cold water. Five or six times will be enough. As a result of abrupt temperature changes, the connective tissue will be partially destroyed. After this, place the octopus in boiling water and cook until done.

Note!
An octopus weighing about 1 kg needs to be cooked for an average of 40 minutes. If the weight increases by 1 kg, it is necessary to increase the cooking time by another 15 minutes.

Helpful advice
You can add spices, garlic and a little dry wine to the water in order to fight off the fishy smell. If you have a wine cork on hand, you can also throw it into the broth. She is great at absorbing foreign odors.

Octopuses are the oldest inhabitants of the deep, believed to have outstanding mental abilities and amazing body structure. The eyes of an octopus have a strange structure and sensitivity to light for marine inhabitants, which allows the mollusk to be the most wide-eyed inhabitant of the ocean.

Octopuses - intellectuals of the deep sea

Octopuses are amazing creatures that are still a mystery to scientists. These creatures unwaveringly attract the attention of ocean scientists with their amazing body structure and strange mental abilities. It is believed that octopuses, along with cuttlefish and dolphins, are the wisest representatives of marine fauna. However, these creatures are significant not only for their mental abilities. Scientists have long noticed that octopuses are the owners of eyes that are unique not only in structure, but also in size, body length and visual capabilities. A huge brain and huge eyes allow the octopus to receive much more information about the world around it than any other animal on the planet. The eyes of the octopus are still a subject of debate in the scientific community, and not all the details of how these animals see the world are clear and studied by humans, but scientists still have some amazing data.

Unique probabilities of octopus eyes

First of all, it is worth mentioning that the eyes of octopuses are very large and make up approximately 10% of the total body weight of the animal. In terms of eye size relative to body weight, octopuses are real record holders in the animal world. For example, in an adult giant octopus, the size of the eyeball is 35-40 cm. The anatomical structure of the octopus's eye is very similar to the structure of the human eye. An octopus's eyes consist of a retina, iris, lens, and cornea. The pupil is mobile and can expand and contract, but the octopus focuses its gaze not due to the curvature of the lens, but due to its approach and distance in relation to the retina. It is believed that these mollusks are able to focus their gaze on objects that excite them, which other marine inhabitants are not able to do. The emotional retina and lens of the octopus's eye distinguishes colors well, even in muddy water. The large size of the octopus's eyes also helps it survive in the ocean, because due to this structure of the organ of vision, this mollusk is able to see objects even in pitch darkness. The unique structure of the octopus's eyes allows it to perceive a three-dimensional picture, therefore these animals beautifully distinguish the shape of objects. Some fans of these cephalopods It is assumed that the visual organs of the octopus allow it to see even in the ultraviolet spectrum of light, but this data has not yet been scientifically confirmed.

Note!
Octopuses are very good. Well-cooked octopus meat is a source of calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, iron, selenium and a huge number of vitamins.

Whole body octopus is one large muscle. It is for this reason that the meat turns out soft and tender, octopus preparation requires a special procedure.

So we have fresh octopus. It should have firm flesh and a slight fishy odor, 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 through each tentacle to remove all residues that might remain in them and remove the entrails. Thoroughly cleanse your hair and wash well inside and out.

Preparing the octopus

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

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

Second way probably the most famous is " scare the octopus". How to scare an octopus? You need 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 cook. Due to the sharp temperature change, collagen (the basis connective tissue 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, forming gelatin).

Cooked octopus

Always cook 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 along with the potatoes (put a medium potato per 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 check for doneness, you can pierce the top of the tentacle with a fork, and if the fork goes in easily, the octopus is ready. Remove it from the water.

Final preparation of the octopus

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

Small octopuses: how to cook Moscardini meat

Photo by Shutterstock

Cleaning little octopuses

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

Raw octopus has an unpleasant gray color, but when cooked it will take on a beautiful pink hue.

Small octopus salad

To prepare this dish you will need: - 800 g of small octopuses; - 0.3 cups 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 curl nicely. Cook 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. Chop the bell pepper. Place it in a salad bowl, add herbs and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Place marinated octopuses on this mixture and mix everything.

Stuffed Moscardini

To prepare this delicacy you will need: - 800 g of small octopuses; - 100 g peeled shrimp; - 60 g butter; - greens (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 and rinse thoroughly. Heat a frying pan and lightly fry them in butter. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and let marinate for about 15 minutes. While they are marinating, prepare the shrimp and vegetable mince.

Boil and peel the shrimp. Finely chop the herbs and vegetables, add spices and mix everything. Place the octopuses on a baking sheet with the tentacles facing up and carefully stuff them. Pour some water onto a baking sheet and place a small piece of butter on each octopus. Heat the oven to a temperature of 175–180°C and place the baking sheet with stuffed octopuses to bake for 15 minutes. Garnish the finished dish with lemon slices and herbs.