Agree agauchiles are great at TJ oyster bar. Also pulpo is surprisingly hard to do well as a home cook although I keep trying.
Great original list Plumeria.
1 Like
Blue Water Grill is another place that IMO should be included on the list, as well as Land and Water.
When I speak to my friends in the Seafood industry, they all have huge respect and admiration for what Rob Ruiz is doing at Land and Water in Carlsbad.They say he is one of the most knowledgeable and innovative seafood chefs in the county. Even the guys at Catalina were blown away by his seafood knowledge and techniques at their last collaboration kitchen. I have yet to make it to land and water, but it is definitely at the very top of my list right now.
1 Like
Yes Octopus is weirdly difficult. It’s one of those things that some say you should cook for no more than 60 seconds or no less than 60 minutes. Others (mostly Italians and French) also swear by the cork in the water trick. Me I just like a quick blanche followed by garlic lemon and oil on the grill at high heat for a quick sear. I do add a cork in the H2O for the blanche, but think it’s mostly cooking myth.
Many of the best chefs believe that tenderizing the octopus against a rock (or other hard object) or massaging with salt for a good 20 to 30 minutes is the real key to tender octopus. I tend to believe this, but have no empirical evidence as I haven’t tried it myself. Chef Eric Ripert says you don’t need to beat the octopus, but should give it a thorough and rough massage.
1 Like
RD, I’ve successfully cooked ocotpus at home. Here are a couple tricks I learned
-
start with a frozen octopus and you’ll end up with a more tender finished product
-
you have to “scare” the octopus when lowering it into the water. So how do you scare an octopus you ask? First you get your pot of water (seasoned however you like) boiling and then reduce the heat to a strong simmer. Grab your octopus by the head and lower the tentacles slowly, every so slowly into the water almost up to where they attach to the head. Pull the tentacles back out, they should be somewhat wavy. Lower the tentacles back in a second time and then pull it back out. The tentacles should have loose curls. Lower it in a 3rd time and remove and the tentacles should have fairly tight curls. Lower the whole thing back into the pot and cook for about 45 minutes or until it’s done or the tentacles are starting to separate from the head. Remove from the pot and drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
If desired, remove any of the viscous covering that might remain. At this point you can throw the tentacles on the grill or saute them in a very hot pan.
Maybe it’s just luck of the draw because I haven’t cooked that many octopi but I haven’t ended up with a tough one yet.
You have to SCARE the octopus!!?!?
WTF…
That’s not “scaring”
That’s CIA waterboarding for octopus.
You meanie.
2 Likes
Most chefs cook the octopus now sous vide (the beating on a rock, massaging or cooking with cork are either of little help or completely debunked (cork). 4 hours at 85C is giving you very tender octopus
“How do you scare an octopus?” Show him how his stocks are doing in his 401K. That would scare the suckers right off of him.
1 Like
Awhile back I got some frozen 2 lb ones from H-Mart and gave them a 20 minute massage with Hawaiian sea salt. Then marinated themfor a day and then smoked them (forget how long but was from an online Hawaiian style recipe) and then tried to get some grill char on them. Some tentacles were very tender and others were not–very uneven. The smoke was also pretty overpowering but I probably used the wrong wood.
With regards to smoking seafood, the Hawaiians traditionally use Kiawe wood for all their smoking. It is in the mesquite family, but is much more mild that what traditional mesquite is. I have a few large chunks that a friend sent me from Hawaii. Very dense heavy wood with a reddish interior and a blonde exterior. I like it, but don’t love it, as I generally don’t care for mesquite.
The best wood I have found for smoking seafood that provides a sweet not over powering smoke flavor is what our Southern California Kumeyaay Indians used for smoking and preserving their seafood.Our local Manzanita wood! It is very dense and smokes for a very long time. It provides for a sweet mild apple like smoke with just a hint of hickory/pecan. Beware if you are making coals and fire with it, as it burns extremely hot. So hot in fact that I have heard about it melting the bottoms of grills etc.
This sounds like the most effective and consistent way to do it! Then a little time on some open flame and it’s magical.
Mario Batali swears by cork on his Babbo website: “When preparing octopus, we found that the best and most efficient way to tenderize it is simmering it with an everyday wine cork. This way, the octopus becomes tender, yet still retain the essential leathery mouth-feel associated with eating it in the Mediterranean countries.”
Here’s what The Splendid Table has to say in their article Octopus Demystified
While Harold McGee swears by roasting it for 3 hours in a covered pot in a 200 F oven.
Honk’s suggestion of Sous Vide ultimately sounds to me like the very best way to heat gently and consistently yet retain flavor and moistness.
The Splendid Table link is very good.
But, roasting for 3 hours at 200*F?!?!??? If it wasn’t Harold McGee I’d be worried.
Really guys, it isn’t that hard. Don’t over think it. I managed to cook up some very tender octopus at Christmas…in Seville, Spain…in a VRBO kitchen that didn’t have anything other than the basics in terms of pots, pans and utensils.
The recipe I used called for Kiawe wood, so I substituted mesquite which didn’t turn out well for the reasons you’ve mentioned. However when I used the overly smokey octopus in other dishes such as octopus fried rice and octopus tofu soup, the results were much better.
Sous vide sounds like the way to go but kind a takes the fun out of it for me.
Awesome and amusing post. Thanks!!!
I know a lot of people complain that sous vide is “souless” cooking even though it isn’t different than any other kind of cooking - just a tool to achieve your desired product. Just try it
I saw somewhere that Top of the Market offers a dozen oysters for $16. Haven’t been there since they re-opened, but it sounds like a pretty good deal, given the high-end nature of the place. I also like the oyster bar at the Fish Market downstairs but haven’t been in ages.
My favorite oysters for a buck-a-shuck are at Oceanaire and Ironside, during happy hours.
P.S. Agree with Rhonely that Blue Water Grill should be included on the list.