David LaForce (Chicago Area), author of posted recipe, “Sous Vide Grilled Octopus Recipe”
He has a couple of steps that confuse me: Step 4
Now we have to blanch the octopus to remove the slime. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Step 5
When boiling, dip the octopus tentacles first into the boiling water 3 times for 10 seconds each time. Step 6
Blanch octopus for 10 minutes. While blanching prepare an ice water bath.
My question is: Is there difference between steps 5 & 6… aren’t they the same?
They are different. Step 5 is a total of 30 seconds (3 times 10) and I assume it may do something like tempering the skin (my completely ungrounded guess). Step 6 is a continual 10 minute blanch.
I make grilled octopus frequently and I’m not following his steps, either, or their purpose. I’ll also throw out there that grilled octopus is one dish that does not benefit from sous vide. You can easily prepare the octopus for grilling in a fraction of the time by throwing it in a pot of simmering/slow boiling water for 30-50 minutes to tenderize it. The time will depend on the octopus and how tender you want it, and not using sous vide gives you the flexibility of checking it as it goes (with a knife poke) to confirm when it is done.
My recipe: Place enough water in pot to easily cover octopus. Salt until it tastes like light sea water. Throw in half an onion, a few cloves of garlic, a couple of bay leaves and a tablespoon or so of black peppercorns. Bring to a boil, throw in octopus, cook for 30-45 minutes until tender. Remove and let cool enough to handle. Depending on the octopus there may be extra skin which is somewhat gelatinous - remove if desired. Toss in some olive oil and herb (fresh or dried oregano, marjoram or thyme), grill, serve with a little lemon or red wine vinegar and more EVOO.
Bonus: When you cook in a pot you end up with a bunch of delicious octopus stock which can be used for soups, chowders, or a seafood risotto.
Thanks for the info. I used to live in both Italy and Spain and loved how tender their octopus dishes were, but I could never replicate the tenderness. I tried several Sou Vide recipes, but again it was never tender enough. I’ll give your method a try and hope for the best!
I would guess you would get results in around 20 minutes in a regular pressure cooker, but would be concerned you’re going to end up with a texture that is too tender for grilled octopus if you go much longer (grilled octopus should not be textureless, IMHO). I can’t even imagine what 5 hours in a high temp steam oven would do. FWIW, Serious Eats goes 15 minutes in a pressure cooker. If I were in a rush, I might consider the pressure cooker route, but you lose the ability to check on it as it cooks to test for optimum (i.e., the way you prefer it) results and it won’t save you a ton of time.
Play around with the options and let us know how it works out for you.