Soy and Sake-Braised Whole Octopus for #FishFridayFoodies

Remember that we kicked off Fish Friday Foodies this year. It's a group of seafood-loving bloggers, coordinated by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. We share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. 

This month, I am hosting. Here was my challenge to the group: "I invite you to get adventurous and cook a whole fish - tip to tail - or other seafood in its initial form, e.g., whole urchins or whole shellfish with heads and tails attached."

The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and I have cleaned and cooked whole sea urchin. I've cooked whole fish before. Multiple times. Here's a Whole Roasted Bream with a Ginger-Tamarind Sauce and Citrus-Roasted Vermillion Snapper. My Adobong Pusit (squid adobo) uses whole squid; I've marinated and grilled baby octopus.

I love this photo of R because it encapsulates my entire philosophy of feeding my kids: eat adventurously!

But, before this month, I myself have never cooked a whole big octopus. I've cooked baby octopus multiple times; when I was in college, one of my philosophy TAs invited us over to his house for a BBQ and he grilled one big octopus! But, as I wrote, I've never done it myself. And, for this post, I ended up cooking two!

The boys liked the texture of my first attempt, but the didn't like the flavors. I had used wine and whiskey and it was a little too potent for them. So, I cooked a re-do. And this one was a hit!

Ingredients

• 1/2 C olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 onions, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 C soy sauce (I used a gluten-free tamari)
• 1 C sake (I used an unfiltered sake)
• 1 C fish stock
• 4 fresh bay leaves
• 8 to 10 stems of fresh parsley
• 8 to 10 stems of fresh cilantro
• 1 cleaned octopus, between 1 to 2 pounds

Procedure

In a large pot - I used a Dutch oven - heat 1/4 C olive oil. Add the half of the garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes until softened and aromatic.Add in the remaining garlic and onions. Pour in the soy sauce, sake, and fish stock. Lay the bay leaves and herbs on top. Bring that to a boil.

Gently lower the octopus into the pot.

Nestle the octopus into the liquid. Bring the liquid back to a boil.

Cover and lower heat to a simmer. Let the octopus braise for 4 to 5 hours. The longer you let it cook, the more tender it will be.

Remove the octopus from the pot and let cool slightly. Slice the octopus into 1" chunks. Set aside.

Bring the sauce to a rolling boil and reduce until the sauce has a syrupy consistency. Roll the octopus in the reduced sauce before serving. I served the octopus with a side of brown rice and grilled baby bok choy.

Here's what the Fish Friday Foodies created...

An InLinkz Link-up

Join Us...

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies?  We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month.  To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517@gmail.com. Visit our Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.