They are served atop a smear of oh-so-luscious Saffron Potato Aioli. Off the grill, they are tossed with lemon oil, chili flakes, salt, pepper and parsley. Two things to happen: They finish cooking and the char adds a nice smokiness.” “Out of container, the excess marinade is removed and we grill them to char a little. “They go into a marinade of grapeseed oil, thyme, garlic, lemon peel, then marinate for 1 to 2 days in refrigerator, covered. “(At this point) they are tender but a little on the raw side,” he said. The simmer is short, but more cooking takes place after the seafood is marinated. He braises them, thawed, in a court-bouillon spiked with fresh lime, carrots, leeks, celery, onion, thyme and bay leaf. Rustica’s executive chef says his restaurant doesn’t use frozen products, with the exception of frozen, farm-raised baby octopuses. One of Taco Asylum’s many hot sauces is optional. Quickly heated on a flattop grill to make the exterior a little crisp and attain a hint of char, they are served in tacos, wrapped with house-made tortillas and teamed with kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and oregano. Daniels explains that they soak up the flavors and the oregano starts to permeate the flesh. Made tender by the braise, the babies bathe for several hours in a refrigerated marinade made of extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic and oregano. They weigh in at only a few ounces, and Daniels gently simmers petite IQF (individually quick frozen) octopuses for 11/2 hours in red wine augmented with aromatics: garlic, bay leaf and whole peppercorns. Yet it is the itty bitty ones that Daniels, executive chef and partner at Taco Asylum, has mastered. And he prefers the medium size because “it is far too easy to overcook the little ones,” he says. He likes the salinity of Mediterranean seafood, explaining that the salt adds sweetness. He uses midsize octopuses from the Mediterranean. A garnish of roasted-crisp slices of Spanish-style chorizo adds welcome texture contrast and spiciness. Fournier uses his braised-then-grilled octopus in a beautiful dish with fingerling potatoes and colorful bell peppers napped with Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Japanese cuisine uses octopus, called tako, in sushi and takoyaki (fried or grilled). He says there is a chemical reaction that is highly beneficial to the texture. It’s a technique he learned from a Japanese chef. The Parisian-born executive chef at Andrei’s in Irvine says part of the tenderness secret is to add wine corks to the braise (don’t worry, corks are removed before serving). Sometimes he likes to serve it naturally, accompanied with lemon wedges and house-made hot sauce, or accompanied with espagnole sauce, peppers and onions. Grilled octopus might end up in a gazpacho-esque cocktail along with sweet onion, chopped tomato, cilantro, jalapeño and avocado. Toughness, he says, is a result of too little or too much cooking.īefore serving, the braised and cooled octopus is slathered with olive oil plus some chili flakes, salt and pepper, then grilled about two minutes on each side. Size, he says, doesn’t affect flavor or tenderness. “But 10- to 12-pounders go to the sushi guys,” he explains.
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