Octopus Curry!

My wife gave a thorough intro so I'll just get right to it:

While in Santa Barbara this week I decided to do a little pier fishing.

I was after lobster, crabs and halibut but as you can probably guess by the title I caught none of the above. Luckily, a successful fishing trip to me just involves bringing a good meal home. After about an hour of freezing my ass off I manage to grab a good-sized octopus.

We have a fresh octopus, so now what?

Well first it needs to be cleaned, a simple process that involves flipping the octopus inside out and removing the undesirable bits and rubbing it in white flour to remove the sliminess and rinsing it clean.

Next you need to tenderize it so that it is pleasant to eat, a regular meat tenderizer does the job fine. Then, and most importantly, you put it in the freezer for at least 8 hrs. I fought this idea but honestly freezing and thawing it will make the meat very tender.

Once you are ready to cook the octopus, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight in the fridge. Once thawed you will want to bring a pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil then bring it back down to medium/low heat.

Dip the tentacles in one by one for about 3 seconds to "scare" the octopus then drop the whole beast into the vat. He will turn red and the water will get progressively darker, this is normal.
Keep the heat on for about 45min then shut it off and keep him in there for probably another 15min while the water slowly cools. This step is to help soften up the meat further.

After removing your eight-legged friend from the water you will want to remove the skin but try to keep the suckers attached. After you have exposed all of the glorious white meat you will want to chop him up into bite-sized pieces.

To make the curry I start with about 3 tbs of red (Thai) curry paste, freshly minced garlic, onion, fresh ground peppers and paprika. I combine these ingredients with the fresh-cut octopus into a large pan with about a tablespoon of oil and stir-fry for a few minutes until aromatic.

At this point you add a can of coconut milk(14oz) and bring it to a boil. Once boiling take the temperature way way down to a low (I mean low) simmer and stir regularly. You keep this up for about 45 min till the sauce thickens and the octopus is nice and tender. Also it isn't a bad idea to throw a couple tablespoons of butter in about 5 min before you're finished to help enrich the flavors even further.

Now pour a healthy serving over fresh rice and enjoy.

[note: if adding vegetables in the curry it is best to stir-fry them separately and add them at the end because if you put them in when you start the curry they will end up as a hideous mushy mass ruining all you have worked so hard for]

-jerrad