Author Notes
I love serving cold/room temperature Asian-style appetizers in the summer/spring. This Japanese recipe has been updated and spiced up by using Sriracha sauce - adding almost a bit of kimchee flavor. Adjust the amount of Sriracha to your taste. The dipping sauce can be served as such, or pour it over the skewers on one big plate/platter and serve family-style. —CookOnTheFly
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Ingredients
- Preparing the Octopus
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Salt, for washing
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4 cups
Water
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1/2 cup
sake or rice wine
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1 tablespoon
Distilled White Vinegar
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Kosher salt to sprinkle on cucumbers
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2
Small Cucumbers (English or hothouse cucumbers about an inch in diameter work best)
- Dipping Sauce
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1/2 cup
Japanese Rice Vinegar
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1 1/2 tablespoons
Sugar
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2 to 3 tablespoons
potato starch
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1 1/2 teaspoons
Kosher salt
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1 teaspoon
Sriracha sauce
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1
egg yolk, beaten
Directions
- Preparing the Octopus
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Sprinkle salt over the octopus and wash thoroughly, making sure you clean out the tentacles well. The salt creates an abrasive surface to help clean the octopus well.
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Rinse the octopus under cold, running water.
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Wrap the octopus in a clean dish cloth and hit it with a meat mallet or rolling pin to tenderize it a little.
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Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, then add the sake and the salt.
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Add the octopus, cover the saucepan and boil for about 15 minutes, or until a chopstick penetrates the meat easily and the octopus becomes a purplish-red color.
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Remove the octopus from the water and suspend it with tongs from the large portion at the top of the leg, over the sink or a large deep bowl (I skewer it with a metal BBQ skewer and let it drip into a tall stock pot). This allows the octopus to uncurl.
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After the octopus has cooled, cut it into bite-size rings and toss with the vinegar. Discard the tips of the legs.
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Cut the cucumber into rounds about the same size as the octopus rings and sprinkle lightly with the salt.
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Using 6-8 inch bamboo skewers, alternatively thread on the octopus and cucumber rings. Set aside.
- Dipping Sauce
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Place all ingredients, except for the egg yolk, into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Add the egg yolk, whisking it in well.
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Serve the skewers and dipping sauce together, either slightly chilled (15 minutes) or at room temperature.
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