Pulpo Gallego, Galician Octopus From Spain
By: Gastro Travels
Published: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 7:52am

Ingredients




1 large defrosted octopus about 2lbs
Extra virgin olive oil

Hot paprika

Sea salt

Preparation

1 Defrost a previously frozen octopus in the fridge overnight, if the octopus was not previously frozen – freeze it first then thaw it out, the freezing tenderizes the meat. 2 Fill a large stock pot with water about half way and bring to a boil – don’t add anything like salt. 3 When the water is boiling, get a good grip on the octopus and dip it into the boiling water, lift out immediately and when the water returns to a boil, dip it briefly again. Repeat this dipping 3 or 4 times until the tentacles have curled. 4 Put the octopus in the water and let it boil over medium heat - for a small octopus around 1 lb, around 45 minutes – for a larger octopus around 2-3 lbs, cook for 1-2 hours.  When you can easily pierce the meat with a knife – it’s done.  Turn off the heat and leave the octopus in the water for 10 minutes. 5 Remove the octopus and drain, cut into small pieces with scissors, place on a platter and sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and hot paprika.

About


Often times when people think of octopus, they think of rubber – not a pleasant thing to eat.  But octopus can actually be a very delicate and buttery bite…if you cook it right!  I adore octopus and will eat it no matter how overcooked, chewy and charred it might be – but nothing beats eating Pulpo Gallego, I don’t remember how many orders of it I consumed while in Barcelona and it was not enough.  Before learning how to make the dish, I was very curious as to how on earth someone could make such a rubbery and hard meat so soft and tender – turns out all you have to do is boil it for a really long time, that’s it.  Here’s my recipe for Galician Octopus – the hardest part may be finding the main ingredient!