Ease of Preparation: Hard
Yield: 8-10 servings, as an appetizers
Ingredients:
- 1 x 3-pound (1.4 kg) large octopus
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 10 allspice berries
- 1 large celery stalk, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- ¼ cup (60 ml) semi-sweet sake
- ¼ cup (60 ml) mirin
To Garnish:
- Olive oil
- Shaved red onion
- Lemon
- Black pepper
Method:
Preheat sous vide water bath to 170 F (77 C).
Remove the eyes and beak from the octopus.
Arrange octopus in a vacuum bag with carrot, shallot, allspice, celery, peppercorns, bay leaves, sake, and mirin, seal with a vacuum sealer.
Cook the sealed bag of octopus and in the sous-vide bath for 7 hours.
When ready, remove the bag with the octopus from the water oven and allow it to cool to room temperature.
Remove the octopus from the bag, discarding the other contents.
Cut octopus into even size ‘sticks’, several inches in length.
On a large piece of plastic wrap, arrange the cut octopus lengths in a neat bundle.
Shape into a cylinder, wrapping as tightly as possible in several layers of the plastic wrap, tightly tying the ends.
Refrigerate the tightly wrapped cylinder overnight. For a perfectly round presentation, consider hanging the tube from the rack of the refrigerator.
To serve, unwrap and use a very sharp knife to cut 1/8-inch (3 mm) cross section slices.
Arrange the slices on a plate, garnish with olive oil, onion, lemon, and black pepper.