Octopus

Pangaea

Member
Caught a decent sized octopus (about 10 #) in the prawn traps yesterdayday. I've cleaned it and it's on ice in the cooler; now what do I do? I know it's great hali bait, but I've loved octopus any time I've had it and want to eat it. Do you skin it? I imagine it would freeze pretty well. I could google it but would like to start with local knowledge... Anyone? Wolf?

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope."
 
Keep the tentacles from where they taper down below about 3/4 inch in diameter to dress up your halibut jig, and take the pieces of tentacle from close to the body and skin them. I nail the body end of the tentacle to a board suction cups up, use a filet knife to cut just under the cups, and skin it like taking off a sock. You can either simmer the tentacles slowly with a little soy sauce in the water and eat them when they're tender, or cut them raw into discs, pound each disk with the back of a cleaver, and then saute them in butter with a little garlic. With larger octopi, I'll simmer the tentacle in water until it ives up any tendency to clench, then cut it into discs and saute it. The flavor of octopus is always good; it's the chewiness you're trying to beat.

The head can be easily skinned, laid out flat, and thoroughly pounded, then breaded with crumbs and sauteed in strips, or in halves in a smaller individual. The head will be much more tender than the tentacles.
 
Back in the days when you could legally harvest abalone,we used to put them and other tough species like octupus through a meat grinder and turn it into hamburger.Form it into patties and fry in a bit of butter.Same great flavour and it's not like trying to chew an inner tube.
Dave
 
Back in the days when you could legally harvest abalone,we used to put them and other tough species like octupus through a meat grinder and turn it into hamburger.Form it into patties and fry in a bit of butter.Same great flavour and it's not like trying to chew an inner tube.
Dave
 
Back
Top