Chinese Octopus Recipe: Tender Baby Octopus Salad!
Octopus is a popular item on the street food menu across China. Especially the Eastern China region loves octopus a lot. If you are bored of eating the same stir-fried or stewed octopus, I have a completely different recipe that will give you some lovely flavors.
This Chinese octopus recipe needs just a few seasonings and sauces. You can make it very quickly, so this recipe can be a lifesaver on your busy days. Learn the recipe from the steps I mentioned below and master this Chinese delicacy to wow everyone. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Chinese Octopus Recipe Overview
You need to go through this quick chart to get a clear picture of this recipe. It contains key information like the preparation time, cooking time, serving size, and more.
| Course: Side dish | Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Easy | ||
| Total Time: 10 minutes | ||||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories | |
| 3 persons | 8 minutes | 2 minutes | 278 kcal | |
Ingredients Needed for the Recipe
Everyone has their own set of ingredients for cooking octopus. I want to share the most authentic octopus recipe with the following ingredients.
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- Baby Octopus: 1 baby octopus
- Salt: ½ tsp
- Black Vinegar: 2 tsp
- Scallion: 1 handful of scallion, chopped
- Cilantro: 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
- Light Soy Sauce: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Horseradish: ⅓ tsp of horseradish paste
- Sesame Oil: ⅓ tsp
Chinese Octopus Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
You should follow the steps below to make a finger-licking octopus dish.
Step 1: Cut and Marinate the Octopus
Clean the baby octopus thoroughly. Cut its tentacles into long sections. Sprinkle ½ tsp of salt onto the pieces and massage them for one minute. Then, add 1 tsp of black vinegar to the tentacles.
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Step 2: Blanch and Rinse the Octopus
Boil water in a large pot. Put the marinated octopus tentacles into the boiling water and blanch them for one minute. After one minute, strain the tentacles and put them in cold water. Then, rinse the octopus tentacles thoroughly.
Step 3: Assemble the Dish
Take the blanched and cleaned tentacles in a bowl. Add a handful of chopped scallions and a handful of chopped cilantro to the bowl. Then, pour 1 tsp of light soy sauce, 1 tsp of black vinegar, and ⅓ tsp of sesame oil onto the octopus. You should also add 1 tsp of sugar and ⅓ tsp of horseradish paste to balance the flavors. Now, mix everything well and serve on a plate.
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Nutrition Facts of the Recipe
Octopus is protein-rich seafood with a lot of calories. Each serving of this recipe has 278 calories. The amount of other nutrients in this dish is given below.
- Total Carbohydrates: 7.4g
- Protein: 50g
- Total Fat: 3.6g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.8g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0.6g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 0g
- Total Sugar: 1g
- Cholesterol: 164mg
- Sodium: 782mg
- Potassium: 1071mg
- Calcium: 180mg
- Iron: 16.2mg
- Vitamin A: 0IU
- Vitamin C: 0mg
Do’s and Don’ts of the Recipe
Special tips from experienced cooks always help me get out of tricky situations. You should check out the following tips for this recipe.
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Do’s
- Scrub the octopus tentacles vigorously to remove as much slime as possible. It will result in a much cleaner octopus.
- You can drizzle some lime juice over the octopus to make it much more enjoyable.
Don’ts
- Don’t blanch the octopus tentacles for too long. Otherwise, they will be cooked through and you don’t want that for this recipe.
- Don’t put a lot of salt in this dish as the soy sauce already contains salt.
Chinese Octopus Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Clean the baby octopus thoroughly. Cut its tentacles into long sections. Sprinkle ½ tsp of salt onto the pieces and massage them for one minute. Then, add 1 tsp of black vinegar to the tentacles.
- Boil water in a large pot. Put the marinated octopus tentacles into the boiling water and blanch them for one minute. After one minute, strain the tentacles and put them in cold water. Then, rinse the octopus tentacles thoroughly.
- Take the blanched and cleaned tentacles in a bowl. Add a handful of chopped scallions and a handful of chopped cilantro to the bowl. Then, pour 1 tsp of light soy sauce, 1 tsp of black vinegar, and ⅓ tsp of sesame oil onto the octopus. You should also add 1 tsp of sugar and ⅓ tsp of horseradish paste to balance the flavors. Now, mix everything well and serve on a plate.
FAQs
The answers to some common questions can clear your confusion about this recipe. Don’t miss them.
What size octopuses are suitable for this recipe?
Baby octopuses of about 1-1.5 lbs are the most suitable for this recipe. As you won’t cook the octopus for a long time, the octopus tentacles should be soft. So, you must use baby octopuses.
Can I cut live octopuses or should I blanch them first?
You can cut live octopus tentacles. Baby octopuses have smaller tentacles and they are easy to cut. After cutting the tentacles, it is easier to marinate and blanch them.
Can I use other protein or seafood in this recipe?
It is better to preserve the authentic flavor of the octopuses. So, you shouldn’t use any other protein or seafood for this recipe. Moreover, the making process of baby octopuses might not match the requirements for other proteins.
What else can I serve with this octopus recipe?
You can serve this recipe as a main dish or a side dish. If you serve it as a main dish, seafood fried rice will be a good side dish. But, if you serve it as a side, you can serve grilled seafood and vegetables with it.
Conclusion
Octopus has a soft yet chewy texture that is loved by many. But if you can’t prepare octopuses right, they won’t taste as good as expected. So, the recipe you follow to make octopuses greatly impacts the flavor.
I showed a simple but flavorful Chinese octopus recipe that needs almost no cooking. You just need to blanch the octopus to clean it properly and then you can serve it with some aromatics and seasonings. Try this recipe to discover how amazing baby octopuses taste.
