Oxtapodia Octopus
LastJune 29th,Market Man of Manila posted on his wonderful food blog about Inihaw na Pusit – Grilled Squid
I asked him if octopus is popular in the Philippines as I could not even remember having such delicacy inspite the fact we lived near the coastline.
“Amazing you should ask! At the market last weekend they had several small octopus for sale but I didn’t know how to tell if they were fresh and how to cook them! Have any easy ideas? I see them occasionally in the markets, not that often…perhaps our reefs are not as hospitable as they used to be.”
Octopus at Ouzeri Pireaus, Athens.
To answer Market Man of Manila how to tell if they are fresh, I suggest if you could hold and smell it, then its the best way. Octopus should smell like a sea… must have the aroma of salt water and if you look at the skin, it should glisten.
The photos above shows how the Greeks air dry the octopi (is that meant to be the plural of the word?) It has been probably been beaten against the rock to soften them.
Soon they will be grilled and slice thinly serve with lemon and olive oil.
I know there are many ways of preparing this food but I like the Greek way of either grilling or boiling them then marinated with olive oil and lemon.
How you do yours?
I also like it grilled using olive oil and lemon juice, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to add finely chopped chilli 😉
I prefer the baby octopus though, IMHO the meat is much softer.
Those octopus tentacles look far better than the ones I saw in the Market in Batangas! The ones here were much smaller, swimming in water/fluid and complete with heads and all! They didn’t look firm and were a pale grey…
Kinilaw Sha hehe.
I think the way you are cooking it is far superior. Grilled it is.
I ate grilled octopus several times at Japanese restaurants but I don’r recall anything else was added. Of course, as all Japanese meals go, there was wasabe and soy sauce. That made everything taste good.
In Malaysia we hardly get to see octopus on sale. That was why they caught my interest in Athens.
hi sha!
those octopi look fearsome ha.
at our last cookout i marinated my squid in olive oil, a squirt of lemon, crushed garlic, freshly ground black pepper and …Greek oregano from my tiny garden. it was truly heavenly.
i like the baby octopus too, the way Chinese restaurants serve them as appetizers (briefly blanched, then marinated in soy, etc.)
wonderful photos once again, sha.
Oh grabeh, naglaway ako. I love squids and baby octopus, hwag yung super laki ha. Oxtapodia, alam mo when I first read this term I thought it was ‘oxtail’!
ARA: OXTAIL.. not yet but we can do oxtail sometime when I get back to UK…
oxto means eight in greek language
podi is a foot
podia feet….
Stel I have to wait when I go back to London to have this baby octupos strange they dont sell it here but I will ask.
Sa chinatown kasi you can go to places where chinese people go iba ang menu nila…
BAYI perhaps all the octupos in Malaysia are exported to the Japanesse Markets.
MARKET MAN: NO dont buy that.
KUIIPO oh yes kinilaw i asked some filipinos here if they do kilaw and they said yes. I already told them to invite me…
THESS: chopped chilli not on greek tables hahaha, am sure my sister’s greek mother in law wont be happy. but markus and I can do.
Greeks are still TRADITIONALISTS when it comes to food.