Fired Octopus on the Arteflame

There’s nothing like a tender seared octopus. Those who’ve had a rubbery bite may be turned off from this delicacy but here is the perfect way to make delicious octopus at home on the grill.

We use a sous vide bath to tenderize the raw uncooked octopus (fresh or frozen) before searing it to get that final delicious crisp. Placing the octopus in a bag at this step preserves its natural juices, and additional liquids (olive oil, spirits, soy sauce, etc.) and seasoning (salt, herbs, etc.)  can be added inside the bag to infuse even more flavor. This works with any size octopus, whole or separated tentacles.

Some recipes talk about blanching or boiling the raw octopus in water before hand. While this also works, it does tend to draw some of the natural flavors out of the octopus. If you’re blanching in wine or another liquid to infuse flavor into your octopus, that’s a different story.

1. Set your sous vide to 180-185ºF in a tub or pot large enough for your octopus.
2. Place your cleaned octopus (fresh or frozen) in a vacuum bag or resealable bag.
3. Add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a shake of oregano and a grind or two of black pepper. Here is where you can play around with adding your own flavors (try soy sauce and sake). Experiment!
4. Remove the air and seal your bag.
5. Submerge in the sous vide bath for at least 2 hours.
6. Get your Arteflame fired up. You’ll want the cooktop nice and hot so it sears the octopus on contact.
7. After at least two hours in the sous vide, the octopus will be tender and fully cooked. Remove the octopus from sous vide bag.  (nothing from the sous vide looks attractive at this stage but do not despair!)
8. Coat the octopus with some olive oil to help prevent it from sticking during the sear.
9. Coat the cooktop with some olive oil and sear the octopus until it is well browned and crispy.  Don't let it dry it out.  Remember, it’s already fully cooked.  Searing should take anywhere from seconds to a few minutes per side.  No more.
10. At this point, plate if you so desire (over some warmed hummus with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil) or eat it straight from the Arteflame