Crispy marinated baby octopus

1. Baby octopus is sold fresh and frozen. I buy mine frozen in 2 kg / 4 lb blocks at my local seafood shop. Thaw, drain well, then use per recipe. No need to peel the skin, it’s cooked until tender. You won’t even notice the skin.

Tenderness – easy to tell when it’s ready, it should be tender but not overcooked so it gets mushy. Start checking at 45 minutes. Mine are usually done in 1 hour, for slightly larger ones it might take 70 minutes.

Large octopus legs – Keep whole and follow recipe as written. They should take around the same time to become tender even though they are thicker.

Fresh octopus can take a little longer than frozen as freezing kick-starts the tenderising process.

2. Smashed garlic cloves – leave the skin on. Place the side of a chef’s knife on the garlic then bang with the palm of your hand to make the garlic burst open but mostly hold together. Garlic flavour will infuse into the braising liquid but it’s easy to pick out later.

3. Marinating – Don’t shortcut this. Minimum 12 hours, 24 hours is best for maximum flavour infusion!

4. Crushed potatoes –I boiled 500g baby potatoes with the octopus for the last 30 minutes. Lightly crushed them and poured over the residual marinade after removing the octopus to cook it (it’s flavour loaded, don’t waste it!!)

5. Leftovers will keep for 2 – 3 days in the fridge. I swear it’s even better the next day! I have also been known to intentionally make ahead and to make another batch of marinade (no salt) and put the BBQ’d octopus into the marinade. Then you have a simple marinated octopus situation and it is a ridiculously delicious flavour bomb that’s the perfection addition to a cold seafood platter or a grazing board, or a simple summer lunch.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings and 3 tbsp of oil in marinade is not consumed.