Octopus Rice

To make Octopus Rice, known as Arroz de Polvo, be sure to purchase the ones from Portugal or Spain.  Usually the frozen octopus as been cleaned and ready to prepare and need no tenderizing by bashing it. However, if you have a fresh caught one,  you may want to take a meat tenderizer to it.

Serves 4

 

Octopus

1. One 3 pound frozen octopus, thawed
2. 1 cup  water
3. 1 medium  onion, unpeeled
4. Rice
5. 2 tablespoons olive oil
6. 1 large onion, peeled, coarse chopped
7. 2 cloves garlic
8. 1 bay leaf
9. ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
10. Coarse salt as needed
11. Pinch crush dried chili pepper
12. 2 cups long grain rice (not instant or parboiled)
13. 4 ½ cups reserved  octopus  broth
14. ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

 

1. Rinse the octopus and lay it out on your cutting board.  With a sharp knife, cut across the head above the eyes.  Make another cut across, below the eyes and discard that section.  Looking at the mantle of the octopus, you will see a dark circle in the middle where you made a cut.  That is the beak.  Push with your finger from below or above and the beak will come out.  Discard it. Cut across the mantle, separating the tentacles. Now cut the tentacles  into 1 to 2-inch pieces.  They will shrink as they cook. Reserve the head for another use or if you are making a large quantity, peel the skin off the head and discard the skin.  Then cut the head in pieces too.
2. In a pot, combine the water, unpeeled onion with the octopus pieces.  Cover tightly and bring to a boil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes to sweat it.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 25  minutes more or until almost fork tender. Test one of the larger pieces.  Extra water will be given up by the octopus.
3. While the octopus is simmering, heat olive oil in a separate pot.  Add the chopped onion, garlic, bay leaf, parsley and chili peppers. Sauté until the onions are translucent, about three to four minutes. When the octopus is nearly tender, reserving the cooking water, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pieces to the pot holding the onions.
4. Measure out and pour about 4 ½ cups of the cooking broth to the pot with the octopus and onions..  If you don’t have enough broth, add some water to make up the difference.
5. Cover and bring to a boil. Add the rice and a teaspoon of salt.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the rice for about 15 minutes until the rice and octopus is tender.  Mix in the cilantro and serve.