Octopus salad in citrus and oyster vinaigrette sauce
8 servings
240 minutes
Octopus salad in citrus and oyster vinaigrette is an exquisite dish of Japanese cuisine that delights with its sophistication and complex flavor combinations. Tender octopus tentacles, carefully prepared in a fragrant broth with vegetables and spices, acquire softness and richness. The oyster and egg yolk dressing gives the dish a creamy texture, while the citrus vinaigrette adds freshness and zest. The light tartness of grapefruit and the sweet note of orange harmoniously blend with the marine tones. This dish is a true gastronomic masterpiece, perfect for special occasions when you want to impress guests with refined and exotic flavors.
1
Pour olive oil into a large pot, add 100 g of onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and fennel. Cut the vegetables into large pieces so they don't overcook. Do not separate the garlic into cloves; cut the bulb in half and place it in the pot. Add salt, mix, and add coriander, cloves, and anise. Stir, reduce the heat, and let it sit for five minutes.
- Onion: 1 head
- Garlic: 1 head
- Carrot: 100 g
- Fennel: 250 g
- Celery: 250 g
- Olive oil: 100 ml
- Ground coriander: pinch
- Anise (star anise): 1 piece
- Carnation: 1 piece
2
Take two octopuses. Octopuses are the most important ingredient. Portuguese octopuses are the best. Large, tender, and require low costs. Cut off and discard the heads of the octopuses. Usually, the head is used, but this dish needs only the long tentacles.
- Octopus: 2 pieces
3
Add fire under the pot, place the octopuses, and pour water to cover the vegetables and octopuses. When the mixture boils, remove the pot from the heat, cover it with paper with a hole in the middle — like a lid. This will prevent the octopus from drying out. Then place the pot in the oven for one and a half hours at 135 degrees. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing and vinaigrette sauce.
- Octopus: 2 pieces
- Salt: to taste
4
You can use any oil that doesn't have a strong flavor, like canola or grape seed oil. Take four egg yolks, four oysters, the juice of half a lemon, salt (to taste), pepper (to taste), and cuttlefish ink. The last is optional: add it if you have it, skip it if you don't.
- Vegetable oil: 350 ml
- Chicken egg: 4 pieces
- Canned oysters: 4 pieces
- Lemon: 0.5 piece
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Cuttlefish ink: to taste
5
Put all these ingredients in a blender and whip until creamy. Add the oil (350 ml) while slowly mixing the mixture. The result is an oyster mayonnaise. It doesn't look very aesthetic, but it's very tasty. However, it doesn't last long. Just one day.
- Vegetable oil: 350 ml
6
Now you need to prepare a citrus vinaigrette. For this, chop half an onion, celery, and fennel into small pieces for better flavor. Heat the pan and pour in olive oil. Sauté the vegetables for one minute to make them slightly crispy, not soft.
- Onion: 1 head
- Celery: 250 g
- Fennel: 250 g
- Olive oil: 100 ml
7
Next, add two tablespoons of oyster juice, grate about 1 g of orange or grapefruit zest, then add finely chopped green onion tops and mix everything thoroughly. The vinaigrette is ready.
- Canned oysters: 4 pieces
- Oranges: 1 piece
- Green onions: 100 g
8
Soak gelatin sheets in water. Remove the pot with octopuses from the oven and take out the tentacles. Take 300 ml of the broth in which the octopuses were, add salt, then gelatin, and whisk. Place the tentacles in the gelatin broth for a minute, then lay them on plastic wrap, roll it up, tie it on both sides, and cool for two hours.
- Gelatin: 2 pieces
- Salt: to taste
9
Slice the octopus into thin pieces, arrange on a plate, add beautiful dots of oyster sauce, pour citrus vinaigrette over the pieces, and add greens for decoration.
- Octopus: 2 pieces
- Salt: to taste