Fried Octopus

Fried fish and seafood dishes are beloved around the world. Most corners of the world have one. Fried fish is served all over the Caribbean; there’s pescaíto frito in southern Spain, fish and chips in the UK, fried calamari around the Mediterranean, shrimp tempura in Japan, fried fish in Latin America… And the list goes on! Did you know that battered and fried fish made its way to the UK via Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain? And that batter frying was brought to Japan by the Portuguese? Well, today we’re going to broaden this repertoire of battered and fried seafood with some crispy fried octopus.

• First, if using frozen precooked El Rey del Pulpo octopus, defrost it. Submerge the unopened package in room temperature water for 30 minutes. If using refrigerated octopus, simply take it out of the fridge before you start cooking.
• Next, bring a pot of water to boil with a bay leaf and salt. Once it is boiling, drop in the whole potatoes with the skin on. 10-15 minutes should be enough. They should be tender, but still intact as you’ll need to fry them.
• Next, prepare the vinaigrette by combining a splash of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of ½ a lemon, a dash of fresh parsley, a chopped hot pepper, and salt.
• You can cover the fries with sautéed onion. Simply julienne the onion and sauté it in EVOO over low heat for 10 minutes.
• When the potatoes are done, drain well and let cool. Slice them in half to fry them in a fryer or frying pan over high heat until golden.
• Take the octopus out of the package and fry in a frying pan with hot olive oil (at about 340°F). A few minutes should do it. The fried octopus should be golden and crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. You can fry the whole tentacles or cut them into large chunks.
• Serve the fried octopus over the potatoes and onion in a serving dish. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Your fried octopus is ready to enjoy!

If you’d like to try another delicious octopus dishes, we recommend this easy to make octopus in garlic sauce, the grilled octopus, the world-wide famous greek octopus recipe or this octopus and onions recipe, ideal as starters or as a light dinner.

Discover more octopus recipes and enjoy the most scrumptious dishes.

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