Seafood dishes are exotic, but they are available to the modern person regardless of the place of residence. Octopus meat is delicious and incredibly healthy. Frozen seafood is most often sold in Russia. So they retain not only freshness, but also important trace elements. How to cook an octopus carcass if it is frozen?
Taste qualities and features
How to cook frozen octopus? In time it will be less than if you were going to cook fresh. Cooking time depends on the size of the seafood. Octopus meat is popular because it has special taste. It is tender, nutritious, with a sweetish aftertaste. This delicacy is very fond of Italians, Spaniards, Japanese. An octopus is a cephalopod mollusk that lives in tropical and subtropical seas. He has a soft oval body that looks like a bag, eight long tentacles with suction cups. In total, about two hundred species live in the seas and oceans.
A large octopus weighs more than seven kilograms and reaches a length of more than a meter. But there are very large individuals. Use tentacles and carcasses for food. The octopus meat tastes like squid, but softer. This seafood is cooked, stuffed, baked, stewed and even eaten raw. Octopus meat is a rich source of B vitamins, trace elements, minerals, amino acids, protein, omega-3 fatty acids. Meat strengthens the immune system, positively affects the work of the heart and other organs, supplies cells with oxygen, normalizes the digestive tract, and slows down the aging process. And this is not the whole list.
How much time to cook?
If the octopus is large and freshly frozen, weighs 2-3 kg, then it is cooked for about 25 minutes over low heat under a lid. Very large octopuses cook an hour, but if they are fresh. Frozen a little less. Small enough to boil for five minutes. If you purchased fresh, it is better to put it in the freezer for freezing. Cooking this will be easier.
Cooking process
How to cook frozen octopus? It depends on the size of the seafood. Put water on a strong fire, salt, add spices, a little oil. Water should lightly cover the meat. If you bought small octopuses in a package, then open and inspect seafood. If there is no ice on them, they are the same size, then you do not need to defrost the octopuses, but you should cook immediately.
If the bag contains impurities, for example, other seafood, then defrost them and rinse in water. After boiling, pour the octopuses into the water, wait for the water to boil, cook for five minutes. Cool in a colander, add to salad or make another dish.
Recipes
What simple seafood recipes to implement in your kitchen? If you bought frozen octopus (small), then try making a salad. For him you will need:
- small octopuses - 150 g;
- lettuce - 150 g;
- celery - 1 pc.;
- green onion - 30 g;
- olive oil - to taste;
- garlic, black pepper;
- bay leaf - to taste.
Add salt, black pepper, bay leaf, garlic, octopus to a pot of boiling water. When seafood is cooked, they need to be chopped finely. In another pan, cook the chicken fillet with carrots. Cool and chop the chicken. Wash the salad, dry, put on a dish. Then chop onions, celery, mix with octopus and chicken, salt, add olive oil on top.
Another interesting and simple recipe is octopus with potatoes. For cooking you will need:
- octopuses - 1 kg;
- potatoes - 1 kg;
- parsley - 1 bunch;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- lemon juice from 1/2 fruit;
- olive oil;
- salt.
Peel the potatoes, chop, cook. Boil the meat and chop it (small octopuses can not be chopped). Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil, put potatoes, octopus, pour lemon juice and olive oil, sprinkle with garlic and herbs, salt. Bake in the oven until cooked.
How to clean the octopus with ink? If this is not done correctly, then you can spoil the dish. Remove the ink bag from the middle. If the octopus is fresh, rinse it with water, remove the mucus from the tentacles, separate the head from them, and also remove the "beak" and eyes. Rinse the meat with water, scald with boiling water or boil, then remove the skin, send the carcass to the freezer for a couple of days. This is necessary so that the meat is soft, not hard.
Advice
How much to cook frozen octopuses, if they are large in size? In this case, the heat treatment should not be too long, as with small seafood, if you do not want the octopus to be sinewy and tasteless. During cooking, the main task is the destruction of dangerous microorganisms. If the octopus is too big, it is better to divide it in parts and cook separately. So, we cook the carcass in 1 kg.
Instruction:
- Take a large pot, pour water, bring to a boil, salt with sea salt.
- When the water boils, immerse the meat in it, then remove it, repeat it three times.
- Cook the octopus on low heat until soft. Then let it cool in the same water.
Salt is added before cooking, and not during or after, otherwise the meat will be tough. Frozen octopuses (how much they cook - higher) will be softer after cooking, unlike fresh ones. The latter before this process is better to freeze. The fire during cooking is minimized; you need to dip the carcasses in already boiled water until pink and curled. Remember that the film after heat treatment is easier to remove if the meat is dipped in ice water.