serves
6
prep
20 minutes
cook
1:05 hour
difficulty
Mid
serves
6
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
1:05
hour
difficulty
Mid
level
Many years ago, when Neil Perry and his business partner Trish Richards owned a French restaurant in Sydney, I begged them to let me work there, because I felt my lack of formal training and was desperate to learn some classical French cuisine. It was there that I learnt to cook this delicious Provençale braised octopus. It's beautiful warm or at room temperature, and it makes a lovely lunch with some crusty bread and a great bottle of red. I really love the smoky bacon bones in this recipe — get your butcher to saw them into slices for you.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg (3 lb) baby octopus
- 10 garlic cloves
- 5 cm (2 in) knob ginger, roughly chopped, plus 6 cm (2½ in) knob ginger, sliced, extra
- 1 tsp sea salt, plus 1 tbsp extra
- ½ cup sherry vinegar
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 cup extra
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 medium-sized carrots
- 3 stalks celery
- 8 small salad onions, trimmed and cut into quarters
- 1 baby fennel bulb, finely sliced lengthways
- 150 g (5 oz) smoked bacon bones, sliced
- ½ bunch thyme
- ¼ cup raw sugar
- ⅓ cup red wine
Serve as a main meal for 6
Marinating time: 1 hour
Instructions
- To clean octopus, cut tentacles away from head below the beak. Cut away and discard the beak, then turn the body inside out. Remove ink sac and internal organs. Strip skin away from head and tentacles under running water. Rinse and drain well, then cut octopus in half.
- Pound garlic, chopped ginger and salt with a pestle and mortar until crushed. Stir in vinegar and oil. Place octopus in a bowl and pour over garlic mixture and honey. Using your hands, mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, peel carrots, cut into quarters lengthways and slice. Cut celery sticks in half lengthways and slice. Heat extra oil in a large, heavy-based pan, add extra ginger, carrots, celery, onions, fennel, bacon bones and extra salt.
- Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until vegetables are lightly browned. Add thyme and sugar, increase heat again and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 2 minutes.
- Drain octopus from marinade; reserve marinade. Add octopus to pan and stir over high heat to sear octopus and seal in juices. Pour in reserved marinade, along with wine, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until octopus is tender.
premieres on Wednesday 21 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at .
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Many years ago, when Neil Perry and his business partner Trish Richards owned a French restaurant in Sydney, I begged them to let me work there, because I felt my lack of formal training and was desperate to learn some classical French cuisine. It was there that I learnt to cook this delicious Provençale braised octopus. It's beautiful warm or at room temperature, and it makes a lovely lunch with some crusty bread and a great bottle of red. I really love the smoky bacon bones in this recipe — get your butcher to saw them into slices for you.
