Spicy Charred Baby Octopus Skewers

Charred Baby Octopus Skewers
Korean Chili Marinade, Red Onion, Meyer Lemon

Oh how we adore grilling season! Let’s kick it off with something a bit unusual… and exotic, spicy, smoky, charred, chewy, lemony too. These Korean chili marinated baby octopus (jjukkumi) skewers are interesting enough to serve at your next great BBQ party, yet easy enough to serve for dinner tonight.

Octopus has a mild sweet flavor – hard to dislike – but sometimes the texture can be off-putting for some people. This par-boiled, marinated, then grilled method solves the texture problem. The Korean chili marinade brings spicy yet fruity flavors, and not many can resist the char from an open fire. Grilled red onion and warm Meyer lemon juice balance out the flavor profile. As a bonus, it’s served on a stick. Ooh ooh fire up the grill!

Baby Octopus Skewers Recipe

Ingredients for 6 skewers:

3/4 lb. par-boiled baby octopus
1/2 red onion, cut into 1″ squares
korean chili marinade
2 meyer lemons, cut in half

To Par-Boil Octopus: Bring a large pot of water to a boil then turn off the heat. Add cleaned baby octopuses for 2 minutes. Remove the octopuses to an ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain well.

Season red onion pieces with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Soak 6 wooden skewers in water.

Korean Chili Marinade:

3 T. gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
1 t. gochugaru (Korean coarse chili powder)
1 T. rice wine
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. sugar
2 t. sesame oil

Whisk ingredients together to form a smooth sauce. Toss par-boiled octopus with marinade and refrigerate 2 hours.

Alternate pieces of red onion with marinated baby octopus on skewers.

A grill basket is the perfect tool to keep the skewers intact and from sticking to the grill.

Cook skewers and lemons on a well-oiled grill over high heat until slightly charred on both sides (about 6 minutes total).

Serve skewers with grilled lemons on a platter. Garnish with a drizzle of sesame oil and a sprinkling of gochugaru (Korean coarse chili powder) and toasted sesame seeds.

Optional: Serve this platter with seasoned seaweed to add the cool taste of the sea, and blistered green chiles for more fiery heat.

The Plural of Octopus

Word Origin & History from Dictionary.com here.

octopus

1758, genus name of a type of eight-armed cephalopod mollusks, from Gk. oktopous “eight-footed,” from okto “eight” + pous “foot.” Proper plural is octopodes, though octopuses probably works better in English. Octopi is from mistaken assumption that -us is the Latin noun ending that takes -i in plural. POUS = FOOT.

Enjoy. Spicy. Charred. Baby. Octopuses. (Not octopi).