Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: YummY!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

YummY! - Octopus Adventures!

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YummY!

Jotaro's Food Review

OCTOPUS ADVENTURES!

Ever since tasting my first grilled octopus during a 2019 cycling tour in Portugal & Spain, I have been sort of an addict of the dish - ever on the lookout for it whenever I am out dining!

I liked the burnt smokiness of it, and if cooked well, the nice chewiness when biting into the meat.

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PORTUGUESE GRILLED OCTOPUS (POLVO GRELHADO)

@ RESTAURANTE BACALHAU LISBON (2019)

My first taste of grilled octopus was during that 2019 cycling tour in Portugal & Spain, on Day 9 in Lisbon, come lunchtime and we had thought of eating at Time Out. But our buddies Mel & Kev had tried the place a day earlier and found the place touristy, the food just mediocre yet pricey. So we walked to the nearby streets to hunt for a more "local" place and found one called Restaurante Bacalhau. It's a place manned by Indian immigrant waiters, and whenever we recall that Indian place in Lisbon, we know that we are referring to Bacalhau. But the chef and kitchen staff were Portuguese and they whipped out a fantastic lunch for us, one that's very ala Portuguese.

We went Grilled Octopus (Polvo Grelhado) here, and as have never tried grilled octopus before. It was a very good introduction to this dish; its slightly burnt outside brought out the aroma of the sea, yet its internal was succulently tender, and we savoured it slowly, bite by bite. From then on I was hooked on grilled octopus. (Click for the Blog Link of our meal at Bacalhau)

Octopus & squids are not easy to cook, often most of us get it wrong and the meat turns out rubbery and difficult to bite into. But surprisingly, cooking them longer in a slow, i.e. confit cooking in oil or water. The most basic way of cooking octopus is to simmer it in liquid. Fill a saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Add the octopus, reduce the heat immediately and simmer gently for 45–60 minutes. It's important that the water is turned down to a gentle simmer once the octopus is in the pan. Cooking it too quickly will result in a rubbery texture.

Here's a recipe on get the perfectly grilled octopus.

Here's the Facebook posting on our Bacalhau meal in Lisbon, click on the photo to go to the post.

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GRILLED GALICIAN OCTOPUS

@ CAFE-BISTROT DAVID KUALA LUMPUR (2020)

After that 2019 cycling tour in Portugal & Spain, back home I was on the lookout for grilled octopus, but it's not so easily available in our home country of Malaysia.

So it was with much excitement & anticipation that we found out that Cafe-Bistrot David in Kuala Lumpur had opened up a Bar X Grille on the first floor of their restaurant! And with this addition, they had also revamped their menu!

And guess what? Included there is something my eyes zoomed into immediately - Grilled Spanish Galician Octopus! Though not from Portugal it's from Galicia, that part of Spain just north of Portugal where the cooking style would have some similarity and the octopus will be of the Atlantic Octopus variety!

This pièces de résistance, the Grilled Galician Octopus (Pulpo a la parrilla), was served with one large octopus tentacle curled up like a finger calling out a welcome! It was beautifully grilled; nicely browned on the outside and was served on a Yuzu Vinaigrette dressing with a Celery & Leek Salad. It exuded a good burnt aroma. David's have done it very nicely, it was easy to bite into and the grilled exterior complemented the fleshy inside very well. And marinating with a Ras el hanout, spice mix have made it all the better - we slowly savoured it bite by bite. Hah! Even looking at this photo again has made me drool!

Click for the 2020 Blog Link.

Here's the Facebook posting on our Cafe-Bistrot David meal in Kuala Lumpur, click on the photo to go to the post.

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GRILLED SQUID @ LE JACKPOT, LE MARAIS, PARIS (Oct. 2023)

During a 2023 family tour of Western Europe, we dropped into Le Jackpot at Le Marias locality in Paris for dinner. They serve small plates/tapas style and we were surprised to find grilled squid on their menu. But I think it was a misnomer, as the squid turned out to be an octopus. It was a good find as their grilled octopus turned out to be one of the best we had. Needless to say, we ordered a second helping.

Front view of Le Jackpot.

Here's the Facebook posting on our Le Jackpot dinner at Le Marias, Paris, click on the photo to go to the post.

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GRILLED OCTOPUS @ LA BANQUET, LE MARAIS, PARIS (Oct. 2023)

We discovered this place by "accident', we were exploring the Le Marias area of Paris when my son had to do some toilet duty. Dropped into La Banquet for his purpose, it wasn't so nice to use their restroom without any orders, so we ordered this swirling grilled octopus served in pumpkin sauce.

The slightly sweet sauce went very well with the smokiness of the octopus, its bright saffron yellow colour highlighting the smokiness of the grilled octopus.

It was a badly needed trip to the restroom for Nicks, but it was another octopus good find for us. Haha!

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FRENCH LUNCH AT MARCHE DES ENFANTS ROUGES, PARIS (Oct. 2023)
[includes Snails (escargot) (okay), Mussels in gorgonzola sauce (very good), Grilled octopus (okay only),
Dry aged sirloin in beetroot sauce (not to be missed), Rack of lamb (very good) & Good white wine]

We were on a 2023 family of London, Paris & Amsterdam. We met up with my son's friend, who's a teaching chef and thus very familiar with the nooks & crannies of Paris. He brought us to one of the stalls at the Marche des Enfants Rouges where we had a swell meal. The grilled octopus was ok-ok only, but their Mussels in Gorgonzola Sauce and Rack of Lamb were both very good. AND NOT TO BE MISSED is the Dry Aged Sirloin in Beetroot Sauce!

Nevertheless, we did enjoy the grilled octopus.

Looks mouth-watering, yah?

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SMOKED OCTOPUS AT BREF BY DARREN CHIN, TTDI, KUALA LUMPUR (Nov. 2023)

Back in Kuala Lumpur, it's a-hunting time again for grilled octopus. Popped into Bref by Darren Chin (David's son) to celebrate the missus birthday. Had a nicely done Wagyu Beef and a unique Pasta with flying fish roe (tobiko) sauce.
The flying fish reminded me of my cycling adventures at the Batanes in the Philippines, where I had pickled dibang (that's Filipino for flying fish). Must say that the dibang there was an acquired taste, as the locals chuckled on seeing me trying to handle the sour-tasting/fishy-smelling "Maytahes Dibang" unsuccessfully.

Sorry, I detracted. Here's the grilled octopus. Not the best of photos under dimmed lighting BUT it was the best I had so far! The adequate comfiting had it nicely tender and the smoked grilling added to an overall treat!

Will definitely go back for this again and again!

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DINNER AT SOON LAI SEAFOOD (顺来海鲜), BATU GREEN, GREEN LANE, PENANG (Nov. 2023)

From grilled octopus we proceed to boiled octopus; more specifically blanched baby octopus tentacles. Up in Penang, this delicacy is called Too Boh Sui, which we had during a dinner at Soon Lai Seafood.

The tentacles when blanched in hot water correctly, have a crunchy bite. By itself it's tasteless but the garlic-chilli sauce (with pound groundnuts) that goes with its crunchiness that makes this a delicacy!

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TEOCHEW FARE AT RESTORAN TEOW CHEW MENG, SS2, PETALING JAYA (Nov. 2023)

Down in Petaling Jaya, one can have Too Boh Sui at Restoran Teow Chew Meng. This restaurant is renowned for good Teochew dishes on their menu. My favorite is the such as their seafood min sin.

Looks simple but good!

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JAPANESE FARE AT GYUKINGU, KOTA DAMANSARA, PETALING JAYA (Feb. 2019)

From Octopus we continue on to grilled squids (aka cuttlefish, calamari); this is a large one we had at Gyukingu in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya. Above photo shows the fresh large squids just started being grilled.

As the squids were slowly cooked, their burnt aroma tickled our appetite, making us eager to bite in! Gyukingu is a Japanese grille house, and we were there to savour the Wagyu Beef that was on promotion then. Of course, we had other delicacies including these squids. Read more about our feast there.

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SQUID TREATS AT THE IBERIAN PENINSULAR (Nov. 2019)

Towards the end of 2019, we went on a cycling tours at the Iberian Peninsular, it turned out to be one of our best tours. Needless to say, it was also a foodie tour and other than the grilled octopus we had at Lisbon, we also had some yummy grilled squid.

Any squid aficionado will know that the best part of a squid is its roe, especially when it's still soft and a bit runny.

We had this yummilicious squid at O Alminhas in Faro, Portugal (6th Nov 2019).

This whitish squid, clean of its spotty skin looks almost immaculate. It had been lightly pan-fried and olive oil added as a dressing.

We had this at the Mercat de la Concepció, Barcelona, Spain just before meeting some local Brompton cyclists who took us on a whirlwind cycling tour of their city (15th Nov 2019,

Click here for Blog Link.