Tenderizing Octopus

So, I have heard from more than one Chef that they put wine corks in the liquid they are cooking the octopus in to make it more tender. Is there any truth to this? I don't have the time or money to test this properly. I'm skeptical.

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

Myth, McGee recommends a brine - http://www.ehow.com/info_8718071_octopus-cork-cooking-myth.html

trev_teich

sweet

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Last time I cooked octopus as per MC and it came out great. (blanch 30 sec boiling water then 85C 4hr)

TODD_ANDERSON_36806

@Tim if you do not own Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking, the Science and Lore of the Kitchen." it is a must for the home cook and chef for any questions food related. I Love it!!!

trev_teich

I'm not a big fan of the MC approach. I do olive oil, garlic and pasilla chilli in the bag. 5 hrs in the combi oven at 100c. Turns out amazing.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

I do the MC approach with the leg tightly wrapped in cling film so it is straight. Once the leg is cooked I freeze it then slice it <1mm on a meat slicer. The frozen disks are then shingled on hot food (smoked potato tubes are my default).

Sumit__65166

do it the greek way!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUMkqm9melo

Johan_Edstrom_5586

That is awesome @Sumit!

Gorm_Veggerby__40759

One of the best sushi chefs Sukiyabashi jiro. Massages the octopus for 1 hour. To make it tender.

The greek approach by smashing it into the rocks. Doesnt appeal that much to me, try using the jaccard tenderizer.

Daphne_Georges_7296

Have a large pot of boiling water and a bowl of ice water ready. Put the octopus in the boiling water for2 minutes. Immediately plunge in ice water. Repeat two more times then continue with recipe.

Corey_37766

Similar to the massage technique, I've seen the use of a stand mixer with beater attachment to smack an octopus around.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

So many ways to massage your octopus......

Pedro_35537

I place the legs in Mashed Kiwi (the fruit) for 20-30 minutes.

Pedro

Chris_Young_80640

@neptuno — interesting. Kiwi has proteolytic enzymes that I recall are pretty effective on collagen. How would you describe the resulting texture after the marinade?

davidattala

I seem to recall an episode of Iron Chef America: Battle Octopus, where Michael Symon added Bromelain (the enzyme prevalent in pineapple that can tenderize meat proteins) to a pressure cooker. My research would seem to conclude that the effects of Bromelain would cease to break down the meat above a given temperature, seemingly rendering this addition to the pressure cooker useless. Does anybody have any experience using Bromelain to tenderize octopus in a marinade, and if so is it a worthwhile endeavor and in what quantity works? Do we know how fast this enzyme breaks down different proteins (tough beef cuts, lamb, etc) and can we use this information to incorporate into brines and marinades on a more regular basis?

Chris_Young_80640

@David — Yes, it would rapidly be denatured at temperatures that hot. So, yes, waste of time. But pressure cooking is a very fast and effective way to hydrolyse marine collagen, so the bromelain would have been totally unnecessary anyway.

The biggest risk of using proteolytic enzymes is that they create peptide fragments that are often incredibly bitter. So it's easy to overdo. Somewhere I have a paper on the efficacy of various plant enzymes on various proteins in muscle. I'll see if I can dig that up.

Simon_Andreas_Petutschnig_34596

In Japan chefs are massaging the octopus.

Chris_Young_80640

The arrangement of muscle fibers in cephalopods like octopus is completely unlike that found in most other animals, whose muscles tend to be oriented in a single direction—the direction of pull. The muscle fibers and collagen sheathing of cephalopods more closely resemble the layers of wood fibers in a piece of plywood, with the grain of one layer running at perpendicular angles to the grain above and below. This allows these creatures to contract or expand their muscles in just about any direction, which accounts for the contortionist talents of the octopus.

As happens with other kinds of seafood, the collagen in cephalopod muscle begins to shrink at comparatively low cooking temperatures. When it does, the crisscrossing layers of collagen in the flesh of these animals contracts every which way. Scoring the meat in several places prevents some of the contraction by breaking the collagen fibers, and it also makes the meat easier to bite through.

Pounding, or massaging, also tend to cause numerous micro-tears in the collagen fibers which prevents some of the contraction, and as a result makes it easier to bite through cooked flesh.

trev_teich

Very cool.

marcelo_mintz_68159

Japanese way of cooking octopus, is very different from the ones you guys are describing ,the Japanese use those for sushi,where they are served cold(sushi)if you try to use that method to grill octopus ,will become tough

Shinichi_37063

In sushi restaurants we beat the octopus with daikon, the raw juices contain digestive enzymes that help break down the muscles. We then boil it with a handful of rice grains, matcha tea leaves and sometimes umeboshi. Don't know the science behind this but we do it for the tradition...any thoughts?

Chris_Young_80640

I've never heard of using the daikon, that's interesting. How long do you let it sit with the daikon juices after the pounding? (Unless it's a long maceration with the enzymes, I think most of the benefit comes from pounding, which tears a lot of the collagen and makes the meat more tender).

naithaddi

Tried the MC technique of blanching for 30 sec to remove the slime, vaccum packed with some olive oil

and cook for 4 hours at 85C last night, chilled it and open the bag this morning to taste.

was freaking good. Will grill it and make a salad with it later today. will post a picture.

naithaddi

Used the octopus sliced with SV halibut and celeriac purée and celeriac fondant and carrots. Was very tasty. Seasoned the octopus slices with olive oil, saly and lime juice.

brian_martin2001

Really really really late reply, but I did some research on this, probably around the same time this post was written. The daikon radish tenderization technique has it's roots in Japan. What a lot of people are wrong about is why it was used. The daikon radish is an impressive tuber, and it was just used as a club to beat the hell out of the octopus. You can study the chemistry of it, but there are no enzymes or otherwise in the juice/flesh of the radish that will interact with the meat of the octopus to make it more tender. You can test this by just grating up a bunch of daikon and cooking the octopus in it and compare it to one that has not been treated with daikon. The texture will be the same.