Tag: seafood
Takoyaki
Takoyaki
Takoyaki is one of my favorite Japanese appetizers. You can find them on just about every ramen and sushi menu that you read. They are kinda like little pancake balls, still slightly gooey inside, filled with octopus, green onions, and pickled ginger. They are then topped with takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, crushed seaweed, and bonito flakes. While you need to have a special takoyaki pan to make them, they are extremely easy to make. You can find the pans on Amazon for around $20. If you aren’t a fan of octopus, substitute shrimp, ham, or sausage.
Equipment
- Takoyaki pan
- Chopsticks
Ingredients
- 1 cup dashi stock
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup flour plus 2 tbsp
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp pickled ginger chopped
- 1/2 lb octopus
- vegetable oil
Toppings
- takoyaki sauce
- kewpie mayo
- dried crushed seaweed
- bonito flakes
Instructions
- Wash your octopus. Rub it with salt.
- Drop the octopus in salted boiling water. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Shock in ice water.
- Chop the octopus into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the dashi, soy sauce, salt, egg, and flour.
- Over medium high heat, lightly brush oil in each of the takoyaki pan holes. Fill up each hole with 2/3 of the takoyaki batter.
- Drop a few pieces of the octopus in the center of the batter in each hole.
- Cover the top of the pan with green onions and pickled ginger. Let the takoyaki cook for 3 minutes.
- Using a chopstick, push the edge of the takoyaki and turn each one half way. Start to tuck the green onions and pickled ginger inside of the takoyaki. Pour the remaining batter into the holes. Let cook for a minute.
- Completely turn the takoyaki upside down. Let cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from the pan.
Octopus Ceviche
Octopus Ceviche
Recipe #666, on Halloween 2020. Wanna venture out to another type of ceviche that’s not fish or shrimp? Ceviche de pulpo, aka octopus, is the way to go. You can purchase all ready cooked octopus, or buy a whole raw one and cook it yourself like I did. The octopus takes about 2 minutes to cook in a pot of boiling water. Scoop the octopus out and place in ice water to stop the cooking process. It’s really that simple.At this point, cut the octopus into thin bite sized pieces. Mix with hot peppers, some red onions, and lime juice. Let that marinate for 2 hours. Marinate the remaining half of the red onions with salt and lime juice. Once the marinating process is over, mix the ceviche together with the lime-pickled red onions, cilantro, and olive oil. Serve the ceviche with plantain chips.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 12 oz octopus
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 1 serrano pepper thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 5 limes juiced
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rub your octopus with salt. Wash and rinse the octopus in cold water.
- Bring a pot of water to a hard boil. Drop the octopus in. Boil for 2 minutes.
- Place the octopus in an ice bath to shock and stop the cooking process.
- Place the onions in a bowl. Season with salt. Cover with cold water and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the salt off.
- Chop up the octopus in small bite sized pieces. Mix them together with the serrano peppers and half of the red onions. Juice 3 limes over the bowl. Season with salt. Place in the refrigerator and let marinate for 2 hours.
- Juice 2 limes over the remaining onions. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Mix together the lime pickled red onions with the rest of the ceviche. Mix in the cilantro and olive oil.
Langostino Ceviche
Langostino Ceviche
Langostinos are a crustacean that’s related to the hermit crab, but are more like a cross between a shrimp and a lobster. Sweet in flavor, langostinos make a great ceviche. The problem is finding good quality langostino. Unless you live on an ocean coastline in South America, you are going to have a hard time trying to find fresh whole langostinos. You can find big bags of tail meat at Costco in the frozen section that is good quality. If you have uncooked tail meat, you can simply drop the langostino in boiling water for no more than 30 seconds, then shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking. They cook that quick. If you have cooked tail meat, skip this process. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and let marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Serve the ceviche with plantain or tortilla chips.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- mandolin slicer
Ingredients
- 8 oz langostino meat
- 1/4 medium red onion sliced 1/8” thick on a mandolin
- 5 limes juiced
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 serrano pepper thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Placd the sliced red onions in a bowl of salted warm water for 10 minutes.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Boil the langostino meat for 30 seconds.
- Scoop out the langostinos and place in ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Drain the red onions and the langostino meat. Placd in a bowl with the lime juice, garlic, serrano, cilantro, and salt. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Place the ceviche in a serving bowl. Mix in the olive oil.
