Spicy stir-fried octopus
Pat the octopus dry and stir-fry it quickly with onion and gochujang seasoning in a wide pan.
- Cuisine
- Korean
- Prep
- 22 min
- Cook
- 11 min
Scale the recipe
Ingredients
- cleaned raw long-arm octopus weighed after thawing in the refrigerator if frozen, removing the innards, ink sac, eyes and beak, rinsing and patting dry
- 300 g
- Onion peeled and with the root trimmed
- 70 g
- green chile stem removed
- 12 g
- red chile stem removed
- 10 g
- Large green onion (daepa)
- 14 g
Seasonings
- Brewed soy sauce
- 4 g
- Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 13 g
- Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 9 g
- Sugar
- 3 g
- Minced garlic
- 5 g
- Minced ginger
- 1 g
- Neutral cooking oil
- 9 g
- Sesame oil
- 4 g
Level measures: 1 T (tablespoon) = 15 mL, 1 C (paper cup) = 180 mL. Household spoons and cups can vary in size.
Method
-
Rinse the cleaned octopus
Thaw frozen octopus in the refrigerator. Remove the innards, ink sac, eyes and beak. Rinse briefly under running water, paying particular attention to the suckers. Wash your hands, board and knife before handling the other ingredients.
-
Pat the octopus dry
Shake the strainer, press clean paper towels against the octopus to dry it, then weigh 300 g.
-
Cut into bite-sized pieces
Cut the body into 1.5 cm strips and the arms into 5–6 cm pieces. Sort pieces by thickness so you can start with the thicker body pieces.
-
Slice the onion, chiles and green onion
Cut 70 g into strips about 1 cm wide. Diagonally slice the washed 12 g, 10 g and 14 g. Keep them apart from the onion.
-
Mix the gochujang seasoning
Mix brewed soy sauce 4 g, gochujang 13 g, gochugaru 9 g, sugar 3 g, minced garlic 5 g and minced ginger 1 g in a small bowl.
-
Heat a wide pan
Spread cooking oil 9 g in a thin layer in a wide pan and heat over medium-high. Use a pan that fits the octopus and vegetables in a single layer. For larger portions, cook in batches and divide the oil and seasoning proportionally.
-
Sauté the onion first
Spread the onion out and cook for about 1 minute. When the edges turn translucent, move to the next step.
-
Stir-fry the octopus and seasoning
Add the thicker body pieces first and stir-fry about 30 seconds. Add the arms and seasoning and toss for 1–2 minutes, letting pooled liquid evaporate. Reduce to medium if the sauce starts sticking quickly.
-
Add the chiles and check the octopus
Add both chiles and the green onion and toss for about 30 seconds. Check with a food thermometer that the center of the thickest octopus piece stays at 85°C or higher for at least 1 minute. If needed, cook longer over medium heat, stirring to keep the seasoning from sticking.
-
Finish with sesame oil
Turn off the heat, toss with sesame oil 4 g and serve. Refrigerate leftovers in a shallow container at 4°C or below within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the room is above 32°C.
