Name: Octopus salad
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients: 800 g Octopus; 1 g Bay Leaf; 1 un Onion; 10 g Garlic; 100 g Green bell pepper; 100 g Red Bell Pepper; 15 g Coriander; 80 ml Olive Oil; 30 ml White wine vinegar; 6 g Salt; 1 g Black Pepper

Method

Thaw the octopus overnight in the fridge (frozen octopus turns out more tender). Rinse it well.
Bring a large pot of water with the bay leaf to the boil. Holding the octopus by the head, dip it into the water 3 times, a few seconds each time, so the tentacles curl; then let it go in.
Simmer over medium heat for 35 to 45 minutes, until a fork goes easily into the thickest part of the tentacles (in a pressure cooker, 15 minutes once it hisses). Turn off the heat, add half the salt and leave to cool in the water for 15 minutes.
Drain the octopus, cut the tentacles into 1 cm rounds and the head into strips.
Finely chop the onion, garlic and coriander and dice the peppers small.
In a bowl, mix the octopus with the onion, garlic, peppers and coriander and dress with the olive oil, vinegar, remaining salt and black pepper. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Shopping tip

Buy frozen octopus (what most households use, and it cooks more tender) or fresh from the fish counter, asking them to clean it. 800 g raw yields about half that cooked.