War wrote on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:38:42 -0400:

W parrotheada1a wrote:
?? On Sep 23, 5:08 pm, "James Silverton"
?? wrote:
?? Hello, All!
??
?? I picked up a book by Masahara Morimotu (owner of
?? restaurants in NYC and Philadelphia) in Borders today .
?? He gave directions for preparing octopus for sashimi.
?? This involves rubbing with rock salt to get rid of the
?? slime that coats it, beating to tenderize ("traditionally
?? with a large diakon"!), and simmering in dashi for 1 1/2
?? hours! It's not raw fish!

W Hi Jim, do you mind if I add this to the recipe section on
W sushifaq.com?


Not my recipe in any way. The above was my quote from Morimotu
:-)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Sep 26, 2:38 pm, War wrote:
parrotheada1a wrote:


I can only assume that this is a good preparation for FRESH octopus.
Since I cannot find the fresh product up here in New England, I am
forced to use frozen. My preparation gives excellent results, and the
octopus I buy typically runs about 4-5 lbs. About the only thing that
needs to be removed is the beak, the viscera are usually taken out
before freezing. Always buy a frozen octopus, this reduces the chance
of spoilage.

1. Put on a pot of water, about a gallon, and add a good sized piece
of kombu and about 2 oz of sea salt. Bring to a boil.
2. Thaw octopus in cold water, then drain well.
3. Knead the octopus with a large amount of fresh grated/chopped
daikon radish and sea salt. What this does is to clean off any slime,
and it also tightens the skin up just a bit. While doing that, turn
the head inside out and check for any leftover viscera. Remove any
that's found, then return the head sac to it's correct shape.
4. Using a fork, dunk the octopus into the boiling water a few times
untill the tentacles curl up. Lower the heat a bit, and then simmer
the octopus for about 5-10 minutes. After that turn the heat off and
cover the pot.
5. Let the octopus cool in the liquid for at least an hour, then into
the fridge the whole thing goes. Overnight is great if you can manage
it, it's the slow cooling that tenderizes it.Take it out of the water
and let it dry a bit. Slice, then serve as you like.

You'll probably find the skin around the head to be very tough. This
skin is better off discarded. The very top of the tentacles where they
conjoin into the head will probably also have a gelatinous layer right
under the skin that's not too edible either. Hope this helps anyone
who would like to cook one up.

Jim S.

Hi Jim, do you mind if I add this to the recipe section on sushifaq.com?

-Warren

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Not a problem at all Warren. I cannot claim full credit for it though.
Most of the ingredients and some of the techniques are from Shizuo
Tsuji's Japanese cooking book. His outstanding book uses fresh
octopus, and I have added a few different steps for starting with the
frozen ones.

I should also add that the cooked octopus has a fairly short shelf
life even if refrigerated. I usually store it unsliced in a ziplock
bag, and I've learned that if kept dry, the octopus will keep for a
week, mebbe two at the most. I've found that keeping it in a strong
brine solution after cooking extends shelf life in the fridge. The
salt in the brine doesn't seem to get into the meat, the texture
remains firm, and it keeps the cooties at bay for weeks longer. Still,
don't expect this stuff to keep forever. After a few weeks in the
brine, parts of the octopus will get soft, especially the skin.

To Musashi ,

We call them pipi s , you call them surf clams , i think they
are the same , you can dig them with your feet , top eating

--
still fishin , pedro

"Musashi" wrote in message
et...

"Gerry" wrote in message
news:2007092415065650073-somewhere@sunnycalif...
On 2007-09-24 08:30:22 -0700, "Musashi" said:

Yes at a sushi counter you will find Akagai, Aoyagi, Torigai, Mirugai,
etc
all in raw form. I think that surf clam is probably mirugai or geoduck.

Nope. I get frequenctly in SoCal and they are explicitly not mirugai.
They have a very distinctive look to them with a pink point of sorts.
It looks vaguely triangular. I found a picture, which though it looks
a little skewed to red rather than pink is close enough:

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...79752668XPISTZ
--


Ahh...that's Hokkigai. Sometimes called Hokkyokugai.
I use that when making Nuta sometimes instead of Tako.
Yes you're right that's called Surf Clam.
Amazingly harvested in Canada and shipped to China where processed, boxed
and frozen and sent back to
the US.