Tag Archives: pickled octopus

Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli

Restocking the boat with fresh fruit and veg is always a challenge. What fruit and veg will stay the freshest the longest?… that sort of thing. While at Mooloolaba we went to the supermarket and, surrounded by fresh fruit and vegetables, I went a little crazy. Forgetting I only have a small fridge on the boat I bought lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, fennel bulbs, chillies, zuchinni, capsicum, carrots, swede, and more. Of course when I got it all back to the boat there was no way I was going to fit it all in my fridge. Some of it was able to go into the bilge with the potatoes and onions, (i.e. swede and carrots), but others such as the lettuce and cucumbers needed to go into the fridge.

Anyway that dilemma led to me deciding to have a salad for lunch. My next dilemma was how to serve a salad to Dwayne for lunch without him thinking I am trying to starve him to death! After a search through the fridge I discovered we still had some pickled octopus left. (The occy we caught in Fame Cove).

Pickled Octopus
Pickled Octopus

So this is what I did…

I made a simple salad of lettuce leaves, sliced cucumber, chopped tomato, sliced red onion, thinly sliced fennel bulb and sliced green chilli. I arranged the salad on a platter and topped it with sliced pickled octopus. I wasn’t sure how to dress this salad. What would go with the pickle flavour of the octopus? I decided to do a simple aioli of whole egg mayo and lime juice. I used bottled lime which I always have on hand on the boat. I mixed quite a lot of lime with the mayo to make a thin dressing, which I drizzled over the salad.

Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli
Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli

It worked really well. We thought the flavours complemented each other. Dwayne loved it and because it had something other than just veggies i.e. the occy, he didn’t accuse me of feeding him diet food!

Pickled Octopus

We put the crab pot out to try and catch crabs while moored in Fame Cove, Port Stephens NSW. No luck with crabs but we didn’t go away empty handed, we did get an octopus.

Pickled Octopus
Octopus caught in the crab trap.

One of our favourite happy hour nibbles is pickled octopus, so we set to work making it.

Dwayne’s first job is to get it out of the net; I just can’t handle the thought of it wrapping it’s tentacles around my arms (which it does!).

The Octopus

octopus
Octopus

Dwayne prepares it by removing it’s head and the skin , then cutting it into individual tentacles.

Removing the octopus skin.
Removing the octopus skin.

I place the tentacles into a pot and put it on the lowest possible heat (adding no water). I simmer the octopus for about 30 minutes. The pot fills with liquid as the octopus simmers.

Pickled octopus

When cooked I slice the octopus into bite-size pieces and place them in a container with one part white vinegar, one part sweet spiced vinegar, half a packet of pickling spice mix, a pinch of chilli flakes and a slice onion. Then refrigerate it!

Pickle octopus ready to refrigerate.
Pickle octopus ready to refrigerate.

When I serve the octopus I place it in a serving dish and drizzle it with a little olive oil, yum.

Pickled Octopus
Pickled Octopus ready to serve.

Check out our Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli