Smoked Octopus-Mayo with Nori Fries
Sometimes the greatest tastes come from pairing the extraordinary with ordinary. This recipe pairs one of our most technical culinary creations with one of America’s most unassuming condiments. Ingenuity and irony intersect and lead us on a one-way journey to a very basic yet delicious destination.
At first glance, this recipe is simply Belgian style frites with mayonnaise. But there’s more than meets the eye here. Just as the giant Pacific octopus uses its sophisticated camouflage system to hide in real life, the smoky flavors of our Smoked Octopus are blended and hidden in this delicious fry sauce.
This extremely easy recipe for smoked octopus mayonnaise is open to your interpretation and preference, but we’ll give you the basic preparation.
A cautionary note: We feel compelled to say this again, please remember this is a condiment, intended to be enjoyed in small amounts to enhance the flavor of the vessel that is being dipped. But if you find yourself eating this with a spoon, remember, we told you so!
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
For the Octo-Mayo:
1 can Wildfish smoked octopus2 cups heavy mayonnaise (The real stuff. No cheating.)
For the Nori Fries:
2 sheets of nori seaweed, lightly toasted and powdered
sea salt
plenty of oil for deep frying
Technique
For the Octo-Mayo:
Empty the can of octopus - juice included - into a food processor and pulse to a fine mince. Or, not so fine, if you prefer a toothier texture. But you want a somewhat even consistency in the resultant chop.
Fold the octopus mince into the mayonnaise in a mixing bowl with a spatula. Don’t do this in the food processor, as you want the mayonnaise emulsion to maintain its own consistency. You can use more or less mayonnaise depending on the desired consistency. Less mayo gives you more of a dipping sauce, while more mayonnaise will make it thicker. Either way, this condiment is BIG and WILD in the flavor department.
Allow the octo-mayo to rest in the fridge so that the flavors settle together while you prepare the fries.
For the Nori Fries:
To prepare the fries, rinse the potato slices well to remove excess starch, then dry well in a linen towel or sackcloth.
Heat the oil to 300ºF and blanch the fries in small batches until they are cooked through. Remove them from the oil before they begin to brown, drain them on paper towels, and allow them to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Raise the temperature of the oil to 375ºF and fry the potatoes until brown and crisp. Drain the fries again on a paper towel, then sprinkle with sea salt and nori dust.
Serve the nori fries with the smoked octopus mayonnaise and prepare yourself for a round of applause.
Comments
Darryl Cramer —
Aloha just opened up my first can of smoked octopus and created dip with mayonnaise and capers and the results are delicious!! Sometime I’ll share my octopus recipe with you folks!!