Octopus Salad with sesame, garlic and soy dressing

Name: Octopus Salad with sesame, garlic and soy dressing
Yield: Serves 6–8
Ingredients: 3 teaspoons mirin; 4 garlic cloves; 3 teaspoons sake; ¼ cup (60 mL/2 fl oz) Peanut (groundnut) oil; 3 teaspoons sesame oil; 4 tablespoons sesame seeds; ⅓ cup (90 mL/3 fl oz) rice vinegar; ¼ cup (60 mL/2 fl oz) lemon juice; 2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce (shoyu); 1 small red onion; Peanut (groundnut) oil (see method); 8 radicchio (chicory) leaves; 2 cups mizuna leaves; 625 g (1¼ lb) octopus, cleaned and heads removed; 1½ tablespoons peanut oil; Freshly ground black pepper to taste; 1 cup fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves; 3 garlic cloves, peeled; ½ cup (125 g/4 oz) tahini

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

A Taste of Australia

By Victoria Alexander and Genevieve Harris

Published 1995

About

Baby octopus are perfect for this recipe. Each octopus should be cut into four or five pieces. If mizuna is not available, substitute curly endive (frisée).

Ingredients

Salad

4 garlic cloves
Peanut (groundnut) oil (see method)
4 tablespoons sesame seeds

Fish course
Pescatarian

Method

TO MAKE DRESSING, place the tahini and roughly chopped garlic in a food processor or blender and mix to a smooth paste. With the motor still running, add the coriander leaves, rice vinegar, lemon juice, mirin, sake and soy, then slowly pour in the peanut and sesame oils. Mix well to combine.

TO MAKE SALAD, peel and finely slice the garlic. In a small saucepan over a medium