Octopus Bao
August 4, 2016














Octopus Bao
- octopus
- 1 whole octopus 6-7 pounds
- 1 orange
- 4 Scallions
- 3 Thai Chiles
- 1 tablespoon sambol
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Grated Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Grated Garlic
- bun
- 1 packet Yeast
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 2.5 cups Flour
- 1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
- toppings
- pickled carrot
- Cilantro
- Cucumber
Instructions
Start the octopus
- Put it into a pot with water and simmer for about 2 hours until the fork goes in with minimal pressure.
Start the bread
- Mix the yeast with 1 cup warm water and the honey. Allow to sit 10 minutes until you see it starting to activate.
- Stir in the flour and vinegar. Knead until smooth (10 min) adding more flour if needed. Cover and let rise for an hour and a half.
Clean the octopus
- Chop off the legs and discard the head and weird middle part where the legs attach. I think it's called the beak which honestly makes it seem weirder than it is. Rub the skin off the legs being careful to not remove the suckers. Rinse and set aside.
Finish the bread
- Make balls of the dough and roll them out into thin rounds. Allow to rise 20 minutes before steaming.
- Steam the bread in a steamer, as many rounds as you can at a time for about 5 minutes each. Place under a clean kitchen towel while you wait for the rest to finish steaming.
Finish the octopus.
- Preheat the grill as hot as you can.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients.
- Grill the octopus with salt and pepper on very high heat to char.
- Chop the octopus and add to the sauce. Toss to coat.
- Build the sandwich by first adding the cucumber, then the octopus, then the carrots and cilantro.