Recipe courtesy of Tina Washburn
Tentacle Tacos
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 2 servings, 2 tacos each
- Total: 30 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 10 min
Ingredients
2 preboiled 6-inch octopus tentacles, about 1-inch round
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 large jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1/2 red onion, sliced lengthwise into thin strips
1 lime, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 fajita-sized flour tortillas
1 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
Directions
- Add the octopus to the soy sauce to a medium-size bowl and set aside.
- Mix the jicama, red onion, lime juice, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat a large pan on medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Heat another large pan on high heat and add the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Remove the octopus from the soy sauce and add to one of the pans over medium-high heat. Cook for 2 minutes on each side. While the octopus is cooking, add the tortillas, 1 at a time, to the other large pan over high heat and fry until light golden.
- Remove the cooked octopus from the pan to a cutting board and chop into coarse pieces. Put 1/4 of the octopus in each tortilla, top with 2 spoonfuls of the jicama mixture and sprinkle with cilantro. Arrange on serving plates and garnish with a couple of wedges of lime and cilantro sprigs.
Cook’s Note
I buy my octopus at the Asian food market but sometimes they don't have it, so as an alternative I have used a 1/2 pound of raw, peeled and deveined tiger prawns. All steps for the octopus are the same for the shrimp.