Sannakji

Small octopus cut up and dressed in sesame oil, eaten while the pieces still move, and cut small because the suckers still grip.

Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains shellfish.

Ingredients

• 2 very small live octopus, about 200 g each
• coarse salt, for cleaning
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1 spring onion, very finely sliced
• gochujang with vinegar, for dipping

Method

1. CUT SMALL AND CHEWED COMPLETELY. This is the technique and it is also the safety instruction, and on this page they are the same sentence. The suckers on a freshly cut octopus still work, and a large piece swallowed whole can attach in the throat, and this has killed people. So the pieces are cut to two or three centimetres, never longer, they are turned thoroughly in sesame oil, which deadens the suckers considerably, and every mouthful is chewed right through before swallowing. Not a dish to eat while talking, and not one to give to a child or anyone who has been drinking heavily.
2. THE SESAME OIL IS NOT A GARNISH, for that reason. It is poured on generously and the pieces are turned in it until every surface is coated, and that is done before anything reaches the table.
3. THE OCTOPUS MUST BE SMALL AND ALIVE WHEN IT IS CLEANED. Two hundred grams each at most. A larger one has suckers strong enough to be a genuine problem whatever you do to it, and this dish is simply not made with them.
4. IT IS CLEANED WITH COARSE SALT AND RINSED HARD, two or three minutes of rubbing and several changes of water, until the slime is gone and the water runs clear. The ink sac and innards are removed from the head.
5. IT IS NOT COOKED AT ALL AND NOT SEASONED BEYOND OIL, SALT AND SESAME. There is nothing to a recipe here: the whole dish is the texture and the freshness, and anything else added is a distraction from a thing that lasts about three minutes.
6. AND IT IS SERVED AND EATEN IMMEDIATELY, within a minute or two of cutting. That is the point of it; left standing it is simply raw octopus, which is pleasant and is a different plate.
7. The octopus rubbed hard with coarse salt for 2 to 3 MINUTES, which removes the slime.
8. Rinsed through 4 or 5 changes of cold water until the water runs clear.
9. The head turned inside out, the ink sac and innards removed, and the beak pushed out from the centre of the arms. Rinsed again.
10. A board, a very sharp knife, the oil and the bowls all set out ready before the next step.
11. The arms CUT ACROSS into 2 to 3 cm pieces, working quickly. The head sliced.
12. Everything turned at once into a bowl with the sesame oil and fine salt, and TURNED THOROUGHLY until every piece is coated.
13. Sesame seeds and spring onion scattered over.
14. Taken to the table immediately, with the gochujang dip.
15. Eaten a small piece at a time, CHEWED COMPLETELY. The pieces will still be moving; that is expected and is not a sign of anything being wrong.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes