Preparation time:
- 10mins
Cooking time:
- 15mins
Specialty:
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Pescatarian
This is a healthy and delicious recipe, super easy to prepare! It's high-in-protein and low in fat and it's perfect for people on a keto diet. In this recipe, we decided to steam the octopus in order to obtain a soft and juicy consistency to be complemented by the crunchiness of the black bean granola and the creaminess of the eggplant puree. We really like the combination of flavors: the sweetness of the eggplant puree and the saltiness of the octopus and the black beans are absolutely amazing! Black Bean sauce is a very traditional Chinese ingredient, used in steamed and stir-fried recipes to add flavor to meat and fish. We created our own version on black bean sauce transforming it into a granola. The aroma is the same, but the consistency is crunchy instead of soft.
Ingredients (2 Servings):
- 1lb / 500g of Octopus Tentacles
- 1 Eggplant
- 1 Tablespoon of Black Fermented Salted Beans
- Half Teaspoon of Raw Coconut Sugar
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- Ground Black Pepper
- Fresh Thyme
- Fresh Mint
- Sea Salt
- Extra-virgin Olive Oil
Instructions:
- Roughly dice the eggplant into cubes. Add the cubes into a pan with some extra-virgin olive oil and a clove of garlic. Cook with the lid at medium heat until they become soft. Occasionally stir. It should take 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, add the eggplant cubes into the blender with extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and a few fresh mint leaves.
- Blend it until you obtain a fine and creamy puree. Adjust with sea salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil to your taste. You can store it in the fridge (cover with a layer of extra-virgin olive oil) for a 7-10 days.
- Season the octopus tentacles with fresh thyme, 1 clove of garlic, black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. The octopus is naturally salty and there's no need to add extra salt.
- Pre-heat a wok with some water on the bottom and the bamboo steamer (if you don't have it you can steam the octopus with other appliances).
- Pour the octopus tentacles into a ceramic bowl with the seasoning and cook it in the bamboo steamer for 10-12 minutes depending on the size.
- Once steamed, remove the excess juice. Don't throw it! You can re-use it as a fish broth for a seafood risotto for example.
- Add the fermented black beans into a bowl, add extra-virgin olive oil and coconut sugar. Mix all together and mash the beans with a fork.
- Pour the mix into a non-stick pan and stir for a couple of mins until the beans become crunchy.
- Serve then steamed octopus tentacles with the eggplant puree, sprinkle the crunchy black beans and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil.