DUKAI
Recipe BookFish & Seafood

Sous Vide Octopus

Sous Vide Octopus · Chickpea & Smoked Paprika Emulsion · Pickled Red Onion · Crispy Capers

Sous vide replaces beating the octopus entirely. What matters after that is drying it properly and finishing it hard, whether on a pan, a grill or a plancha.

1 to 2 kg whole octopus

Cook this

No salt before cooking: it can toughen the octopus over a long cook. And the bag liquid is not waste, it is pure umami ocean stock.

Chef Paul Dukai

Ingredients

The octopus

  • Whole octopus, cleaned, beak removed1 kg to 2 kg

Flavour base, per kilogram of octopus

  • Olive oil30 ml
  • Garlic, cloves, crushed3 to 4
  • Bay leaves2 each
  • Smoked paprika1 tsp
  • Black pepper1 tsp
  • Lemon zestof 1 lemon
  • Thyme or oreganoa small sprig
  • Onion, celery and carrota small amount of each
  • White grape vinegaroptional, a splash

Quick Mediterranean glaze

  • Octopus juicesfrom the bag
  • White grape vinegara splash
  • Lemon juice
  • Olive oil
  • Honey or palm sugara tiny touch

To finish

  • Capers, fried until crisp

Method

Preparation

  1. If the octopus is fresh, freeze it first. Freezing breaks down the muscle fibres naturally. Thaw it fully before cooking.

  2. Remove the beak if it is still there and rinse well. There is no need to tenderise by beating: sous vide replaces that completely.

  3. Combine the flavour base and bag the octopus with it. Do not salt it yet.

  4. Vacuum seal tightly, making sure the tentacles are not overlapping too tightly, and never overpack the bag.

The two cooking programmes

  1. For a tender but still structured, fine dining texture: 77°C for 5 hours.

  2. For a very soft, almost braised character: 85°C for 4 to 5 hours.

  3. If it is not being served immediately, straight into an ice bath. It can be portioned and stored in its own juices.

Finishing

  1. Dry the octopus very well before searing. This is the step everything depends on.

  2. A hard sear: a smoking hot pan, olive oil, the tentacles pressed down, for deep caramelisation and crispy edges.

  3. A grill: charcoal or gas, brushed with olive oil, with a light lemon glaze to finish.

  4. A plancha: a clean, even crust.

  5. For the quick glaze, reduce the bag juices with a splash of white grape vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and a tiny touch of honey until glossy, and toss the octopus through it just before plating.

Chef’s notes

  • This plate is the Bold Mediterranean direction of the three the source offers, and it is the canonical one. For it, cook at 77°C for 5 hours: tender but still structured is what the emulsion and the pickle are built around. 85°C for 4 to 5 hours stays available for a softer, almost braised character.
  • The other two directions are recorded rather than published. Clean and elegant: charred tentacle, white bean purée, burnt lemon gel, herb oil. A third: a tamarind laced glaze, ash oil or burnt citrus, and a textural crunch of tuile or crumb. The preparations for both are in the Recipe Book as related preparations.
  • Do not skip the rest. The texture improves.
  • The quick Mediterranean glaze stays inside this recipe rather than becoming a preparation of its own, because its quantities are deliberately loose.

The finish

  1. A pool of chickpea and smoked paprika emulsion.
  2. The charred tentacle on it, tossed through the quick Mediterranean glaze.
  3. Pickled red onion scattered over.
  4. Crispy capers.

Keeping

If it is not being served straight away, into an ice bath, then portion it and store it in its own juices. Keep it at 5°C or below and use it within 3 to 4 days, or freeze it. The juices are worth keeping either way.

Allergens and diet

Molluscs, octopus. Sulphites, if the vinegar is used.

Also in the Recipe Book

Last refined · September 2026