Octopus Trickster Rice

This is an adapted version of a traditional Portuguese dish. "Malandro", the word for trickster stems from the fact that the rice, although thoroughly cooked, baths in extra stock. I have added chili peppers, chives and Marinara sauce to neutralize the fishiness of the octopus. A trick to keep the meat tender is not only to never put salt directly onto the octopus, but also boil it previously with hard alcohol ( tequila, firewater, vodka).

Ingredients

1 kl frozen octopus

200 ml tequila

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 onion diced

1 chili pepper diced

1 tbs chopped chives

Olive oil

200 ml Marinara Sauce

500 ml water from the boiled octopus

Sea Salt

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp of sugar

500 g of rice (I prefer sticky rice, ideal for risotto to absorb all the flavors)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the defrosted octopus and the tequila. Cook for about 20 minutes. Strain and reserve 500 ml of the water and set aside.

In a medium sized pot saute the onion, peppers, chives and chili pepper for 7 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Season with sea salt. Chop the octopus into medium sized bits and saute for 3 minutes. Add the Marinara Sauce and the water from the octopus. Combine the lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil.

Add the rice and stir. Add another 900 ml of water and bring to a boil. Stir for 20 minutes and serve.

Serves 4 to 6.