I am a big fan of the Peruvian cuisine. I love their use of spices and herbs, their wonderful combinations and ingredients. It’s probably because in some ways it resembles the Lebanese cuisine, like fresh ingredients and pure flavours; who knows ;-). This recipe uses the same basic preparation of the octopus in this recipe (in a deep pan without any water). But this time around, we’re going hot and spicy! If you can get your hands on some Peruvian ingredients, replace the sambal with aji amarillo (yellow chili paste; available at Que Rico. They ship to many European countries).

Ingredients

  • 500 gr octopus
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 garlic clove
  • 5 black peppercorns
  • 5 pink peppercorns
  • 1 chorizo sausage
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon sambal (chili paste)
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions

  1. Place the octopus along with the bay leaf, garlic (peeled and halved) and peppercorns in a deep pan without any water. Cover and let gently cook on low heat about 2 hours, until the octopus is nice and soft.
  2. Cut the tentacles from the body of the octopus and discard the rest. Cut the tentacles into 2-3 cm pieces.
  3. Cut the chorizo into pieces of 2-3 cm.
  4. Mix the olive oil, oregano and sambal in a bowl and add the chorizo and octopus. Leave to marinate for about 10 minutes.
  5. Assemble the skewers, alternating the octopus and chorizo.
  6. Grill the skewers on a barbecue, in a grill pan or under the grill of an oven.
  7. Serve warm.