We have a lot of threads around here about food likes and dislikes and everything else food related, and at some point I or someone equally not excited about food will express an opinion and be told we are childish, unadventurous, weird, boring, etc. . .
So today at the office for lunch we ordered a bunch of dishes from a place that sells Asian street food. I didn’t have much trouble tasting different things because for the most part it’s just vegetables, meat and noodles with different spices. Some I liked better than others but none of it was inedible. UNTIL I got to the Korean fried octopus on a skewer.
Sweet, fancy Moses that was nasty:eek: It was like eating an old ships’ life preserver that had accidentally been saturated with gasoline which then resulted in an explosion which then sent it adrift for three years until it was discovered by the restaurant owner when he was walking his dog and said dog peed on it. So he took it back to the shop and cut it up into pieces and put them on a skewer and sold it to my coworker.
And that is why I am not keen on tasting just any old thing. I didn’t expect to love it but it was far worse than I had anticipated. My quota for new food sampling has now been filled for 2017.
I’ll try anything and often I’ll enjoy it. I really like squid. But every time I’ve eaten octopus, it’s had a rank, animalic kind of musky taste that I just don’t care for.
Was disappointed by uni, too. It had a bitter aftertaste that kept developing.
Interesting. Did the other people in your office like it? The octopus I’ve had has always seemed tasteless to me, its distinguishing property being chewiness. I never order it, but my husband likes it.
It didn’t seem like anyone was crazy about it but I don’t think they were traumatized like I was It wasn’t as chewy as I was expecting, possibly because it was bbqed? I’m assuming the toxic, burnt flavor was also due to the bbq.
My friends once bought me a fancy cocktail at an Asian fusion restaurant once that was garnished with a whole baby octopus. I couldn’t eat it. It was like being called upon to eat, well, a baby.
I have had octopus raw and fried in restaurants and enjoyed it both ways. But one time I had it out of a packaged snack food bag with soy sauce and it was just awful. So, maybe it’s just a matter of how it’s prepared.
Yeah, the smart ones taste better, but they’re harder to catch ;).
I’m good with squid, don’t much care for octopus. IME it just multiplies the worst aspects of squid ( rubbery texture if improperly cooked ) without any improvement in flavor. I’m not sure if it just a little harder to cook right, but I’ve yet to get an actual tender piece of octopus, whereas I have had tender(ish) squid.
Octopus was never one of my fave seafoods, and I generally avoided it. At least until I had a divine cioppino at a very high quality restaurant. I ate around the octopus but decided to give it a try.
And DAMN! A whole new food to adore. Not rubbery, not chewy, no funk, nothing but a rich piece of sea flesh with a flavor to savor!
Now I’m a believer. At least in the right octopus, prepared the right way.
I love octopus. I think it may even be my favorite food that grows in the water. Definitely better than shrimp, oysters, scallops, calamari, lobster; there are some fishies I’m really fond of but even swordfish and trout and catfish don’t necessariy eclipse octopus.
You were good to try it. It weren’t for you, apparently. But the only way to find out is to try it.
We love octopus over at our house, but I prefer to get it in restaurants. The Ukulele Lady once insisted I buy a whole octopus and cook it for dinner. Totally fucking revolting experience, both the aroma and dealing with the noodly arms. And the hood. Yuck.
It wasn’t as chewy as I was expecting, possibly because it was bbqed? I’m assuming the toxic, burnt flavor was also due to the bbq.
