Virgilio Martinez’s Seared Octopus In Hot Ceviche Sauce

Click here to find out more about Virgilio Martínez and his searing technique

Each octopus must weigh 2 kg (12 units). Pull apart the head from the tentacle; rest the tentacle in salt for half an hour, then wash to remove the salt.

Dry the octopus with a clean cloth and freeze for 24 hours. After 24 hours, defrost and hit the tentacles to break the fibre.

Cook in a broth of 1 kg of leeks, 1 kg of carrots, 1 kg of onions and 200 grams of garlic, when it starts to boil, turn down the heat and let it cook for 45 minutes at medium temperature.

Chill the octopus until cold, then cut it in pieces of 3 cm each. Before serving, sear on the griddle until crunchy.

Crisp Of Rice And Ink

Cook rice until soft – it must be a dough-like consistency. Mix with calamari ink and salt. Roll it in a tube shape and chill it. Once cold, cut in sheets and bake it in the oven (use a silpat) at 175 ºC for 15 minutes.

Gray Rock

Beat the egg whites until they have soft picks add black dye to have a gray color.

Make balls and dehydrate at 65 ºC for 3 hours or until is totally dry.

For The Sauce:

Tiger’s Milk Base

200 g celery
200 g White onion
2 garlic cloves
16 g fresh ginger
4 full spoons of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
200 g fresh coriander (bouquet)

Blend celery, garlic and ginger cloves, white onions, salt and sugar.

Soak the bouquet of fresh coriander for 1 hour. Keep in the fridge. Then discard the coriander.

Rocoto Tiger’s Milk

500 g of rocoto paste
75 g of tiger’s milk base
80 ml of lemon juice
Salt
Sugar

Blend all the ingredients in a Thermomix.

Flavour with salt and sugar.

Yellow Tiger’s Milk

300 g yellow chili paste
100 g of tiger’s milk base
200 ml lemon juice
200 g ice cubes
1 full spoon of salt
30 g of white fish filet
10 g of limo chili

Blend for 1 minute, lemon juice, yellow chili paste, tiger’s milk, ice cubes, white fish filet and the salt.

Soak the limo chili for 5 minutes in the mix.

Flavor with salt.

White Tiger’s Milk

100 g of tiger’s milk. Base
200 ml of lemon juice
200 g ice cubes
200 g ice cubes
1 full spoon of salt
30 g of white fish filet
10 g of limo chili

Blend lemon juice, tiger’s milk, ice cubes, white fish filet and the salt for 1 minute.

Soak the limo chili for 5 minutes in the mix.

Flavour with salt.

Limo Chili Reduction

5 units of aji limo
100 ml of mussels broth

Crush the limo chilies.

Mix and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Blend.

Drain and keep.

Hot Ceviche Sauce

333 ml rocoto tiger’s milk
333 ml yellow tiger’s milk
333 ml white tiger’s milk
300 g rocoto paste
6 litres of mussels broth
200 ml lemon juice
100 g tiger’s milk base
2 full spoons of aji limo reduction
Salt (for flavour)

Boil the mussels broth.

Add the tiger’s milk (rocoto, yellow and white), lemon juice, limo chili reduction and the salt.

Boil for 10 minutes or until reduced to 1 litre.

Blend and drain.

Reserve.

For The Sauce Of Octopus

Reduce the hot ceviche sauce until is at ¾ of the initial content, or until thick enough to cover the octopus. If the total content is of 6 liter, reduce to 2 liter.

To serve, first plate the octopus, then add the sauce and top with the grey rock and the crisp of rice and ink.