Galician-style octopus - this Spanish tapas specialty succeeds at lightning speed

Fish and seafood lovers will love it: Pulpo a la Gallega. Which translates as "Galician-style octopus".

• This dish is known and popular not only in Galicia, but in almost all of Spain.
• Galician-style octopus or Pulpo a la Gallega is simple, honest and delicious.
• A great change to Pizza Frutti di Mare * or seafood salad.

Where do you buy the octopus for Pulpo a la Gallega?

That will be the first thought of many readers. Admittedly, it gets difficult in a normal supermarket. In larger cities, however, you should be successful with the fishmonger. What certainly helps here: Pre-order this octopus to play it safe. There is also the option of simply ordering the sea animal on the Internet.

Pulpo a la Gallega: Can you only buy tentacles?

Yes, it is also possible: If you only buy tentacles, you can also switch to pre-cooked ones. In this case, the otherwise absolutely necessary quenching may be omitted.

Important preparation note: Quenching the octopus in the Galician style

And that brings us to the only point to watch out for in a kitchen-ready octopus : quenching. The octopus must be immersed in hot water three times for around ten seconds and then removed again (also for ten seconds). The reason: quenching prevents the skin from peeling off during cooking . It even happened with my preparation: I held it by the head and immersed it in the boiling water. And I didn't put that head off. With the result that part of the skin came off there.

Cooking on: Fast fish from the oven

Recipe for Pulpo a la Gallega: simple, honest and delicious

The dish is really easy to prepare : the octopus migrates into the hot water without any large ingredients. In addition come potatoes cut into bite-size pieces * . The whole thing has to boil for a few minutes. Then all you have to do is arrange on a plate, sprinkle paprika powder and olive oil on top or drizzle over it and this Spanish specialty is ready to feast on.

© Matthias Würfl

Pulpo a la Gallega: The fast Spanish tapas specialty

Servings: 8
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Recipe: You need these ingredients for the Galician-style octopus

• 1 octopus (approx. 1.5 to 2 kg, ready for kitchen)
• 500 g potatoes (firm cooking)
• 2 tbsp paprika powder
• 150 ml of olive oil
• Flakes of sea salt (for seasoning)

More seafood? Conjure up a delicious seafood salad

How to prepare the octopus in a Galician way

Interesting: Salmon has a nasty side effect when roasting - what's behind it?

The Galician style octopus recipe in the video

Keep cooking: These chicken wings should not be missing at any grill party

Anja Auer

Do you like to cook without onions? Why you should definitely change that

To the photo gallery

Anja Auer is the editor-in-chief of the BBQ & Food magazine "Die Frau am Grill". In addition, she runs the largest YouTube channel on the topic of "grilling", which is produced by a woman in German-speaking countries. Most of the recipes work not only on the grill, but also on the stove and in the oven. You can find more recipes at www.die-frau-am-grill.de and the YouTube channel www.youtube.com/diefrauamgrill

* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.