#33 A claypot recipe

Diced fully cooked octopus, shelled edamame, rice and seasonings cooked in a donabe (Japanese claypot)

We had been planning on reshooting the takoyaki recipe so I bought a tray of fully cooked octopus from my seafood purveyor. There’s been no chance to make a batch of takoyaki yet but, meanwhile, there was dinner to prepare for my older daughter, Sam, who eats no red meat. She’s still recovering from a flu-like infection (she tested negative for COVID, thank goodness) and, well, I’m a mom who wanted to pamper her daughter. So, this became her dinner.

If you don’t own a claypot, you can make the dish in a regular pan.

If you want to read more about the ingredients on the list, the links will point you to more information.

Claypot octopus rice

Cook time: about 15 minutes | Makes one very generous serving

• 1/2 cup rice (any rice variety should work except glutinous rice)

• 1 1/4 cups fish broth / stock (store bought or see how we make it at home)

• fish sauce (if your broth is underseasoned)

• 1 cup (or more) diced fully cooked octopus

• 2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup shelled edamame (see details for cooking fresh edamame in the blog)

• toasted sesame seeds (to garnish)

• thinly sliced scallions (to garnish)

• sesame seed oil (to garnish)

Rinse the rice several times, drain and dump into the claypot.

Pour in three-quarters cup of broth (and fish sauce, if needed) and bring to the boil.

Cover the pot, turn off the heat and leave until the broth has been absorbed by the rice grains.

(Note: Cooking a dish like this traditionally requires soaking the rice for a few hours before cooking. The first three steps do away with the presoaking)

Place the octopus in a bowl, add the soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar and ginger, and toss well.

When the rice has soaked up the liquid, arrange the octopus pieces on one side and the edamame on the other side. Drizzle in any leftover soy sauce mixture.

With the heat set to medium, drizzle in another quarter cup of broth along the edges of the rice.

Cover the pot, cook for five minutes, then, take a grain of rice and test for doneness. If the rice needs to cook longer (aged rice needs more liquid), drizzle in the remaining broth and cook for another five minutes.

By the time the rice is done, the octopus and edamame should be fully heated. Just sprinkle in some toasted sesame seeds and scallions, drizzle in a bit of sesame seed oil and serve.