Ingredients

• 300g/10½oz baby octopus (fresh or frozen
• if frozen defrost thoroughly)
• ½ tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ small onion
• sliced
• 5 shiitake mushrooms
• stalks removed
• sliced thinly
• 2 spring onions
• cut in half lengthways
• 1 small red chilli
• thinly sliced on a slant
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• sprinkle of sesame seeds
• 10g fresh root ginger (about the size of a £2 coin)
• 3 garlic cloves
• grated or chopped
• 2 tsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp gochugaru (Korean red chilli powder)
• ½ tsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp mirin

Directions

• Clean and rinse the octopus in cold water and remove the beak (you can get your fishmonger to prepare it for you).
• For the spice paste
• peel and grate the ginger and put it in a medium bowl with the garlic
• chilli paste
• soy sauce
• chilli powder
• golden syrup and mirin. Mix well and then set aside.
• Heat a medium pan of boiling water
• add the octopus to the boiling water and blanch for 1½ minutes
• then drain. Put the octopus into a bowl of ice-cold water and drain again once cool. Remove the skin from the octopus. Cut into quarters or just remove the tentacles if very small. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Heat a frying pan or wok
• add the oil and fry the onion for a couple of minutes. Add the octopus and paste to the onions and cook for a minute. Add the mushrooms
• cook for another minute and then add the spring onions
• chillies and sesame oil. Sprinkle sesame seeds into and over and serve.