smoking Tako (Octopus)

By mahto

Ingredients

• Big Island style
• 1 cup shoyu
• 1/4 cup cane sugar (add more if you like ‘em more sweet, up to you)
• 1 finger ginger, julienne
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water to taste for heat (you gotta’ eyeball this one)
• Combine in pot on medium-low heat until all ingredients are fully infused.
• Misoyaki style (slightly modified recipe courtesy of Samdooby at the HawaiiSkinDivers.com forum)
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1/3 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1 cup of fresh white miso
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 Tablespoons finely grated ginger
• Squeeze of fresh Lemon
• Combine in pot on medium-low heat until all ingredients are fully infused.
• Hawaiian style
• Hawaiian salt (eyeball ‘em)
• Hawaiian Chili Pepper water (eyeball ‘em)
• Sprinkle Hawaiian Salt on raw Tako and massage in a little, then drizzle on Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water to taste. Be very careful with in how much you use of each. This one takes experience.
• Charsiu style
• 1 packet Hawaiian Pride Charsiu Sauce
• (or your favorite brand, or homemade recipe)

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from tastyislandhawaii.com

Preparation

Step 1

I then rubbed the tako’s skin vigorously all over with Hawaiian salt, which I’ve been told acts as an abrasive to remove the slime…then drain as much rinsing water out as possible tenderized the Tako by massaging it with Brandy for about 10 minutes…dabbing the excess liquid off…Raw Tako and Squid cut into segments for marinade session

“Hawaiian style” version that didn’t get a massage with Brandy. Boo! lol All that’s in there is Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water and Hawaiian Salt.

tossed ‘n turned to coat each piece thoroughly, then covered tightly and refrigerated overnight

Once the Kiawe kindling wood is fully burning, move it to one side on the very edge of the bottom grate, then set-up a heat shield like this…

22″ Weber Grill, with Kiawe kindling wood, smoking wood, makeshift heat shield and water pan

To the left in the Weber Grill, we have a pile of Kiawe wood (a.k.a. Mesquite) that’s already been started and is at its fully burning stage (the ashed-over black logs underneath), while on top of that are two pieces of unburnt Kiawe wood that’s been soaking in water for about an hour, which is done to create more smoke (on top of what smoke comes out of the kindling wood). Next to that is my “Podagee Heat Shield” which helps maximize the cooking surface inside the grill by blocking direct heat from hitting the side nearest the smoking pyre.

You’ll see what I’m talking about shortly. The heat shield is created by cutting the sides of a disposable tin serving pan as shown and placed at an angle to cover the hot burning Kiawe. The heat shield is held down by another serving pan filled with water, which not only adds weight, but also provides moisture in the smoking chamber. At least it does in theory to the latter.

Put on the cooking grate, and here’s how it looks, where you can see how the heat shield is effectively providing about 30% more cooking surface that otherwise wouldn’t have been available had it not been there due to the direct heat from the smoking pyre…

Notice how the heat shield is angled to accommodate the cooking grate so that it rests properly on the kettle’s tabs. You don’t want a wobbly contraption when dealing with fire. Also notice I placed the cooking grate so that the opening on the side is over the burning Kiawe wood smoking pyre off to the left. This way I can keep adding more fire wood and smoking wood as needed, without needing to constantly lift-up the heavy meat-loaded cooking grate. Which you will indeed need to do over the 2-plus hour smoking session.