SPICY OCTOPUS SALAD

SERVES 4, OR 8 AS PART OF A SHARED ASIAN BANQUET

This dish is hot! I love hot bean paste and the dressing also has chilli powder. Both will give a different type of heat and both add nice complexity. If you want to wimp out, remove the chilli powder not the bean paste.

½ celery heart, finely chopped

1 spring onion (scallion), julienned

1 small carrot, julienned

½ small Lebanese (short) cucumber, halved lengthways, seeded and julienned

¼ small daikon radish, julienned

¼ small Chinese cabbage (wong bok), finely shredded

sea salt

400 g (14 oz) cleaned baby octopus

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons sesame seeds, roasted

DRESSING

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

3 tablespoons hot bean paste

freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground chilli powder

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar

2 teaspoons sea salt

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl with 1 tablespoon water and allow the flavour to develop.

Place the celery, spring onion, carrot, cucumber, radish and cabbage in a bowl and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Toss together and leave for 10 minutes, then rinse under cold water and squeeze dry.

Toss the octopus with the oil and season with a little sea salt, then barbecue over high heat until just cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly and halve if large.

To serve, mix together the vegetables, the warm octopus and the dressing and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

NOTE: Blanched squid or cooked king prawns are a good substitute for the octopus.