4 pound cleaned octopus
1.5 liters red wine
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TBS soy sauce
1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
Soak and rinse octopus until the water runs clear. Cut off the head and then cut the body with each of the tentacles so that you have the eight separate tentacles each with some attached body meat. Place all the octopus pieces along with the red wine and balsamic vinegar into a pot and bring up to a simmer (do not allow to boil). Simmer for 1 hour. Remove the octopus pieces to a board and working piece by piece and using two towels, hold each piece with one towel while using the second towel to rub off the skin and suckers which will all come off very easily. Place the cleaned octopus pieces back into the pot with the simmering vinegar/wine liquid and simmer for an additional 1 – 1.5 hours until the octopus meat is very tender.
In a separate bowl mix together the soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and ketchup. Add the cooked octopus and toss to coat with the sauce. At this point I covered the bowl and refrigerated overnight but you could use it right away. The next day I brought the octopus to room temperature and then quickly cooked it over a very hot grill, just allowing the sauce to get a little cooked and sticky while just warming the meat through.
Cut into bite sized pieces and serve with picks.
Enjoy!!