Monday, July 20, 2009

I GOT DENNIS' DRIED TAKO RECIPE!!!

My cousin Dennis makes the best dried tako. Yesterday he gave me the "recipe".

It's not really a recipe . . . it's more like "instructions". I tried my best to focus on his explanations, and here's what I got. You rub Hawaiian salt on the tako. My mom said to "pound it to death" to soften, but I think it's more to get the slimy stuff off. Then you're gonna boil the tako in Heineken. Dennis said to cut the head off and strip off the skin so that what remains is whitish. He advises that you boil the head separately from the legs otherwise the legs will get discolored (something like that). He couldn't give me any cooking times because he said it varies with the size of the tako. He said you can tell when the tako is done though 'cause it'll curl up. After boiling you're gonna bake the tako to dry it. You slice the tako so that you have eight separate legs. You cut off the tips and throw them away. Then you cut each leg in two. You put the skinnier parts together 'cause they're gonna get done faster. You slice the fatter part of the leg lengthwise, but not all the way through. You open them up and place them flat side down on your pan. Now you BAKE them at 250 degrees. The skinnier parts of the legs will take about an hour and the fatter legs about 2 hours. Dennis said you gotta watch though 'cause the time varies. He said you'll be able to tell when it's done.

I think we have some tako in the freezer so maybe the next chance I have I'll give it a try. Should be good for a few laughs at least.

THANKS DENNIS!!

10 comments:

Les said...

ho! so much work!!! I like taste when you finish! :)

Renee said...

Hi Jalna!
OMG ... you finally got the recipe! I kept on reminding Dennis to call your mom with the recipe, but of course he would forget. Well, have fun preparing the tako ... ENJOY!!!

P.S. It was so nice seeing you and your family yesterday!

jalna said...

Les, it's sooo ono though.

Renee, hooo hoooo you got through!! It was so nice seeing you guys too!

Erick said...

Dried tako, one of my favorite foods! Please email me some after you make it. Thank you ahead of time, I really appreciate it. You are the best!

jalna said...

Erick, you DO know that my cooking skills are not the greatest, so the likelihood of my dried tako coming out is veeeery slim. I still like try though.

Dd said...

ummmm.....sprekenzidoitch ???

jalna said...

Whaaaaat . . . too hard for understand my instructions?

Dd said...

do you remember when we used to go in the outside laundry sink and stomp stomp stomp on the tako daddy caught in order to tenderize it ??

Anonymous said...

Hey there, I found your blog. Would you happen to have directions on the process for drying the tako? My tutu man use to make em all the time, but I never payed enuff attention. I catch tako on the island all the time and would love to know how. Tutu man used to use a dry screen box. If you want to share the process, please email me @ m3lovr14@icloud.com. Mahalo plenty! James A

jalna said...

Sorry James, my cousin only provided me with his oven method.