Taste of Japan and Sake Live vol.57

Products used in "Taste of Japan and Sake vol.57"

Creating Octopus-Shaped Japanese Style Pork Sausages

 Japanese-style sausages are coarsely ground and packed with flavour. They’re delicious when simply cooked, but for a playful twist, you can turn them into adorable little octopuses!

1pack   Japanese Style Pork Sausages            

2           Mini cucumbers         

1tsp     Vegetable based oil   

½ tsp    Black Sesame Seeds     

Ketchup and English Mustard

1pc      toothpick 

Preparations

Cut the sausage in half - Slice each sausage in half widthwise to create two shorter pieces. 

Create the legs - Lay one sausage piece flat on the cutting board.  Starting from the exposed end, cut lengthwise halfway up the sausage to form two sections. Rotate the sausage 90 degrees and make another cut halfway up, creating four sections.  For eight legs, carefully slice each of the four sections in half. Follow the same steps for the remaining sausage pieces. 

To create the octopus hat, cut a mini cucumber into thin discs of approximately 3mm thick. 

Using a small knife, carefully remove the soft center of each cucumber slice, leaving just the outer ring of skin. Continue this process until you have enough "hats" for all your sausage octopuses. 

Cooking and assembling

1        Preheat a frying pan with a little oil over medium heat. 

2        Add the prepared sausage octopuses and cook, rotating them to ensure even cooking.  Watch as the legs curl up into an adorable octopus shape.  Transfer the cooked sausages to a plate and allow them to cool slightly before handling. 

3        Using a toothpick, poke two small holes on the "head" of the sausage where the eyes will go.  Pick up a black sesame seed with the toothpick and press it gently into one hole. Repeat for the second hole to create the other eye. 

4        Place a prepared cucumber "hat" on top of each sausage. 

5        Arrange the octopus sausages on a plate and serve with tomato ketchup and mustard for dipping.