Name: Air fryer kebab octopus
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 500g/1kg octopus, thawed; 1/2 lime; 1 tablespooon parsley flakes; 1/4 cup kebab powder (suya powder); 2 teaspoons crushed garlic; 2 teaspoosn ground ginger; 2 tablespoons virgin oil; Lime wedges to serve

These kebab octopus bites are super cripsy and yummy. They are ready in under 30 minutes because I cooked them in an airfryer. I love the tropical vibes they give off becuase they taste like food you get when you’re on vacation. I’m in Ghana enjoying the beautiful weather and octopus is one of the popular food choices in my country. Octopus is usually shallow-fried until browned and slightly crunchy on the exterior so using an airfryer was no-brainer.

Prepping the octopus

Cleaning octopus is easy becuase it is usually prepped at the fishing villages before being sold. Secondly, since it has a very smooth and slippery exterior it doesn’t need to be descaled. I simply used a lime wedge to run over the octopus tentacles and corners because the fish is cleaned and gutted by the fish sellers. The lime also helps removes the strong fishy smell. I chopped the octopus into smaller parts so I could get hand-sized bites.

Seasoning the octopus

The majority of the seasoning comes from the kebab (suya) powder becuase the one I had at home consisits of cayenne pepper, peanut powder, garlic powder, onion powder and ginger powder. Other seasonings I added were parsley, crushed garlic, ginger. I used virgin oil as a binder for the spices so it would be a paste-like consistency. This way it would be easier to rub over the octopus. Cutting it into small bites before airfrying allows it to be eaten like an appetizer. Serve this delicious octopus warm with more kebab powder and lime wedges. This would go great with my turmeric fries or roasted garlic potato wedges.