San-nakji

Method

1. Work over the sink with a colander. Put the 250 g of octopus in a wide bowl, add 1 tbsp of coarse sea salt and rub the body and legs firmly with your hands for 3-4 minutes; the salt draws out the slippery coating and it will foam grey. Rinse under cold running water, squeezing the legs, and repeat once more if the skin still feels sticky.
2. Turn the head sac inside out and pull away the innards and the ink sac in one piece, discarding them. Push the hard beak out from the centre where the legs meet and pull it free. Rinse the whole octopus a final time in cold water and drain in the colander for 1 minute — do not let it sit in water, or the flesh goes slack.
3. Make the chogochujang dip while the octopus drains: stir 1 tbsp of gochujang with 1 tsp of rice vinegar and 0.5 tsp of sugar in a small dish until glossy and smooth. Set it on the serving plate along with 50 g of cucumber batons.