Description: Fresh homemade carpaccio. It is nice to have as appetizer to share. No need to go to a fancy restaurant. All we need is to slice them, place them and pour dressing over them!
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• Boiled octopus (alternatively, 200g of uncooked octopus and boil at home) – thinly sliced, 100g
• Garlic – crushed, 1 clove
• Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
• Lemon juice – ½ teaspoon or squeeze from ½ wedge of lemon
• Fresh parsley – chopped, 2 tablespoons
• Salt – 1 dash
• Ground black pepper – 2 dashes

Method

1. Mix the all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Place octopus on the plate and add the dressing on top.

To serve: You may put the plate in the fridge before serving to keep it cold.

Nutritional Values Per Serving

Kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs	Fibre	Sugars	Salt	Saturated fat	Vitamin B12
97.5	10.1g	5.4g	2.1g	0.1g	0.1g	0.6g	0.3g	12μg
4.9%	20.2%	7.7%	0.8%	0.4%	0.1%	10.8%	1.3%	>100%

Nutritional Tips

Octopus is a good source of protein, vitamin B12, and iron, low in calories and fat. Octopus may not be familiar and may be strange for people who don’t live near the coast. However, it is actually nutritious. In some countries or Asian shops, you can buy boiled octopus which is already pre-cooked. If not, you may ask the fishmonger and they may help to clean it (remove inedible parts such as eyes, beak, tentacles, intestines and ink sac).

Vitamin B12 helps maintain our blood health and the nervous system. It is involved in methionine synthesis and is important for degrading some amino acids and odd-chain fatty acids (Watanabe et Nakano, Nihon Rinsho. 1999 Oct;57(10):2205-10). Lack of vitamin B12 causes megaloblastic anemia which results in the same symptoms as folate deficiency as well as demyelination of the spinal cord, brain and nerves (optic and peripheral).

Typical sources of vitamin B12 are animal products such as milk, cheese, eggs, meat, salmon or cod. So it would be very challenging for people who follow a vegan/vegetarian diet as the source is limited. There are some breakfast cereals, soya drinks or yeast extract (such as Marmite) that are fortified with B12. So those who do not consume animal products need to have a sufficient intake through these or by taking supplements.