How to make the popular Pulpo carpaccio from restaurant Sjefietshe

The always delicious and welcoming Sjefietshe in Amsterdam has created a cookbook. Naturally, it includes the restaurant’s greatest hits to make at home. With these tips & tricks, making Pulpo carpaccio yourself is sure to succeed.

What is Sjefietshe?

A play on words, which came about because Amsterdammers would always ask what ceviche was—in typical Amsterdam dialect. The answer is right there: an originally Peruvian dish made with fresh fish that is cured in citrus juices (lime and lemon) and seasoned with garlic, chili pepper, onions and cilantro.

A dream for pulpo lovers

Three favorites on one plate: pulpo, carpaccio and ceviche (sort of). At our restaurant, pulpo is always a favorite, and every pulpo lover will naturally think this, prepared as in this recipe, is a dream. Simple and absolutely worth it.

How do I cook pulpo?

This is the question Sjefietshe gets most often. At the restaurant, they have perfected their method and—conveniently!—translated it for the home kitchen. As far as we’re concerned, this is the way to cook pulpo to perfection.

Ingredients for cooking pulpo

2 liters water
2 white onions, finely chopped
1 spring onion, cut into thin rings
20 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
generous pinch of salt
4 pulpo tentacles
olive oil

Extra equipment: soup pot + baking dish + oven (preheated to 130 degrees).

Preparing the pulpo

• Fill a soup pot with 2 liters of water and add all the ingredients except the pulpo and oil.
• Bring to a boil and let everything infuse for 5 minutes before adding the pulpo tentacles.
• Put the lid on the pot and gently cook the pulpo for 30 minutes. You can test whether it is done by inserting a fork into the pulpo. If the meat slides off the fork, it is cooked.
• Once cooked, remove the pulpo tentacles from the pot and place them in the baking dish with a little olive oil.
• Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for 20 minutes.

How to make pulpo carpaccio

• Place the pulpo in the freezer for 10 minutes so you can slice it more easily into thin pieces. Tip: always cut each slice across the width of the bumps.
• Set the pulpo aside.
• Cut the potato into slices about 3 millimeters thick, then cut them into 3-by-3-millimeter cubes. Rinse them thoroughly under cold running water and pat them dry on a tea towel. It is important that they are completely dry, as we are going to fry them. Pour the sunflower oil into a high-sided, spacious pan or deep fryer and heat to 150 degrees.
• Place the sieve in the oil and add the potato cubes; be careful, as this may cause bubbling. When it stops bubbling, the cubes are ready and you can drain them on paper towels.
• Mix the fried potato cubes with the pine nuts.
• For the salsa, combine the dill, chervil, cilantro, dill oil, garlic and aji amarillo pepper in a bowl and stir well.

How to make dill oil (for 4–6 servings)

Ingredients: 4 bunches of dill, 100 ml sunflower oil + blender and fine-mesh sieve.

• Blanch the dill briefly in boiling water and cool it under cold running water.
• Place it in a tea towel and squeeze out all the water.
• Finely chop the dill and place it in a blender.
• Heat the sunflower oil to 70 degrees and add it to the blender as well.
• Blend until completely smooth and pour the oil through a fine-mesh sieve into a bottle.

Title: Ceviche
Author: Seger Abels
Price: €24.99
Publisher: Fontaine uitgevers

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