Boiled Octopus - Red Water - Losing Nutrients?

[jaakkima]

Hey there,

Tonight I decided to try boiling baby octopus (I usually fry in coconut oil) and noticed the water turned very very red. What do y'all think that is? I don't want to lose the copper, B12, zinc etc, and prefer not to have to drink the water. Based on all this I can decide whether to revert to frying or not.
Good night,
Robert

 

[loess]

Every time I cook shrimps the same thought process bounces around in my (mostly empty) brain. I can down shots of powdered aspirin in water, a mountain of salt, mugs of cascara tea. But for some reason I have yet to find it in myself to take on shrimp water...

 

[Jsaute21]

I'm a huge fan of octopus. Low in fat, and very high in micronutrients as well. Not talked about enough on here!

 

[BibleBeliever]

Impressive, especially the b12:
Mollusks, octopus, common, cooked, moist heat Nutrition Facts & Calories

B-vitamins are water soluble, so I assume the b12 especially would be in the liquid.

 

[tara]

Tonight I decided to try boiling baby octopus (I usually fry in coconut oil) and noticed the water turned very very red. What do y'all think that is? I don't want to lose the copper, B12, zinc etc, and prefer not to have to drink the water. Based on all this I can decide whether to revert to frying or not.

I think you throw away a lot of the food if you discard the water from boiling octopus. How about using as little water as you can get away with - they have a lot of water in them, even without what you add, and a lot of that comes out? I've blanched octopus in boiling water briefly, then baked/braised it in a covered dish with no added water to cook in the water that comes out of it under heat. You can use the liquid to cook rice in, along with whatever veges, to accompany the octopus, if you eat rice. Or potatoes.

Every time I cook shrimps the same thought process bounces around in my (mostly empty) brain. I can down shots of powdered aspirin in water, a mountain of salt, mugs of cascara tea. But for some reason I have yet to find it in myself to take on shrimp water...

I've been cooking them in just the tiniest bit of water too - basically more steamed than boiled - so very little lost. Or you could use the left over water as part of a soup stock?