When making any dried octopus soup, this is the most basic and common set of ingredients. It’s simple (with only 3 ingredients), easy to prepare and delicious (and slightly cooling). To me, most dried seafood tastes the same, something a little fishy and slightly sweet. In fact, you can substitute dried “insert your seafood here” for these type of soups. Other types of octopus soups also include peanuts or various other vegetables (like chayotes). I’ll have to make other types to demonstrate the diverseness of dried octopus, but here’s my first.

• 1 large dried octopus, sliced or quartered

• 2 section of lotus roots, sliced

• 100g of mung beans

• 2 slices of fresh ginger (optional)

• 2 L of water

1. Rinse and soak the dried octopus and mung beans in warm water for an hour
2. Boil your soup water
3. Prepare lotus roots by washing and cutting into edible portions
4. Using scissors or a sharp knife, slice the dried octopus into thin slices (or quartered if you don’t plan to eat it)
5. When your water boils, add all the ingredients in and boil on high for 30 minutes.  Reduce to a medium boil for another hour.
6. Serve and enjoy!