By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
Serves 4
144 cal · 32 min
Chinese Celery and Baby Octopus, Vietnamese Style
Recipe GLPR7469857a24d45e
A vibrant Southeast Asian seafood dish featuring tender baby octopus paired with crisp Chinese celery, fresh tomatoes, and onions, all tossed together in a bold, tangy sauce made with fish sauce, sriracha, and fresh lemon juice. This light, protein-rich main course celebrates the clean flavors of the sea with a Vietnamese twist.
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Ingredients
1 pound baby octopus, cleaned
1 bunch Chinese celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced into thin wedges
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons sriracha
½ lemon Juice of half a lemon
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the cleaned baby octopus and simmer for 8–10 minutes until tender. You should be able to easily pierce the flesh with a fork. Drain and set aside.
While the octopus cooks, prepare the sauce by whisking together the fish sauce, sriracha, and fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the balance of heat, salt, and acidity to your preference.
In a large serving bowl or on a platter, combine the cooked octopus, Chinese celery pieces, sliced tomatoes, and onion wedges.
Pour the sauce over the assembled ingredients and gently toss until everything is evenly coated. Allow the flavors to meld for a minute before serving.
Divide among four bowls or plates and serve immediately while the octopus is still warm and the vegetables retain their fresh crispness.
Comments
Baby octopus will require a special trip—Harris Teeter's seafood counter stocks it occasionally but inconsistently, and Food Lion rarely carries it; Walmart and ALDI don't reliably have it either, so a call ahead to Publix or Kroger is worth budgeting. Chinese celery is similarly unavailable at most Charlotte chains and will need an Asian market stop, adding real time to a weeknight. The fish sauce and sriracha are now easier finds at Harris Teeter and Kroger, but the octopus and celery together make this a two-stop errand, and the octopus itself runs $12–16 per pound, pushing cost per serving well above $5. The 32-minute estimate is honest for pan work, but it assumes your octopus comes pre-cleaned; if you're cleaning it yourself, add 15 minutes.
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