This item
Octopus
- rounded mantle
- eight arms bearing suckers
- no pair of long feeding tentacles or squid-like lateral fins
Seafood
Octopus
Octopus is a cephalopod with eight sucker-bearing arms, not squid or cuttlefish; appearance is supporting evidence only, so confirm the original label or counter sign.
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3 identity clues
- rounded mantle
- eight arms bearing suckers
- no pair of long feeding tentacles or squid-like lateral fins
Names in other languages
- 繁體中文
- 八爪魚
- English
- Octopus
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Gurita
- Tagalog
- Pugita
Name in Cantonese (Jyutping): baat3 zaau2 jyu4 No Cantonese voice on this device
What is it?
Octopus is a Hong Kong market or food-shop term. This page keeps the locked market scope and does not infer species, cut or formula from colour or one shape.
How to identify it
rounded mantle; eight arms bearing suckers; no pair of long feeding tentacles or squid-like lateral fins.
Common confusion
Compare
Squid
- Elongated tubular mantle
- Two triangular fins at the rear of the mantle
- Eight arms, two longer tentacles and large eyes
How to identify it
Squid has eight arms plus two longer feeding tentacles and usually lateral mantle fins; octopus has eight sucker-bearing arms only.
Common Hong Kong household uses
Prepare it according to the employer’s recipe and product label, then cook it thoroughly before serving.
Choosing & preparing
Use separate boards and knives for raw seafood, then wash hands and clean work surfaces; cook thoroughly to a centre temperature of at least 75°C for 30 seconds.
Storage
Keep raw seafood covered at 4°C or below on the lowest refrigerator shelf, separate from cooked and ready-to-eat food.
What Ma’am or Sir may say
買八爪魚，睇清楚牌仔，返嚟分開生熟處理。The employer asks for Octopus, with the label checked and raw food kept separate from cooked food at home.
Useful market phrase
唔該要八爪魚，要原裝標籤或檔口牌清楚嗰款。Meaning: Octopus, please, with a clear original label or stall sign.
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Sources (8)
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items Multilingual Booklet
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Centre for Food Safety — FEHD AQUATIC
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Centre for Food Safety — FEHD AQUATIC JYUTPING
- Hong Kong FEHD / Centre for Food Safety — FEHB 247 Appendix I food classifications and examples
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Seafood Safety and Hygiene
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Prevention of Cross-contamination
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Store - Five Keys to Food Safety
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Centre for Food Safety — CFS COOK REHEAT