A classic Galician festival dish: octopus is boiled in a copper pot, snipped into coin-size slices with kitchen scissors, arranged over boiled potatoes, and seasoned with just coarse salt, pimentón, and extra-virgin olive oil. With only four main ingredients, each one matters. Dipping the octopus into boiling water three times is not folklore: the sudden heat contracts the skin so it clings to the flesh instead of peeling during cooking.
In a large, deep pot, bring 4 liters of water to a vigorous boil with the halved onion and bay leaves. Do not salt the water; salt can firm the octopus too early and lengthen the cooking time. Thaw and drain the octopus.
Hold the octopus by its head with tongs and lower it into the boiling water up to its arms. Lift it out after 5 seconds and repeat this three times. With each dip, the arms will visibly curl and shorten as the skin tightens. After the third dip, lower the octopus fully into the water.
Reduce the heat until the water barely trembles. Check the thickest arm near the body with a skewer: it is ready when the skewer slides in easily without lifting the flesh. Cooking time depends on the octopus size; start checking after 35 minutes, then every 10 minutes. Overcooked octopus turns mushy and will not slice cleanly.
Leave the octopus in the water for 15 minutes with the heat off. Remove it to a plate, then boil the unpeeled potatoes in the same water so they absorb the octopus flavor. Remove them when a skewer meets no resistance.
Use kitchen scissors to cut the octopus arms into coin-size slices about 1 cm thick. Scissors, rather than a knife, are the Galician way and keep the slices from being crushed. Peel the potatoes and cut them into rounds of the same thickness.
Arrange the potato rounds in a single layer on a wooden platter and overlap the octopus slices on top. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, sift both kinds of pimentón over the dish, then finish generously with extra-virgin olive oil. Serve warm; chilled pulpo becomes firm.
If using fresh octopus, freeze it for 24 hours and thaw it before cooking; freezing breaks down the cell walls and tenderizes the flesh. Octopus bought frozen has already undergone this process.
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