Squid is a healthy and tasty seafood that can be used to diversify the daily family diet. Some housewives do not like to cook these shellfish, thinking that they are difficult to clean. It's a delusion. Squids are easy to clean if you know the little secrets of their processing.
If you bought fresh whole squid, place it in a bowl and identify where the head is. There are tentacles on it. Holding the squid's body with one hand, pull the head toward you with the other. It will separate along with the insides. Turn the head with the tentacles towards you, find and remove the beak. Then remove the eyes. To do this, cut the tentacles into two halves or simply squeeze the eyes out. Clean the carcass from films. With fresh squid it comes off easily in one go. Remove the tough chitinous plate that is located inside the body. Rinse the cleaned carcass well cold water. More often you have to cut frozen squid. To prevent cleaning them from taking a lot of time, choose the right product in the store. Carcasses of frozen shellfish should be easily separated from each other. If they stick together, it means the squid has already been defrosted. When cut, they will spread, and after cooking, they will taste bitter. The size and color of a squid depends on its habitat and age. The body of an unpeeled mollusk is covered with a film on the outside and inside. It can have colors from pink to burgundy and purple. There is meat under the film white. After re-freezing, the meat becomes gray and loses its taste. Small squids are easier to clean than large ones, and after cooking they are softer. Stores often sell already gutted frozen carcasses. This makes them easier to clean. Remove the cartilage from the cut squid. Then remove the film from the carcass. If this is not done, during heat treatment they will become tough, and the carcass itself will shrink. There are several ways to clean the film. Without defrosting the squid, place them in a bowl, scald them with boiling water, and then immediately transfer them to a bowl with ice. The skin will come off like a stocking. You don’t have to put the squids in ice, but simply pour boiling water over them and immediately drain the water. The film rolls up instantly and is easily separated. To remove the skin from a thawed carcass, place it in a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes. The film partially remains in the water, and the remaining film can be easily removed by washing the carcass in cold water. After this, the squid is ready to eat. Its meat is soft and tender.Cleaned squid can be baked, boiled, fried, marinated, dried, smoked, or made into minced meat. Do not deny yourself and your loved ones the pleasure of enjoying delicious dishes made from this valuable seafood.
Squid is a cephalopod, predatory mollusk , living in warm, southern seas. The carcasses are most often eaten, although the tentacles are also edible. This low-calorie seafood is rich in phosphorus, protein, calcium and iodine. There are a lot of techniques for preparing squid - they are boiled, fried, stewed, canned, dried. Moreover, preparing these shellfish is very simple, you just need to know how to clean the squid and also how to properly heat treat it in order to preserve the original taste.
To take or not to take? Or which squids are worth buying.
“Like the fish, like the fish,” people say. This is also true for squid. To enjoy a delicious dish, you need to choose a good starting product. The seafood delicacy is most often sold frozen; chilled specimens are less common.
It is not difficult to determine the quality of a chilled product - the top, colored film should be easily removed, and the color of the carcass under the skin should be exclusively white. If there are blue or pink shades, the squid is stale.
The squid has 3 hearts connected to tentacles. And the eyes of some specimens are of different sizes.
The classic case is frozen squid. This is the most convenient method for storing shellfish. However, only the product that is frozen once will be tasty. fresh, and then did not allow defrosting during storage. If the carcasses were prepared and stored correctly, they will be separated from each other without effort, but if the product has already been defrosted, it will be difficult to separate it into separate specimens. It is also worth paying attention to the position of the shellfish in the frozen briquette - in production they are laid in even, neat rows.
You can often find tubes of squid in stores - already cleaned, beautiful carcasses. When purchasing such a product, you should take into account that during cleaning, heat treatment is used in production, and this tender meat really does not like high temperatures. Therefore, such a “convenient” purchase will most likely disappoint you with the harshness of the final dish.
How to prepare whole squid
Probably the most important thing in preparing squid is to know that they cannot be defrosted “quickly” using microwave oven or hot water. Frozen carcasses should be left for kitchen table(or better in the refrigerator to avoid sudden changes) and wait until they become soft.
It is not necessary to completely defrost the product; it is more convenient to clean the squid if it is slightly frozen.
- Holding the squid firmly by the body with one hand, with the other we carefully separate the insides from the walls by inserting a finger inside the body.
- We take out everything that we managed to separate by pulling the tentacles.
- We wash the bodies of the mollusks under running (as cold as possible) water, removing any remaining entrails.
- We cut the second part in the eye area. We throw away the waste, and look for the beak at the junction of the tentacles - it can be easily removed by pressing your finger.
How to peel squid from film
There are several cleaning methods. Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. So what's the best way to clean squid?
The first and most gentle method is to remove the films manually. You just need to pick up the skin with a knife at the wide edge of the tube and pull it off, removing it like a cover. If the squid has been frozen for a long time, the films may tear in your hands and then you will have to clean them with a knife.
It seems that the carcass is already clean, but this impression is false. The mollusk is also covered with a thin, transparent film, which also needs to be deleted.
The squid's body is supported along its entire length by a cartilaginous plate (gladius), resembling a plastic one. She pulls out of the carcass without effort.
The second cleaning method is much faster. You just need to boil water and put the squid in it for 1 second (no more!!!). The films will immediately curl up and can be easily removed from the carcass.
The third method is a contrast shower. The workpieces must be placed so that the water can immediately drain, for example, into a sink or colander, and then scald the squid with boiling water. Immediately afterwards pour it over ice water. The tentacles are cleaned in the same way, with the only difference being that you have to tinker with removing the suction cups.
It is best to process under running cold water so that small particles of the film are immediately washed off and do not stick to your hands. You can also clean squid after boiling. It is enough to rub them with a soft brush, removing curled pieces of film.
How to cook squid correctly
This tender meat absolutely does not tolerate long-term exposure high temperatures, this makes it look like solid chewing gum. Therefore, boiling carcasses is not recommended. The most optimal solution This is to stock up on lightly salted boiling water, put squid in it, wait until the water boils again and immediately remove the pan from the stove. It is enough to keep the product in water for 5-7 minutes for the meat to cook.
If for some reason the meat is overcooked, it can be saved by boiling it over low heat for 40-50 minutes. The taste will remain the same, but, unfortunately, some of the trace elements will disappear along with the steam. To add flavor to the water, you can add dill, fennel or a slice of lemon.
Boiled squid is often used to prepare salads or cold appetizers.
What if you fry it?
Sea creatures are no less tasty when fried. It is necessary to fry in hot oil for 3-5 minutes, after cutting them into rings or strips about 5 mm thick. To get more delicate dish, the blanks can be dipped in classic batter (a mixture of egg, milk and salt).
Clams acquire a very original taste when grilled over charcoal. Most recipes recommend marinating the meat, for example, in a mixture of 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, 100 grams of dry white wine and spices to add flavor to the finished product and avoid dryness. When preparing this way, you should constantly pour the remaining marinating sauce over the meat. The result is a healthy kebab made from rings that smells pleasantly smoky.
Sea predator delicacies
Squid stuffed with rice and mushrooms
Ingredients:
- gutted squid carcasses – 4 pcs;
- rice – 80 g;
- fresh mushrooms – 150 g;
- butter – 50 g;
- carrots – 100 gr;
- egg – 2 pcs.
Boil the rice. Process the carrots on a fine grater and sauté in melted butter for 3-5 minutes. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces and fry in sunflower oil.
Cut the boiled eggs into cubes. Mix rice with eggs, add carrots and mushrooms. Let the prepared tubes simmer hot water, fill them with the rice mixture, pinch off the stuffing with toothpicks and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Seafood salad with creamy garlic sauce
- squid – 100 gr.;
- hard cheese – 60 gr.;
- crab sticks– 100 gr.;
- eggs – 2 pcs.;
for the sauce:
- garlic 2 teeth;
- butter – 50 gr.;
- heavy cream 100 gr.;
- slice of lemon.
Boiled squid, eggs, hard cheese cut into cubes, crab sticks in circles, add green onions. To prepare the creamy garlic sauce, fry thin slices of garlic in butter, add cream, simmer a little (5-10 minutes), cool, dilute with a drop of lemon juice and, if desired, spices.
Sea rings in batter with sauce
- frozen squid – 500 gr.;
- egg – 1 pc.;
- milk 3 tbsp;
- hard cheese – 100 gr.;
- sour cream – 200 gr.;
- breadcrumbs - 3 tbsp;
- flour – 3 tbsp;
- garlic – 1 clove;
- Refined sunflower oil, ground black pepper, herbs, salt.
Boil the squid tubes and cut into rings. For the batter, combine the egg with milk and add a little salt. For breading, mix breadcrumbs and flour in equal proportions. Fry squid in large quantities oil (you need the oil to completely cover the rings), dipping first into the batter and then into the breading. For the sauce, grate the cheese on a fine grater, add crushed garlic, herbs and dilute it all with sour cream.
Properly cleaned and prepared seafood will allow you to create incredibly tasty and healthy culinary masterpieces that will not leave either the average person or the notorious gourmet indifferent.
If you are cooking festive table or just decided to diversify your home menu, then squids are your main helpers in this difficult task. These cephalopods have such a set of properties that a plantain would be envious. The beneficial properties of shellfish are preserved only if the hostess knows, how to clean squids and cook them correctly.
Beneficial features
Their tender meat contains elements such as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, and copper. Thanks to its low calorie content (approximately 90 kcal per 100 g), diet fans can finally afford to give up from a disgusting boiled breast skinless, and athletes value their meat for its high protein content. In addition, they have a beneficial effect on blood vessels and the functioning of the thyroid gland.
You can achieve the maximum positive effect from this dietary product only if you received the original product in good condition . It's no secret that frozen foods in stores often suffer from improper storage; they are defrosted and frozen again many times. What squid would like this?
Selecting a product in a store
If you are unlucky with housing on the seashore, then you can only dream of fresh, just caught squid, and you can search for its ice cream counterpart in the store.
Stores usually offer two options:
- unpeeled mollusks, covered with film and with entrails, but without a head and tentacles;
- completely cleaned and ready for further culinary procedures.
Pros and cons of peeled squid
A fully purified product, of course. more attractive from the point of view of use: no need to waste time on cleaning and gutting. However, you should pay attention to how industrial cleaning actually occurs.
For this process we use special machines. Carcasses are placed in a tank with hot water(from 45 to 70 °C), enzymes and salts are added to the same water, which dissolve mucus and pigment. Then the blades of the tank mix all its contents until the carcasses, in contact with the walls of the tank and each other, are cleared of the film. This process is long, so the tanks are usually very large (about 700 liters), and in an hour such a machine produces 120 kg of carcasses prepared for further packaging.
Disadvantages of industrial cleaning:
- due to being in hot water for a long time, the meat becomes rubbery;
- Due to the enzymes and salts used, the beneficial qualities of the meat suffer, and its taste also changes.
Therefore, if the taste of the final dish is important to you, it is recommended to choose more crude cephalopods, especially since there are simple ways to clean squid.
Appearance assessment
In the store, carefully study the assortment on offer. By appearance shellfish, you can learn a lot about whether they were stored correctly.
Run a few simple tests:
- Take the package in your hands and turn or shake lightly several times. The squids in the package should be easy to separate. Sticky carcasses indicate that they have been defrosted and frozen again several times, and after cooking the meat will taste bitter.
- Look at the color. White color is characteristic of soft meat, but shellfish that are lilac or red in color are likely to have died a natural death, and the final product will be as tough as a car tire.
- Visually assess the size. Small squids 5−6 cm in length - fry - are suitable for cooking whole; adults are usually 25−50 cm in length. The smaller the carcasses, the easier it is to clean them, but large ones often become rubbery after cooking.
- Smell the carcasses. Fresh carcasses have pleasant sea scent, but old or improperly stored ones smell extremely unpleasant and should not be eaten.
Mollusks are white in color and medium in size, with a pleasant smell - this is the catch that you are not ashamed to bring home.
Description of ways to clean squid
There are several ways to properly clean squid. Frozen squid must be thawed before cleaning.
Proper defrosting
The correct method number 1 is for those who are leisurely. There is no need to start cooking immediately after the frozen product is at your home, then place the carcasses in a deep plate, cover with cold water and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Water should completely cover carcasses.
The correct way number 2 is “rational”. Squids can be defrosted at outdoors at a temperature of 18−20 °C, and in this case the meat will retain maximum beneficial properties.
Wrong way number 1 - “here and now”. Defrosting in hot water is a faster method, however, you need to remember that under the influence of hot water, pigment from the skin gets into the meat, which is why it acquires pinkish or lilac color and begins to turn bitter.
Wrong way number 2 - “wasting money.” Some people, out of habit, defrost squid in the microwave. Immediately after defrosting in the microwave, the carcasses can be thrown away like unedible pieces of rubber, and the kitchen must be thoroughly ventilated to remove any unpleasant odors.
So, the shellfish are defrosted. Next steps: cutting, gutting, cleaning.
If you got the squid with a whole carcass, then you need to separate all the excess from it:
- The head must be cut off. It is not used as food.
- The tentacles can be eaten, but they must be cut off at the base, right next to the eyes. Please note that between the tentacles there are beak-shaped jaws (the so-called middle beak). It's not edible. Be sure to remove it and check for debris.
- After cutting, it is necessary to pull out the insides along with the hard chord and rinse the remaining carcass well. Now you need to remove the skin from it.
Peeling
The film from the squid must be removed from both the outer and inside. The outer film is dark in color and is clearly visible. The inner film is usually clear (or white around the edges and seals).
Here are three ways to remove the skin from squid:
- "Stocking" method. The outer film on the defrosted carcass is pryed off with a knife and pulled off entirely, like a stocking. If there is no need to maintain the shape of the carcass (for example, you do not plan to use squid rings), then the carcass can be cut from the side opposite the chord and the inner film can be scraped off with a knife. This method is only suitable for fresh and frozen shellfish. Otherwise, the outer film will tear, and it will not be possible to remove it with a “stocking”.
- Contrast shower method. How to remove the film from a squid if the stocking trick fails? Take two deep bowls and fill them with water: one with hot water, the other with ice. You can even use ice cubes. Immerse the squid carcasses alternately for a few seconds, first in hot water and then in ice water. The residence time in hot water should be very short so as not to cook the carcass in an uncleaned form. The skin will burst and begin to curl, after which it can be easily removed by hand or with a soft brush under running water.
- Pre-cooking method. How to easily clean squids if they are not fresh? For shellfish that have been frozen for a long time, another method is suitable. Place a pot of water on the fire. Immerse the carcass in boiling water for no more than 1 minute to lightly boil. Then take it out and let it cool. After this treatment, the squid skin is washed off plain water from the tap. When preparing further, take into account the time spent pre-cooking the squid. Total time heat treatment shellfish should be no more than 4 minutes.
Squid- These are cephalopods that live in almost all seas on earth. In domestic stores you can currently buy mainly shellfish from the Far Eastern seas. The most common and delicious is Pacific squid. The length of its body without head and tentacles is from 20 to 35 cm. The value of this species is its high content of protein and other useful substances.
In addition to this species, Commander squid is also commercially available. On average, its body length is 10 cm longer than that of the Pacific. It also contains less protein, but more water. Thanks to this, its meat is more tender after heat treatment.
Southern types of squid are larger, and many of their meat has a specific taste. They are sold less often than Pacific and Commander squid.
IN trading network you can find very light squid fillets. If there is no information on the packaging that the fillet was cooked at sea, you should not buy such a product. As a rule, caught squid is frozen and sent for processing to China. There the shellfish is thawed, filleted, bleached and re-frozen.
For use in home cooking, it is preferable to cut and clean the squid yourself.
How to clean squid quickly
If the squid is purchased whole carcass with a head and tentacles, then it is first cut up. To do this, cut off the head, grope and remove the hard “beak” from it. The head and tentacles themselves are not thrown away; it can be used in salads, soups and main courses. The entrails are carefully removed from the squid's body. After this, it remains to clean the carcasses from the colored skin. This can be done according to the diagram below.It is more profitable to buy cut up, frozen, but not peeled squid carcasses.
Before cooking, they need to be defrosted at room temperature. After that:
1. Remove a transparent cartilaginous frog from the carcasses. This is a rudiment of an internal shell.
2. If there are leftovers internal organs, they also need to be removed. After this, put the carcasses in suitable pan and pour boiling water over it.
3. The top skin will curl, all that remains is to rinse the shellfish and use it in various dishes.
How to fry squid in two minutes
You can cook fried squid very quickly. For one serving of fried squid you need:- two peeled squid mantles;
- 3-4 g salt;
- 2 g black pepper, ground;
- 30 ml oil.
2. After a quarter of an hour, heat the frying pan without oil. It is convenient to use either a grill pan or non-stick cookware.
3. Place the squid on a hot frying pan. First put it on the side where the cuts are, and after 40 - 50 seconds turn it over to the other side.
In another minute fried squid ready. Shape them into a tube and serve with any sauce.
How to quickly prepare a simple squid salad
For two servings of squid salad you need;
- 300 g peeled squid;
- 70 g mayonnaise;
- pepper to taste.
2. Cut the cooled squid into rings.
3. Add pepper and mayonnaise. Stir and serve.
It should be added that many seafood are quite expensive. Squids are the most budget-friendly of them, they are available to most consumers. The taste of these shellfish, when properly cooked, is excellent and dishes made from them should be on the family menu.
Squid is a fairly popular seafood product, from which you can prepare a variety of delicious dishes, but in order for it to turn out juicy, tasty and soft, it must be subjected to proper heat treatment, so let’s look at how to properly peel squid from the film, as well as how and how long they need to be cooked until fully cooked, but at the same time so that they remain soft and not overcooked.
How to quickly and easily clean squid at home
You can often find fresh frozen squid on sale, from which many popular dishes are prepared at home (for example, sea salad with squid). In order for the cooked squid meat to be soft and tender, it is better to remove the film from it, which, if you do not know certain tricks, is not so easy to separate from the carcass. Let's consider how you can clean frozen squid carcasses from film, giving them heat treatment and without it, as well as how to properly clean a whole squid, but before that, how many minutes to defrost the squid.
How long does it take to defrost squid?
For many products, including squid, gradual defrosting is desirable, so if you intend to prepare a squid dish, it is better to defrost the squid carcasses in advance by moving them from freezer into the regular food compartment of the refrigerator or by leaving it in a plate of cold water at room temperature.
You can defrost squids even more in a fast way, placing them in the microwave in the defrosting mode, but if you do not have a microwave oven in your house, then you need to take care of defrosting the squid in advance, using the advice presented above.
Important: you cannot defrost squids by pouring hot water or boiling water over them, so as not to spoil their beneficial and tasteful qualities.
Sequence of cleaning a whole squid
True connoisseurs of seafood will say without hesitation that it is better to buy whole squid, rather than ready-cut carcasses, since in factories, during the cleaning process, whole squid is subjected to mechanical and thermal processing, due to which some of its beneficial properties are lost, and also processed meat will not work cook very tender and tasty. In many supermarkets you cannot always find whole squid, but if you can find them, then pay attention to them, and not to frozen and cleaned shellfish.
Cleaning a whole squid can be divided into several stages, so let’s look at them in more detail:
- Take a whole squid carcass (if it was frozen, you need to defrost it in advance).
- With one hand we take the squid carcass (the part without eyes and tentacles), and with the other we take the squid’s head behind the eyes and smoothly separate the head from the main carcass.
- We clean (squeeze out) the insides from the carcass, and also take out the chitin plate.
- We cut off the tentacles from the head (it is important not to cut off the small beak of the squid, which is quite sharp), which can also be used to prepare delicious dishes.
- Under running water, gently prying it with your nails or a knife, remove the skin (film) from the carcass.
- We thoroughly wash the cleaned squid fillet inside and out.
If you bought frozen squid carcasses that have already been cleaned of tentacles and heads, you will still need to clean them at home from skin and film, as well as from possible remains of entrails. There are several ways to clean squid from the film: by treating them with boiling water and without heat treatment.
How to clean squid from film without heat treatment
According to many squid lovers, this method is the best, because during cleaning the squid is less subjected to heat treatment (unlike the method when it is doused with boiling water for easier cleaning) and its meat remains more tender and soft after cooking.
The process of cleaning squid takes place in the following sequence:
- The first step is to remove the skin from the carcass by prying it with a fingernail or a knife; it is easier to peel off if the squid has not been completely thawed.
- Next, it is important to carefully remove the film from the squid fillet, which is also lifted and pulled off in parts from the carcass.
- Finally, the squid meat is washed well under running cold water (outside and inside), carefully inspecting each carcass so that there are no small film residues left on it. If there are any, it is better to remove them.
As you can see, cleaning a squid carcass is not difficult and it will only take a few minutes. To clearly see how squid are cleaned, you can watch the video below:
How to remove film from squid by scalding it with boiling water
The fastest and in a simple way To clean squid carcasses from skin and film, scald them with boiling water, after which it is much easier to remove the film:
- We prepare in advance cold water and boiling water.
- We take out the chitinous plate inside from the squid.
- In a separate container (deep plate or pan), pour boiling water over the squid carcasses, then immediately transfer them to a container with cold water. Due to rapid temperature changes, the skin will peel off and be removed much easier.
- Remove the film from the squid by hand, after which we wash the cleaned fillet under cold running water.
More a clear example quick cleaning squid using its heat treatment there will be a video presented below:
How long should I cook squid so that it is soft and tasty?
Their softness depends on how and how long the squid is cooked. If you overcook squid fillet, it will turn out very tough and unpleasant to eat, so let’s look at a few of the most popular ways boiling squid, during which it turns out soft and juicy.
How to cook frozen squid?
- Ingredients: frozen squid – 2 pcs, water – 1 l, salt – 0.5 tsp, bay leaf – 1 pc, spices – optional.
- Total cooking time: 11 minutes, cooking time: 1-1.5 minutes.
- Calorie content: 122 calories (per 100 grams of product).
- Cuisine: European. Type of dish: seafood. Number of servings: 2.
You can cook squid without defrosting (the main thing is that they have already been cleaned before doing this). The sequence of cooking frozen squid carcasses is as follows:
- Pour water into a saucepan so that all the squids fit in it and bring to a boil.
- Salt to taste, and if desired, add spices and bay leaf.
- Place the squid carcasses in boiling water and cook for 1-1.5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid. In this state, leave the squid to simmer for 10 minutes.
Standard cooking of squid (carcass, squid rings) for salad and other dishes
Take a large saucepan so that it can accommodate all the squid that we will cook, add water and bring to a boil. Thawed and peeled squids are placed in boiling water for 1-2 minutes (the water is first salted and spices are added to taste), after which the pan is removed from the heat, and the squids are left inside in boiling water so that they cool gradually along with the water. We wait for the squid to cool completely in the water.
How to quickly boil squid?
For use in many recipes, you can use express cooking of squid, during which they practically do not decrease in size and remain soft and juicy:
- Boil water in a saucepan and add salt and spices (bay leaf, black pepper, parsley, dill, etc.) to it.
- After the water boils, add the cleaned squid for 30-40 seconds, after which we immediately remove them from the boiling water.
We also watch a video on how to boil squid easily and quickly:
How to cook squid in a slow cooker?
- Pour water into the multicooker.
- Set the “Cooking” mode.
- Add spices and salt to your taste.
- After the water boils, place rings or whole squid carcasses inside.
- We cook them for 1.5-2 minutes, after which we turn off the multicooker, but we do not take out the squids for 3-5 minutes so that they “arrive”.
How to cook squid in a double boiler?
- Pour water into the special section of the steamer.
- We lay out the squid in one layer on a special grid in it.
- Leave the squid to cook for 6-8 minutes under steam.
The golden rule for how long to cook squid
Squid should never be cooked for more than two minutes; the ideal cooking time for squid is one and a half minutes (range 1-2 minutes). If you cook the squid for more than this time, it will be tough, and the carcass itself will decrease in size.
If you accidentally overcooked squid, then read below what to do in this case.
What to do if the squid is overcooked and becomes tough?
Oddly enough, overcooked squids need to be thoroughly boiled additionally so that they are not tough. Place them in boiling water and cook over low heat for 30-60 minutes. After such additional cooking, the squid will become soft, but at the same time it will boil down greatly (reduce in size) and lose the main ingredients. beneficial features.
In conclusion to the article, it can be noted that tips on how to properly cook squid so that they are soft, as well as how to quickly peel squid from the film before and after cooking, will definitely come in handy in every home, because many delicious dishes can be prepared from this seafood, At the same time, it cooks and cooks very quickly. We leave our tips and reviews on how long (minutes) to cook the squid so that they are cooked and soft, in the comments to the article and share it in in social networks, if it was useful to you.