If you consider yourself one of the big fans of seafood, then you are probably very familiar with many delicious squid dishes, which can be prepared very quickly and easily. But many novice housewives who want to cook squid, when faced with them, are often disappointed in their culinary properties. And the point here is not so much in the squids themselves, but in the lack of experience in preparing these tender, but capricious representatives of the sea kingdom. Well-cooked squids always turn out very soft, their taste is delicate and delicate, and their aroma is light and unobtrusive. But as soon as you make a mistake, instead of tender, tasty and healthy dish you will get something hard, rubbery, frightening with its strange smell. Such a failure can not only upset a novice cook, but also force him to completely exclude squid from his daily menu. In order to help you avoid such mistakes, today we want to invite you to figure out with us how to cook squid tasty and simple.
Historically, the appearance of squid dishes is associated with Mediterranean countries. It is reliably known that already in Ancient Greece squid were caught and used for food, however, it was more likely food for the poor, but in the Roman Empire, with the amazing passion of the Romans for abundant feasts, squid was already served at the tables of the aristocracy. Today, squids are popular in almost every corner of our world. And not only in those countries where the love for seafood is due to the proximity of the seas, such as in Asian countries, but also in countries, most of which are located inland. Squid enjoys considerable love and popularity in Russia. More recently, we could enjoy this delicious shellfish only by getting a jar of canned squid, but today we can easily purchase this delicacy in almost any nearby supermarket. To prepare squid dishes, the carcass and tentacles are usually used. However, squid tentacles are not particularly popular in home kitchen, most often they are used to prepare dried rings or marinated in sea cocktails. But squid carcass is perfect for a home menu.
What kind of dishes are not prepared from squid! Starting from the simplest well-known salads and appetizers to the most unimaginably complex dishes, including frying, stewing or long baking with vegetables, herbs and aromatic spices. However, all this huge variety of cooking methods can be easily reduced to the main secret of a successful squid dish: you need to cook squid either very quickly (no more than three to five minutes) or for quite a long time (more than 40 minutes). It is this cooking time that will allow you to make the meat of these shellfish tender, juicy and soft. And the delicate taste and aroma of squid, which makes it easy to combine them with almost any other product, can awaken your imagination and desire to prepare more and more new dishes from these delicious shellfish, diversifying your home menu.
Today the site has prepared for you a selection of the most important advice and little culinary tricks that will definitely help even completely inexperienced housewives and will easily tell you how to cook squid tasty and simple.
1. When buying squid in a store, remember that only residents can enjoy fresh chilled squid Far East. In continental Russia, squid comes only frozen. And if you live far from Pacific Ocean or the Bering Sea, and you are offered to buy a chilled squid carcass - you should be wary, because most likely they are deceiving you, passing off a thawed (maybe more than once) squid as a chilled one.
2. Frozen squids are sold pre-packaged or by weight. Buying already packaged squid is, of course, safer. After all, on the packaging you can immediately see the date and place where the shellfish were caught and easily assess their freshness. Just make sure that the squid offered to you has not been thawed or re-frozen. It's very easy to do. Inspect the bag of squid carefully: the shellfish should not be stuck together, each squid should be covered with a thin transparent crust of ice. If the squid in the bag stuck together, and the ice turned into some kind of snow, then the storage conditions were violated, the squid had already been defrosted and could well have spoiled.
3. When buying frozen squid by weight, also pay attention to the thickness and transparency of the layer of ice covering the carcass. Remember that the ice must be thin and transparent! Plus, be sure to inspect the squid carcass itself, paying close attention to its color. Good fresh squid should have a pink skin color with a slight purple tint, and the meat should be completely white. If the mollusks offered to you have yellow, gray or even purple meat, refuse to purchase: these squids have already been thawed and frozen again more than once, they have already lost most of their taste and culinary qualities. It is impossible to prepare a tasty dish from such squids.
4. When you bring frozen squid home, immediately place it in freezer your refrigerator and leave it there until ready. There is no need to defrost the squids first; this will only complicate their cleaning. But peeling frozen squid is very, very easy! Simply plunge each carcass into boiling water for one to two seconds, and the skin will immediately curl and pull away from the meat. All you have to do is rinse the squid under running water and lightly scrape sharp knife those places where the skin has not completely separated. Also, under running water, use your fingers to carefully remove the inner transparent chord, which resembles a piece of thin plastic. Rinse your squid and move on to the next step of preparation.
5. It is no secret that carcasses of large squid during prolonged cooking, especially stewing, can acquire an unpleasant odor of ammonia, and if this trouble has already occurred, it is impossible to correct it, the dish will have to be thrown away. There are two ways to avoid embarrassment:
- Buy only small baby squid for long-term cooking. Such squids will never spoil your dish with an unpleasant odor. However, the cost of such shellfish is not affordable for everyone.
- You can avoid unpleasant odor in large squids by simply soaking them. Before you start cooking already cleaned squids, fill them with cool water and leave for one to two hours. Then drain the water and rinse the shellfish thoroughly in running water. Ready! Squids prepared in this way will never spoil your dish and will not gain unpleasant odor even with prolonged cooking.
6. Now that your squids are completely ready for further culinary processing, it’s time to cook something delicious from them. Have you tried squid rings in garlic sauce? It's very easy to prepare them! Start by making a simple garlic sauce. Using a press, press five cloves of garlic into a small bowl, add a pinch of salt and one tablespoon of olive oil. Pour three tablespoons of boiling chicken broth or water over everything, mix thoroughly and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut two squid carcasses into rings, boil them for one minute in boiling water and drain in a colander. Heat 2 tbsp in a frying pan. spoons of pork or chicken fat and fry the squid rings for one minute over high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the squid to a colander as quickly as possible and allow the remaining fat to drain. In a separate saucepan, heat 1 tbsp. a spoonful of olive oil, add a pinch each of black and hot red pepper, stir quickly and remove from heat. Place the squid in a saucepan with hot oil, pour in the garlic sauce and mix thoroughly. Delicious snack ready!
7. Fried squid with spicy mayonnaise sauce turns out very tasty. First of all, prepare the sauce. Mix 100 gr. mayonnaise, four crushed or pressed cloves of garlic and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of your favorites herbs, finely chopped. Let it brew in a cool place for half an hour. Now cook the squid. Cut three cleaned and well-washed carcasses into large rings. IN plastic bag add 2 tbsp. spoons of starch, 4 tbsp. spoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of paprika and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then place the squid rings in it, pinch the top of the bag and shake vigorously so that all the squid rings are evenly coated with the breading mixture. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan so that the squid rings immersed in it are completely covered with oil. Remove the squid rings from the bag, shake off the excess breading and immerse them in small portions in the heated oil for one to two minutes until they form golden crust. Place the finished squid on paper towels to remove excess oil. Serve on a warm platter, with the sauce on the side.
8. It’s even easier and faster to prepare spicy fried squid. Peel, rinse and cut into not too thick half rings 500 g. squid Place the squid in a deep bowl, add the juice of one lemon, three crushed cloves of garlic and one small finely chopped chili pepper without seeds (in winter you can replace it with a pinch of ground red pepper). Stir and leave for 10 minutes. Heat 2 tbsp in a frying pan. spoons butter, add your squid and fry over medium heat, stirring constantly, for three minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat and serve immediately with a side dish of boiled rice and fresh or pickled vegetables.
9. Not so fast, but quite easy to prepare original Greek stewed squid. Clean, rinse and cut one kilogram of squid into small pieces. Place the squid in a deep frying pan, add two chopped red onions, half a cinnamon stick, three cloves and two bay leaves. Cover the pan with a lid and place over medium heat for 10 minutes. During this time, the squid and onions will release their juice. Then remove the lid and let almost all the liquid evaporate. Remove whole spices. Pour in two glasses of dry red wine, 4 tbsp. spoons of olive oil, 2 tbsp. spoons of red wine vinegar, add a pinch of black pepper and salt to taste. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the squid for one hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and let the sauce thicken for 10 minutes. Serve over steamed rice.
10. Very easy and quick to prepare delicious squid in Provençal. Peel, rinse and cut into 500g rings half a centimeter wide. squid Prepare lemon dressing in advance: mix 2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil, zest and juice of one lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper. In a deep frying pan, heat 4 tbsp. spoons of olive oil, add four chopped garlic cloves and fry until transparent. Then add 200 gr. whole cherry tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon red pepper, one pinch each of salt and ground black pepper. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, for three minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the squid and a little more salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for three to five minutes until the squid is translucent. As soon as the squid is ready, drain almost all the resulting liquid, pour in the lemon dressing, add one tablespoon each of chopped parsley and mint, stir and serve immediately. You can serve boiled potatoes and fresh vegetables as a side dish.
And the “Culinary Eden” website on its pages is always happy to offer you even more interesting ideas: what to cook and proven recipes that will definitely tell you how to cook squid tasty and simple.
Do you know that including seafood in your weekly diet helps you avoid many dangerous diseases? And this is very easy to do and there is no need to buy exotic crabs or mussels. All you need to do is prepare a delicious salad with squid. Of course, there are also subtleties here, and it is very important to know how to cook seafood correctly. However, there is no trick in cooking that cannot be mastered. We will tell you how to cook squid for salad so that it is tender, not tough and not tasteless, how long you need to keep tentacles, rings and carcasses in water after boiling so that they are soft, as well as how to select and prepare unpeeled and frozen fillets.
How to properly cook squid for salad so that it is soft
The main trick in cooking squid is observing the required amount of time during heat treatment. Delicate seafood is afraid of high temperatures and quickly becomes tough if you act on it aggressively. You need to know how to properly cook squid for salad so that it is soft.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Preparation
How and for how long to cook frozen squid so that they are soft and tasty
First, let's figure out what frozen squid should look like in the store so that the taste pleases us. The carcasses should be white on the inside and pinkish on the outside, as in the photo.
If frozen seafood has yellow— it was clearly stored incorrectly. It will begin to disintegrate into fibers and will have an unpleasant taste and odor. It's better not to buy it. Let's figure out how and how long to cook frozen squid so that it is soft.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Preparation
How many minutes should you cook squids after boiling water so that they are not tough?
Cooking seafood is very simple if you know some subtleties. The main thing is how many minutes to cook the squid after boiling water so that it is not tough.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Preparation
You can throw squids into cold water, but you will need to remove them immediately after boiling.
How to cook unpeeled squid so that it is not tough
Of course, to save time, it is more convenient to buy squid that has already been peeled. But it is a known fact that the diaper covering seafood contains a large amount of microelements. It is more useful to place unpeeled sea creatures in boiling water for 2-3 minutes so that they are not hard, and then simply peel off the skin under running water. You definitely need to pull out the chord. We will tell you below how to cook unpeeled squid so that it is not tough.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Preparation
How to properly cook frozen squid rings
Squid rings are an excellent appetizer that can be a meal on its own. Rings are sold frozen in stores, but you can prepare them yourself. You need to know how to properly cook frozen squid rings. They are very easy to prepare.
Ingredients
- Squid rings - 1 kg
- Water-0.5 l
Preparation
Making squid rings at home
You can prepare the rings at home yourself to be sure of the quality of the product. This is how it is done.
How to cook squid carcasses for salad
There are a huge number of delicious salads prepared with this delicate and tasty seafood. It is important to know how to cook squid carcasses for salad so that they are not rubbery.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Preparation
How to properly cook squid tentacles
In stores you can find not only squid fillets, but also tentacles. It is important to know how to properly cook squid tentacles.
Ingredients
- Tentacles - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Preparation
How long and how to properly cook squid so that it is tender
As you know, fillet cannot be overcooked - the dish will become tasteless and tough. However, there are various options, how long and how to cook squid so that it is tender.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water-0.25 l
Methods for cooking tender squid
Method No. 1 Pour boiling water over the squid, wash it, and clean it from the inside. Place in cold water and add some salt. As soon as the water boils, you need to quickly remove the pan from the heat and remove the squid.
Method No. 2 Place the cleaned carcasses into boiling salted water and cook until the water begins to boil again. Then quickly remove from the heat and take out the squid. Suitable if there are a lot of squids, as this method is the simplest. Squids should not be put into the water all together, but 2-3 carcasses at a time.
Method No. 3. Pour boiling water over the squid, add salt and leave for 5 minutes. Then pour boiling water again for 5 minutes, drain the water and pour boiling water a third time.
How long and how to cook squid for salad so that it is not tasteless
Typically, squids do not have a distinct taste of their own. They can be cooked with spices to give them a more sophisticated feel. Below it is written how long and how to cook squid for salad so that it is not tasteless.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water - 0.25 l
- Spices
- Lemon juice - 2 tbsp. spoons
Preparation
Another way to prepare squid for salad: so that they are not tasteless, they are marinated in lemon juice.
How many minutes to cook squid fillet
To cook squid correctly, you need to know how many minutes to cook sea reptile fillets. And cook it for no more than 2-3 minutes at a temperature of less than 100 degrees. This means that the dish should not boil. As soon as the water in the pan with squid begins to boil, they need to be quickly removed.
Ingredients
- Squid - 0.5 kg
- Water - 0.25 l
Methods for preparing squid
There are 3 ways to cook squid.
There is one trick to correct the situation if the squid is overcooked. You need to cook the fillet for about another hour. Then it will become soft again, but will noticeably decrease in size.
Thus, knowing the secrets of how to cook squid, you can easily prepare wonderful fillets for salads and other dishes. It’s enough just to properly process unpeeled and frozen squid, navigate the time and understand how and how much to cook the tentacles, rings, carcasses of the sea reptile after boiling, so as not to overcook it and make it tender, soft, and not tasteless.
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IN last years seafood is confidently displacing classic meat delicacies of Russian cuisine from our table. Squids have no cholesterol, are lower in calories, and are not at all harmful to health. The dishes will not leave marks on the waist, hips or inside the blood vessels. We offer delicious and simple recipes cooking squid.
Sea inhabitants squids - cephalopods - have not only excellent taste and tender meat. They are a storehouse of useful substances, such as polyunsaturated fats, potassium, copper, iodine, selenium (removes heavy metal salts), protein, and vitamins. In some books on medicinal purposes, squid is called “ginseng from the sea.” To use them, you need to know the cooking rules in order to preserve the benefits and get many different tastes.
You don’t have to spend a long time fiddling with them, like other seafood, when cooking. Under certain conditions, shellfish fried in batter (prepared in just a few minutes) or stewed with vegetables can replace fast food, sausages or, and the benefits for well-being, a slim figure and mood are enormous.
The most popular squid salads and stews, however, due to their shape, shellfish are incredibly convenient for canning, and their subtle delicate taste and tender meat make it possible to combine them with big amount products from cottage cheese or to olives and pine nuts. Below we offer two recipes for stuffing - one for the everyday menu, and the second for a holiday, and the cooking process can form part of the entertainment program for guests.
Preparing to cook
- You need to buy unpeeled carcasses, because... the peeled ones were probably subjected to repeated freezing.
- The production date on the packaging of frozen squid should be July or August, because... It is during these months that fishing takes place and one can hope that the seafood has not been re-frozen and has preserved everything useful material.
- under the film, the mollusk can only be white, unlike carcasses, which can be different shades, from purple to light pink.
- There may be a thin crust of ice on the carcass (according to GOST, 8% of the weight is allowed).
- Frozen squids are thawed only in cold water, microwave and hot water cannot be used.
- To remove the skin, pour hot water (55-65 °C) over the mollusk in a bowl or colander, after which the skin should be removed with a stocking, it is best to do this under running water.
- It is not recommended to beat tender meat before cooking, but you can make cuts with a mesh before frying, which will speed up cooking and give an elegant look to the finished dish.
- Cook the squid for 15-20 seconds after the water boils, and it is better to cook the carcasses one at a time, rather than at the same time. This will make it easier to quickly remove them from the pan.
- Stewing, frying, baking in the oven suggests 2 options for obtaining soft meat: 2-3 min or more than 40 min.
Recipe for stuffed squid with Thai sauce
Ingredients:
- 500 g squid;
- 200 g fish fillet;
- 100 g hard cheese;
- 2 boiled eggs;
- 1 onion;
- 4 tbsp. l. sour cream;
- 1 bouillon cube;
- 1 glass of water;
- Vegetable oil;
- Salt;
Preparation:
- Quickly boil the cleaned squids in salted water.
- Cut the onion into half rings and fry until golden brown.
- Cut the fish into small cubes, add to the onion and fry along with it.
- Finely chop the eggs and mix with finely chopped cheese. Add fish and onions to the mixture, mix everything thoroughly.
- Stuff the shellfish carcasses with the resulting minced meat, sew them up with thread, and place them in a deep mold.
- Dissolve the broth cube in boiling water, add sour cream to it and simmer everything together until a homogeneous sauce is obtained.
- Pour this sauce over the squid and place in a hot oven for 40 minutes at a temperature of 190-210 °C.
Video recipe
French stuffed squid
Ingredients:
- 0.8-1 kg squid;
- 1 onion;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 1-2 bunches of fresh parsley;
- 3 tbsp. l. capers;
- 3 tomatoes;
- 2-3 pieces of dry white bread without crust;
- Milk;
- Olive (vegetable) oil;
- Yolks of 2 boiled eggs;
- 100 ml cognac or brandy;
- 1 tbsp. l. flour;
- 1.5 glasses of dry white wine;
- If desired, you can add anchovy fillets (4 pcs.) to the minced meat.
Preparation:
- Peel the squid, finely chop 1-2 pieces (depending on size).
- Finely chop the onion and quickly fry it, add chopped shellfish to it.
- Soak the bread in milk and squeeze. Scald the tomatoes, peel and chop.
- Very finely chop 2 cloves of garlic, 1 bunch of parsley and 2 tbsp. l. capers.
- Mix the fried shellfish and other prepared products together with egg yolks in a blender. Fill the shellfish carcasses with the resulting mixture and sew them up with thread.
- Fry them for a couple of minutes, turn off the heat, pour cognac or brandy over them, and set them on fire. When the flame goes out, transfer the carcasses into a baking dish with high sides, sprinkle them with the remaining chopped parsley, capers and garlic, add a little salt, gently sprinkle with flour and pour in wine.
- Cover the pan with foil, bring to a boil and place in the oven for 50-60 minutes at a temperature of 190-210 °C. French recipe stuffed squid “a la Provencale” is ready!
Video recipe
Squid cutlets
Ingredients:
- 700-800 g squid;
- 1 onion;
- 200-250 g of white bread;
- 2 eggs;
- Vegetable oil;
- Breadcrumbs;
- Salt pepper.
Preparation:
- Chop the onion and peeled squid.
- Soak the bread in water, squeeze out.
- Mix bread, shellfish meat, onion, mince, salt and pepper.
- Separate the yolks from the whites, beat the yolks and whites.
- Add the yolks to the minced meat first, mix, then the whites, mix again.
- Form cutlets, roll in breadcrumbs, fry in a hot frying pan.
- Can be served as a side dish mashed potatoes or vegetable salad, asparagus, olives.
Video recipe
Very often, the first cooking experience is unsuccessful - the result is tough, “rubbery” meat that is difficult to chew. But gradually, if you study what types of squid are sold in stores, the recipes and subtleties of their preparation, you get dishes of amazing beauty and taste. As a last resort, you can buy canned shellfish for salads;).
How do you like to cook squid?
Mediterranean cuisine has long been nothing new to us, and squid is an integral part of it, like other seafood. They are not only tasty, but also very healthy, especially for those who care about their figure. Every housewife has several recipes for dishes made from this seafood. But do we know how to cook squid correctly? Here are some tips that will help you cope with this task easily and without errors.
Rules for choosing and preparing squid for cooking
Today you can buy squid in almost any supermarket. Most often they are sold frozen, your choice - with or without tentacles. During storage, squid carcasses cannot be defrosted and cooled again, otherwise the product will be hopelessly spoiled: it will develop a bitter taste and an unpleasant fishy smell.
In addition, during cooking the squid will spread and foam during cooking.
If the squid has been stored correctly, its carcass will be firm, the meat will be white, and the outer skin will be pink-brown or grayish-purple. At proper storage
squid carcass has this color
Please note: when choosing squid in the store, give preference to unpeeled carcasses. It is by the skin that you can determine the freshness of the product and the correctness of its storage. A grayish or yellow skin, from under which meat with an irregular shade is visible, is a sign of a stale squid. If you are confident in the freshness and good quality
squid, you can buy cleaned carcasses. There will be virtually no hassle with them: there is no need to peel off the skin, which means the cooking process will not take much time.
The easiest way to clean frozen squid is boiling water. Just pour boiling water over the carcasses or dip them in it for literally 1-2 seconds. The film that covers the carcass will immediately curl up, and you can easily remove it, and the remains can be washed off in running cold water. Also peel the wings. The chitinous plates inside the squid also need to be removed. It is necessary to clean squid if you plan to use its meat for salad.
However, this is also useful for other dishes: the skin can give a bitter taste and toughness, and the plates are generally unnecessary.
Cooking features
It is most convenient to cook squid carcasses in small portions. Place 1-2 carcasses in a pan of boiling water, remove and add the next ones.
During cooking, you can use, in addition to salt, any seasonings and spices: pepper, dill, parsley, cloves, basil.
The finished squid carcass turns white There are several simple ways
- boiling squid.
- Place a pan of water over high heat, add salt and spices to taste, and boil. Throw a couple of carcasses into boiling water and hold for no longer than 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- Boil 1–1.5 liters of water, add salt and spices. Place thawed and prepared carcasses. Cover the pan with a lid and remove from heat. After 10 minutes, the meat will infuse and be ready. As the water gradually cools, the squid carcasses will not become tough.
- If you have a lot of squid meat, use this method. Pour enough water into the pan to fit all the meat, add salt and spices. When the water boils over high heat, dip the prepared squid into it. Wait until the water boils again, cover the pan with a lid, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. After this, the water can be drained.
- You don't have to defrost the squid before cooking. In this case, the carcasses are immersed in boiling water for 1 minute, after which the pan is removed from the heat and infused in water for 3-4 minutes. If you don't want to clean the squid before cooking, you can throw it into boiling water straight from the package without cutting it up. Frozen, unpeeled carcasses are cooked for about 7 minutes, defrosted - no more than 3 minutes. After that, pour them over cold water
, and you can easily peel the meat.
These rules apply equally to whole squid, rings and fillets.
A few nuances
You can prepare many dishes from boiled squid. These can be salads, pie or pizza toppings, soups and much more. And as a separate dish, squid will take its rightful place on your table. For the salad, cook the squid meat for 7–10 minutes until cooked ( white
), and you don’t have to defrost them before cooking. If you want to make stuffed squids or fry them after boiling, just keep them in boiling water for 3 minutes and remove them. The meat will reach final cooking during stewing or frying.
You can cook squid not only in a pan of water, because now there are so many devices that make the housewife’s work easier! Cooking time for squid meat in various devices:
- in a slow cooker - 2 minutes;
- in a double boiler - 5 minutes;
- in a pressure cooker - 1 minute;
- in the microwave - 1 minute on maximum mode, after adding oil, lemon juice and spices.
With the last method you will get squid in own juice. They are perfect for a salad or as a separate dish, such as a beer snack.
Video: how to cook squid correctly
Working on mistakes: correcting our own mistakes
Often the first pancake comes out lumpy, and if you are still inexperienced in cooking squid, mistakes cannot be avoided. The most common problem is that the meat has been in boiling water for a long time, which means it has become tough. It turns out that this is not difficult to fix. Place the carcasses in boiling water again and cook for as long as possible, at least half an hour. The meat will become soft again, although it will almost halve in volume. It may also lose its taste.
Squids belong to the order of decapod cephalopods. They seem unusual even against the background of their extraordinary counterparts - octopuses and cuttlefish. Squids are like aliens: high intelligence, cunning matrix eyes and a reactive mode of movement.
There have long been legends about giant squids that dragged ships and sailors to the bottom. This has not been documented, although a 20-meter individual is quite capable of sinking a small boat. But now we are not interested in giant squid, but in Commander and Pacific squid. Due to their small sizes, they don't eat people. Rather, the opposite is true.
Beneficial features
How to choose
Mostly frozen squids are sold. You should choose carcasses that have never been defrosted, otherwise they will spread and have a bitter taste and smell of old frozen fish.
If squid is sold in briquettes, then a properly frozen carcass can be easily separated from the briquette. Another criterion - appearance. The carcass should be dense, the upper skin of the squid can be pinkish, lilac, or slightly brown, but the squid meat itself must be white. If it is yellow or purple, the squid has definitely been defrosted.
How to defrost
It's best in the air, and even better - in the refrigerator.
How to clean
The squid has two skins: an outer, colored one, and a second, transparent one. Both need to be removed. If the squid is sold with tentacles, cut them off near the squid's eyes, then remove the beak and ink sac.
The skin of the carcass will be easier to remove if you scald it with boiling water before defrosting. Outer skin It will come off on its own, but the second one needs to be picked up from the wide end of the carcass and removed like a stocking. Then rinse the carcass and leave to continue defrosting.
Finally, turn the squid inside out, remove the chord and inner membrane and rinse thoroughly again.
Squid soups
There is a simple pattern: the squid remains soft for the first 3 minutes of cooking, then it becomes tough. After 30-40 minutes it becomes soft again, but loses volume.
This is the basis for preparing squid soup. Most often, squids are boiled separately, then set aside, vegetables, cereals, pasta and other ingredients are boiled in the resulting broth, and when serving, squids, cut into rings or strips, are added again. Below we will give a simple but tasty example of such a soup.
Homemade soup with squid
Ingredients:
500 g potatoes
250 g frozen squid
1 onion
1 carrot
1 parsley root
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt, spices and herbs to taste.
Thaw, clean and rinse the squid. Throw them into boiling salted water and cook for no more than 3-5 minutes. Cut the boiled and cooled squid into strips. Finely chop the onion, carrots and parsley root and fry on vegetable oil until the onion becomes translucent. Throw the vegetables and diced potatoes into the squid broth, add salt and pepper, and cook the soup until the potatoes are ready. When serving, place squid in each plate, pour over the soup and sprinkle with finely chopped herbs.
Raw squid can also be added 2-3 minutes before turning off the soup, as in the following recipe
Mushroom soup with squid
Ingredients:
250 g squid fillet
4-5 medium potatoes
2 medium carrots
1 onion
50 g dried mushrooms
20 g vegetable oil
2 teaspoons flour
5 glasses of water
Salt, pepper, herbs to taste
Soak dried mushrooms for 3-4 hours and cook in the same water until soft. Strain the finished broth and rinse the mushrooms. Prepare the sauté. Fry finely chopped carrots and onions in vegetable oil with the addition of tomato paste and flour until the mass becomes homogeneous and the onion is transparent. Peel the potatoes and cook in the broth until tender, then add salt and pepper, add chopped squid fillet without skin, boiled chopped mushrooms, season the soup with sauté, cook for 2-3 minutes and serve. However, squid can be boiled in soup for more long time. To do this, they are first fried so that the crust does not allow them to decrease in volume. After 30 minutes the squid becomes soft again. You can verify this by preparing hodgepodge according to the following recipe.
Solyanka with squid
Ingredients:
300 g squid
1 onion
2 pickled cucumbers
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2-3 cloves of garlic
ground black pepper, parsley or dill, salt to taste
Lightly beat the peeled and washed squids, cut into small pieces and fry in oil. Lightly fry the chopped onion and place the squid in a saucepan, add tomato paste, peeled and sliced pickles, finely chopped garlic, salt, ground black pepper, and water. Cook covered for 30-40 minutes.
Before serving, sprinkle the solyanka with finely chopped parsley or dill.
And finally, a Thai recipe
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Thai stuffed squid soup
Ingredients:
500 g small squid
200 g minced pork
1 teaspoon garlic, salt, pepper and coriander root, crushed together
1.2 liters fish stock or water
3 lemon leaves
2 tablespoons sweet and sour sauce
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Lemon juice, cilantro for seasoning, salt, crushed capsicum to taste
Clean the squid and remove the ink sac. Stuff the carcasses with a mixture of minced pork, garlic, pepper, salt and coriander root. Boil water or fish broth, add lemon zest and chopped lemon leaves. Boil for a few minutes, place the stuffed squid in the pan and add salt.
Squeeze a little on each plate before serving. lemon juice, season with crushed capsicum and finely chopped cilantro. The soup should be sour, salty and spicy.
Main courses of squid, cut into pieces
Pieces of squid are boiled, fried and stewed. At the same time, squid is often boiled before frying, and fried before stewing, so that a protective crust is formed, under which the meat remains tender.
Below is one of classic salads squid
Ingredients:
300 g squid (fillet)
3 medium potatoes
3 medium carrots
3 pickled cucumbers
200-250 g canned green peas
salt, sugar, pepper - to taste
Lettuce leaves for decoration
Boil the potatoes and carrots and let cool. Thaw and clean the squid, cook in salted water for 4 minutes, then let cool. Cut fillet, potatoes, carrots and peeled cucumbers into strips.
Add salt, sugar, pepper to the mayonnaise, pour it over the mixture of prepared products and stir gently. Garnish with lettuce, cucumber, and squid pieces.
And here is the recipe squid fried in breadcrumbs:
Ingredients:
700 g squid fillet
3-4 tablespoons milk
3-4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
4-5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon flour
parsley or dill for garnish
salt and pepper to taste.
Mix breadcrumbs with egg.
Thaw the squid carcasses, boil and clean. Boil in salted water for 3-4 minutes and cut into small pieces. Salt these pieces, sprinkle with pepper and roll in flour, then dip in egg and breadcrumbs and fry in vegetable oil. Serve the squid hot, sprinkled with chopped herbs.
From next recipe it is clear that when stewed together, squid can elevate such a simple vegetable as onion.
Squid stewed with vegetables
Ingredients:
500 g frozen squid meat
2 medium onions
1.5 cups milk
2.5 cups flour
3 tablespoons butter
salt and ground pepper to taste
Thaw and clean the squid carcasses. Chop into lengthwise strips, add salt to taste, roll in flour and fry.
Finely chop the onion and lightly fry in vegetable oil until transparent. Then sprinkle it with flour and continue to fry for another 5-7 minutes, stirring continuously.
Place the onion in a saucepan, add milk, bring to a boil and add the fried squid. Sprinkle all this with salt, ground pepper and simmer over low heat for 25-30 minutes, covering the saucepan with a lid.
Serve on a platter, garnished with chopped parsley or dill. Boiled or fried potatoes are good as a side dish.
Stuffed squid
Squids are most often stuffed
Vegetables
Mushrooms
Pork
Greenery
Here is the squid recipe: stuffed with onions, egg and champignons.
Ingredients:
6 squid carcasses
150 g ham
200 g champignons
2 medium onions
0.5 cups rice
100 hard cheese
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
Vegetable oil for frying
Thaw, clean the squid carcasses and boil in salted water for 3 minutes. Boil the eggs hard and cut into cubes. Cut the ham into cubes too. Finely chop the champignons and fry with onions, boil the rice and cool, grate the cheese, mix everything and add mayonnaise.
Fill the squid carcasses with the resulting minced meat, place on a baking sheet, brush with mayonnaise, cover with foil, place in the oven preheated to 200 C and bake for 15 minutes. After this, remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
Useful tips
To make the squid meat more tender, you can pre-beat it. It is better to undercook squid than to overcook it. For greater softness, instead of boiling the squid, blanch it with steam for 3-4 minutes. It is recommended to add half a lemon or a bag of black tea to the boiling water where the squid is cooked.