Squid is often used to prepare various salads, side dishes, and snacks. In addition, seafood is healthy, and its cost is low - isn’t this a reason to include it in your daily diet? Despite all the positive qualities, many housewives avoid cooking shellfish themselves, as they often turn out tough, as if they taste rubbery. Such a nuisance can occur in one case - the product is incorrectly prepared.
Delicious shellfish is an ingredient whose heat treatment is simple, but requires special attention. Therefore, it is important to know how to cook squid for salad. Having learned a few basic tricks, you can prepare the product for further use in 10 minutes. It is important not to overdo the heat treatment of the ingredient. It is the length of time that the shellfish are cooked that contributes to its resemblance to rubber – the squid becomes dense and practically inedible.
Cleaning seafood is another headache for many housewives. But here everything is even simpler - we treat it the same way as with tomatoes that we want to quickly remove from the skin, and voila - the shell can be easily removed with one movement of the hand.
Preparing the carcass for cooking
Correct selection and preparation of seafood is the key to successful squid cooking. In supermarkets you can find frozen product, pre-peeled or unpeeled.
In the first case, it needs to be defrosted. This is done indoors. There are several ways to quickly defrost squid. To thaw, the squid carcass can be left on the kitchen counter or placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for several hours. You can also pour frozen carcasses with ice water.
In order to properly cook unpeeled clams, they must be cleaned. This process will not cause many difficulties if you follow the step-by-step instructions.
How to clean defrosted seafood:
- A carcass of a mollusk without a head and tentacles only requires removing the films, since it has already been cleaned of its entrails.
- Unpeeled squid requires cutting. Take him by the head, holding him firmly in the eye area with one hand.
- Holding the carcass, firmly pull the free half of the mollusk towards you - this will allow you to remove all the insides of the squid.
- Feel the dense chitinous film with your hands and remove it. It can be easily removed without additional manipulation.
- Before cooking squid, remove the white and red membrane from them. To remove it easily, place the clams in a deep bowl and cover with hot water. After 1 minute, drain the liquid and rinse the carcasses under running water. Grab the film with a knife blade and pull - it will easily separate from the mollusk.
- Rinse the shellfish carcasses under tap water and rub with your hands, washing off any remaining film.
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Pictures Squid tentacles can be boiled with the rest of the squid or thrown away with the entrails. If the cook decides to leave them, it is necessary to cut off the tentacles near the eyes of the mollusk and cut out the mouth located between the tentacles.
Beginner cooks often ask why squid tastes bitter after cooking. The main reason for unpleasant bitterness lies in improper storage of seafood. Therefore, buy shellfish only in reliable stores, carefully check the tightness of the packaging and the expiration date of the product.
How to remove the film from squid
The film is easy to clean using the method of changing temperatures (first dip the clam in boiling water, then in cold water). You can clean the carcass, if it is fresh frozen, in this way:
- remove the squid's head;
- use the tip of a knife to pick up the edge of the film;
- pull it towards you, as when removing stockings.
This method allows you to properly clean the squid (you don’t even need to boil it first).
Cooking fresh carcasses
There are various ways to cook squid so that it is soft. It is better not to boil fresh carcasses in boiling water, otherwise they may lose their taste and become rubbery. To quickly cook fresh shellfish, salted boiling water is used.
- shellfish carcasses – 900-950 g;
- table or sea salt - to your taste;
- water – 1 l.
This is a simple and quick way to properly cook squid without heat treatment. Boil water and add salt. Mix well and immediately remove from heat.
Dip fresh shellfish carcasses into hot water and leave for 8-10 minutes. Place seafood in a colander and leave to drain. Garnish the finished dish with lemon slices or sprigs of fresh herbs.
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Rules for choosing seafood
Squid salads are very light on the stomach and very nutritious. Combination with different products gives the dish originality and pleases with its unchanged taste. You can prepare such a salad quickly and easily, you just need to know some of the features of cooking the carcasses and tentacles of this mollusk. If you overcook the squid even a little, its meat becomes tough. How to properly cook squid for salad so that it does not become “rubbery”?
First you need to choose the right product. There are also subtleties here. As a rule, unpeeled squids are sold frozen. When choosing a carcass, follow the following rules:
- You should only buy a frozen product (if it is not possible to get fresh), because thawed carcasses after cooking produce bitter and viscous meat. A properly frozen squid should have no more than 8% of its total ice mass.
- Carcasses should not be stuck together. This is an indication that they were not thawed or re-frozen during storage.
- Avoid Peruvian giant squid fillets as they have a very specific taste and will require additional processing.
- Do not buy peeled squid, as they have already been defrosted, which is a gross violation of the product storage rules.
- The squid rings are waste from the processing of giant squids that have already been thawed.
- The squid carcass must be clean, without stains or damage, covered with film. The smaller the carcass, the softer and more tender its meat.
How to cook unpeeled
Most often, housewives buy already cleaned squid carcasses, because they require minimal cooking time. If desired, you can use unpeeled clams. You can easily remove the film from boiled seafood by placing it under running tap water. Many chefs, when choosing a way to cook squid fillet, choose this recipe, since the skin of the mollusk not only protects the meat from drying out, but also contains a lot of useful elements.
- unpeeled squid carcasses – 900-950 g;
- sea or table salt - 2-3 tbsp. l;
- lemon juice – 3-4 tsp;
- allspice peas – 8-10 pcs;
- black peppercorns – 12-14 pcs;
- bay leaves – 4-6 pcs;
- water – 1 l.
Before cooking unpeeled squid, pour the required amount of water into the pan and bring to a boil. Add salt, bay leaves, black and allspice peas and other spices. Additionally, you can add juice from half a lemon or a few chopped garlic cloves to the water.
Place the unpeeled clams in a pan of boiling water. After boiling, you need to cook the squid for about 2 minutes, then place it under a stream of ice water. The film will come off easily and cleaning the squid will only take a few minutes.
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Marinated squid with lemon, garlic and pepper
Photo: Bvlena / Shutterstock
Ingredients
- 3 squid;
- 1 lemon;
- 1 chili pepper;
- 2–3 cloves of garlic;
- 4 tablespoons olive oil;
- 1 pinch of salt;
- 1 sprig of parsley.
Preparation
Boil the squid for about a minute. Peel, rinse and cut into rings.
Squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Grind the chili, pass the garlic through a press. Mix everything with oil and salt. Pour the sauce over the squid, cover with film and leave in the refrigerator for 10–12 hours.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Take note
