Despite the fact that few people have seen live squids, dishes from them are very popular.
Although not every housewife will take up the preparation of this delicacy, believing that it is difficult to cook it. After all, when cooking squid, you need to carefully observe the cooking time, otherwise instead of tender, tasty meat, you can get a tough, rubbery seafood that vaguely resembles a squid.
Most often, these seafood come to store shelves in frozen form.
The edible parts of the squid are the head, body and tentacles.
How to prepare squid for cooking
- Before cooking, squids are thawed. To do this, frozen carcasses are placed in cold water, in which they are thawed.
- The remains of the viscera, as well as chitin plates, are removed from the carcasses.
- Then the squid is peeled. To do this, they are alternately immersed for a few seconds in hot water and removed with a slotted spoon into a bowl.
- After that, they part well with thin skin, which is easy to remove with your fingers by substituting the carcass under running water.
- Rinse well under running water.
How to cook squid properly
The main rule when cooking squid is not to overcook.
After all, it is enough to hold the carcasses in boiling water for 2-3 minutes longer than necessary, and their meat will become, firstly, tough, and secondly, they will decrease in size.
There are several ways to cook this seafood, and all of them require the obligatory presence of the hostess near the stove, almost with a stopwatch in her hands.
Method 1
- Squids are peeled and washed.
- Carcasses are dipped in boiling salted water and boiled for 2-3 minutes.
- As soon as they turn white, they are taken out and cooled.
Method 2
- Squids are poured with boiling water, kept for several seconds.
- The water is drained, and the carcasses are peeled.
- Then they are washed in cold water.
- After that, each carcass is lowered in turn into boiling salted water for 10 seconds. Many housewives believe that this time is enough to cook this seafood.
Method 3
- Squids are peeled, doused with boiling water.
- Remove the insides and wash.
- Prepared carcasses are lowered into boiling water, brought to a boil again.
- Remove from heat and, without opening the lid, leave for 5 minutes.
- Take out of the water and cool.
Method 4
- Squids are peeled and washed in cold water.
- Pour water into the pan, put salt and spices and bring to a boil.
- Lower the carcasses, cover with a lid, wait a few seconds and remove from heat.
- Cool for 10 minutes without removing from the water.
Method 4 (microwave cooking)
- Water is poured into the pan, salted and put in the microwave.
- Bring to a boil.
- The prepared carcasses are lowered.
- Cook for 1.5 minutes at maximum power.
- They take out squids and cool them.
Method 6 (cooking in a double boiler)
- Squids are dipped in boiling water, taken out and peeled.
- Rinse well and remove the insides.
- Pour into a steamer bowl.
- Cooking 10 minutes from the moment of inclusion.
- Cool down.
Boiled squids are cut into strips, rings or cubes and cooked as required by the recipe.
Note to the owner
- Squids are a valuable product. They contain up to 19% protein, up to 1.4% fat. They are rich in selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, B vitamins.
- In order not to spoil the dish with stale squid, you need to be able to choose them. A carcass that has been properly stored should be firm, pinkish-brown or pinkish-purple in color. The inner flesh should be white.
- It is better to buy unpeeled squids, since the quality of the carcass can be determined by the skin.
- When cooking squid, you can use different spices, taking into account taste preferences.
- Overcooked and rubbery squids can be made softer by boiling them for 30-40 minutes. But in this case, the carcasses will significantly decrease in size, and their quality will be much worse.
- Frozen squid should not be re-frozen. This fact can be judged by the carcasses frozen together. It is better not to buy such products.
- If squids are cooked together with other products, then they are put in the pan at the very last turn, when the dish is almost ready.
- To improve the taste when cooking squid, add a sufficient amount of salt. The piquancy of the dish is also given by lemon juice, which is sprinkled with both ready-made carcasses and fresh ones.
- In order for squids to reveal their unique flavor well, there should be more of them in the dish than other products. For the same reason, squids are not mixed with foods that have a strong odor.
Mediterranean cuisine is no longer a novelty for us, and squids are an integral part of it, like other seafood. They are not only tasty, but also very useful, especially for those who care about their figure. Each hostess has several recipes for dishes from this seafood. But do we know how to cook squid correctly? Here are some tips that will help you easily and without errors to cope with this task.
Selection rules and preparation of squid for cooking
Squid today can be bought in almost any supermarket. Most often they are sold frozen, with or without tentacles of your choice. During storage, squid carcasses cannot be thawed and cooled again, otherwise the product will be hopelessly spoiled: it will have a bitter taste and an unpleasant fishy smell. In addition, during cooking, the squids will spread, and will foam when cooked.
If the squid has been stored properly, its carcass will be dense, the meat will be white, and the upper skin will be pink-brown or grayish-purple.
When stored properly, the squid carcass has this color
Please note: when choosing squid in a 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 the wrong shade is visible, is a sign of a stale squid.
If you are confident in the freshness and good quality of squid, you can buy peeled carcasses. There will be practically no trouble with them: you don’t need to peel off the skin, which means that the cooking process will not take much time.
The easiest way to clean frozen squid is boiling water. Just fill the carcasses with boiling water or lower them into it for literally 1-2 seconds. The film that covers the carcass will immediately curl up, and you can easily remove it, and the remnants can be washed off in running cold water. Also peel off the wings. The chitinous plates inside the squid also need to be removed.
Peeling squid is a must if you plan to use their meat for a salad. However, this is also useful for other dishes: the skin can give a bitter taste and stiffness, and the plates are generally superfluous.
Features of cooking
The main thing to remember during the cooking process is that squid should be cooked for no more than 2-3 minutes. Otherwise, the meat may acquire a "rubber" texture and lose a lot of taste. When the squid turns completely white in boiling water, it is considered ready.
It is most convenient to cook squid carcasses in small portions. Dip 1-2 carcasses in a pot of boiling water, remove and put the next ones. At the same time, 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 to cook squid.
- Put a pot of water on a large fire, add salt and spices to taste, boil. Throw a couple of carcasses into boiling water and hold for no longer than 3 minutes. Pull out with a slotted spoon.
- Boil 1-1.5 liters of water, add salt, spices. Lower the thawed and prepared carcasses. Cover the pot with a lid and remove from heat. After 10 minutes, the meat will infuse and be ready. With the gradual cooling of the water, squid carcasses will not become hard.
- If you have a lot of squid meat, use this method. Pour as much water into the pan as needed to fit all the meat, salt and add spices. When the water boils over high heat, lower the prepared squids into it. Wait for the water to boil again, cover the pan with a lid, remove from heat and let it brew for 5 minutes. After that, the water can be drained.
- You can not defrost squid before cooking. In this case, the carcasses are dipped 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 do not want to clean the squid before cooking, you can throw them into boiling water directly from the package without cutting them. Frozen unpeeled carcasses are boiled for about 7 minutes, thawed - no more than 3 minutes. After that, pour them over with cold water, and you can easily peel the meat from the skin.
These rules apply equally to whole carcasses, rings and squid fillets.
A few nuances
You can cook many dishes from boiled squid. It can be salads, toppings for pies or pizzas, soups and much more. And as a separate dish, squid will take its rightful place on your table.
For salad, cook squid meat for 7-10 minutes until cooked (white), and you can not defrost them before cooking. If you want to make stuffed squids or fry them after cooking, just keep them in boiling water for 3 minutes and take them out. The final cooking meat will reach in the process of stewing or frying.
Most often, boiled squids are used to make salads.
You can cook squids not only in a pot of water, because now there are so many devices that make it easier for the hostess! 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 at maximum mode, after adding oil, lemon juice and spices.
With the latter method, you will get squids in their own juice. They are perfect for a salad or as a separate dish, for example, beer snacks.
Video: how to cook squid
Correction of errors: 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 trouble is that the meat has been in boiling water for a long time, which means it has become tough. It turns out this is an easy fix. Put the carcasses in boiling water again and cook for as long as possible, at least half an hour. The meat will become soft again, however, it will almost halve in volume. It may also lose its taste.
Mediterranean cuisine is famous for its recipes for preparing a variety of shellfish dishes. Seafood is rich in easily digestible proteins, iodine, phosphorus and iron.
Beneficial features
A special place in the list of cephalopods is occupied by squids. Their meat is recommended for those who are trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat a full and varied diet. A large supply of potassium, B vitamins, valuable fats allows you to maintain stable heart function, maintaining health for many years.
How to cook squid correctly? How to cook a tasty and healthy dish of these seafood? We will now tell you in detail. Unfortunately, freshly chilled seafood is practically not found in Russian stores, so gourmets have to be content with what they have - frozen semi-finished products. Most often, in the fish departments, you can buy squid carcasses or tentacles already peeled. However, do not rush to buy. A convenient semi-finished product was most likely exported from Asian countries, where it underwent mandatory processing with chemical enzymes. This preparation allows you to keep the product in a marketable condition for as long as possible. But this process does not contribute to the preservation of useful, nutritious and taste properties. Therefore, when planning to cook healthy food, you need to know how to cook squid properly and which ones to buy are best.
How to cook frozen squid? In the same way as fresh ones, but before cooking they should be properly thawed. Do not place shellfish in hot water to speed up the process. This can destroy beneficial substances and significantly impair the taste of the product. Frozen squid must be placed in the refrigerator. At a temperature of about five degrees, keep the seafood for two hours, preventing complete thawing. A product that has not been completely defrosted is easier to process. Thawed squids should have a slight marine smell of iodine, this confirms their freshness and freezing in compliance with the technology. If the shellfish have no smell at all or, even worse, they smell like old fish, this indicates that the product has been frozen and thawed repeatedly. In the process of cooking, such pulp will spread and acquire an unappetizing grayish color. You can eat such seafood, but there will be very little benefit from this food.
How to properly clean squid?
Having thawed the semi-finished product to the desired condition, you should proceed to the next step - cleaning. If the squid is completely unprocessed, then the head and tentacles should be torn off the carcass with a sharp movement. Together with them, the insides will also be separated. It remains only to remove the chitin plates and remove the thin skin from the carcasses.
When it is possible to acquire headless squids, they usually do not have tentacles either. The hostess is left only with external processing. If the product was not completely defrosted, but retained a light tissue strength, then this will greatly facilitate the process of cleaning the carcass from a pinkish-gray film. For cleaning, it is convenient to use a sharp knife with a thin blade. Prying off the skin in the place of the cut left from the head, you should pull it towards the tail. Usually a thin film is separated without much difficulty. In the case when the seafood has completely thawed, it becomes more difficult to cope with cleaning. Then you need to choose a knife with a rounded tip and scrape off the skin with it, trying not to damage the carcass. The peeled squid pulp has an even white color.
After thorough processing of the carcass, carefully rinse it under running cold water. If the water temperature is high, this can significantly reduce the taste of the product, making it less juicy.
Cooking time
How to cook squid correctly? This question is often asked by housewives who do not cook seafood dishes very often. There are some tips on this, but most importantly, you need to know exactly how much to cook squid in time. The consistency of the finished product and the preservation of nutrients and beneficial properties depend on this. Boiling seafood should take no more than three minutes. Otherwise, the pulp will become hard and inedible.
Cooking process
So, how to boil squid correctly? Now we'll tell you. Prepared carcasses should be dipped in boiling water, pre-salted and flavored with bay leaf and a few peas of black pepper. In order not to make a mistake with the cooking time, you can apply the following move. After lowering the squid into boiling water, wait for the water to boil again and start counting to ten. After finishing the countdown, you need to immediately remove the clams with a slotted spoon and let them cool. A sign of the readiness of the product will be a rich white color of the pulp.
If the cooking time is maintained, the meat will turn out to be unusually tender and juicy. Do not immediately cook a lot of squid. This significantly reduces the temperature of the water, and the process of re-boiling takes much longer. It is better to boil semi-finished products in small portions, putting two or three pieces into the pan.
What to do if the re-boiling was missed?
If suddenly the main rule of cooking is violated, then you should not fall into despair - the situation can still be saved. Having delayed the end of cooking, you do not need to remove the product from the pan, let it continue to cook further. It will take at least half an hour to be fully prepared. Squid meat will again become juicy and tasty, but the volume of the finished product will decrease significantly. Unfortunately, useful substances in it will also decrease.
Cooking in a marinade
Not everyone knows about the features of how to cook squid for salad. To properly prepare a semi-finished product, it should be boiled in a marinade. To do this, in cold water you need to dissolve two tablespoons of table salt and three tablespoons of granulated sugar. When boiling, pour in two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and add a few black peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves. Thanks to the prepared mixture, the squid pulp acquires an unusual juiciness and piquant taste. Seafood cooked in brine can also be consumed as an independent dish.
Now, knowing in detail how to cook squids correctly, you can cook on their basis a considerable number of various salads and snacks. It is in cold dishes that the taste of seafood is revealed especially brightly and subtly. Below is a description of a simple salad recipe that can be prepared not only for a family dinner, but also for a festive table.
Delicious last meal
For two servings of the dish, you need to take one hundred grams of boiled squid pulp and cut it thinly across the fibers into strips. Peel two boiled eggs and cut into small cubes. Also chop boiled potatoes, fresh cucumber and green onions. Tear a few lettuce leaves into small pieces with your hands. Mix all products and add canned or frozen green peas to them. It is recommended to fill the salad with mayonnaise or low-fat sour cream. For taste, you can add a little black pepper and salt. Put the finished mixture in a salad bowl and decorate it with finely chopped dill.
A tasty and healthy delicacy, rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and trace elements, was served at the table in ancient Greece, calling this mollusk a winged fish. Low calorie content (86 calories per 100 g), high nutritional value and the ability to have a beneficial effect on the body have turned squid into a popular dish for those who want to lose weight and improve their health. How to cook squid deliciously so that they decorate the festive table? There are many ways and recipes for preparing this seafood, but they are all based on some general points that every housewife should be aware of. Many people believe that cooking is very difficult, but this is an erroneous opinion, which you will have to debunk in practice.
How to quickly clean squids?
Unpeeled squids are considered to be of higher quality, because after factory cleaning, the clams are cooked and become tough. The inhabitants of the Mediterranean know how to properly clean squids, frozen or fresh: first, they should be thawed at room temperature or in the refrigerator, then pour boiling water for one minute (during this time the skin will curl up), drain the boiling water and place the squids in cold water. After that, you can easily remove the curdled skin, remove the chord, the insides - and the squid can be cooked. This is the best way to keep squid soft, tender and juicy.
How to cook peeled and unpeeled squid
Add salt, peppercorns and bay leaf to the water, wait for the water to boil, dip the squid carcass into it and pull it out after 10 seconds. As soon as the water boils again, do the same with the second carcass, with the third and with all subsequent squids. To understand how to cook squid fillet correctly, you just need to try this method, and then you will understand why all the previous methods were unsuccessful. It turns out that long heat treatment (for 3-5 minutes) deprives the taste and nutritional properties and turns them into rubber that cannot be chewed.
There is another way to properly cook frozen squid (it should, of course, be thawed beforehand) - you need to boil water with salt and spices, put the clams in it and immediately remove it from the heat. You need to insist this yummy for 10 minutes.
And now we will tell you how to properly boil frozen squids without defrosting: you just need to put them in boiling water for one minute, turn off the heat, and then hold them in water for another 3-4 minutes.
How to fry squid
Before frying, squids should be boiled in one of the above ways, cut into rings or strips, dip in lezon (beaten eggs with sour cream, salt and spices), roll in breadcrumbs and fry in vegetable or butter for no more than five minutes.
Some novice cooks are interested in how to properly cook squid fried in batter. This very simple dish is made in exactly the same way - boiled and chopped clams are lightly marinated, dipped in batter and fried in a large amount of oil.
Very tasty squids are obtained in the oven or on the grill, but they must first be marinated for several hours in lemon juice with garlic, pepper and paprika. Then the squids should be put on the grill and baked, pouring over the remaining marinade.
How to properly stuff squid
First, the squids are washed, doused with boiling water, then they are cleaned and lightly beaten off each carcass. Next, you need to fill the carcass by two-thirds with the filling, which is suitable for mushrooms with eggs, vegetables with rice, shrimp with cheese, green beans and onions, apples and cottage cheese. The edges of the carcasses are fastened with skewers, after which the squids are stewed in the oven with a small amount of water, and five minutes before they are ready, they are sprinkled with cheese and put back in the oven until golden brown. The finished dish is poured with walnut, tomato, creamy, sour cream, wine, soy or onion sauce.
In many recipes for cooking squid, you can find unexpected combinations - squid with minced meat, with bread and sprat, with crab sticks and corn, with nuts and dried fruits.
Each national cuisine has its own secrets of cooking squid, but there is one main rule. Do not overload squids with spices and spices, as they intensively absorb the aroma of surrounding foods, and the dish may turn out to be too rich. How to properly cook squid is just the beginning. It is important to choose the right side dish (rice, vegetables, pasta) and properly serve the dish, decorating it with fresh vegetables, lemon, herbs and olives. In Southeast Asia, squids are eaten raw with savory sauces, but this is not the extreme for those who like to cook and enjoy delicious food!
Cooking your favorite seafood is a simple matter, but only if you know the cooking sequence and the exact time. How and how much to cook squid for salads and sushi so that they are soft and do not spoil the dishes? Several cooking methods are known. The choice depends on the condition of the clams, in what form you purchased them - frozen or not, peeled, or requiring additional preparation before cooking.
The carcass and tentacles are considered edible at seafood. The carcass can be boiled as a whole, but sometimes the hostess prepares squid for salad, after cutting it into rings.
In the preparation of the sea octopus, it is important to strictly observe the cooking time. It is necessary to properly defrost and clean the squid carcass. I propose to get acquainted with all the subtleties of the process. And I will answer all the questions that arise from inexperienced housewives.
How to cook squid properly
To make the squid soft, the main thing is not to overcook the squid, otherwise you will get a little edible rubber product that is not suitable for salad.
How much to cook frozen squid
Cooking clams without defrosting is not the best option. If, in addition, they are not cleaned of the insides, then this cannot be done - ruin the product.
- Dip the carcasses in boiling water and cook for a minute.
- Turn off the gas and hold in the water for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Cooking thawed squid
Ideally, it is advisable to cook the clams in small portions, so you can control the process and not overcook.
- Dip the carcasses in boiling water, adding a minimum of spices - parsley, salt and peppercorns.
- Count to 10 and pull out. The carcass should turn white. Then lay down the next batch.
Or cook in the following way: drop into boiling water, cook after boiling for 30 seconds and turn off the burner. Leave the carcasses to infuse for 10 minutes.
Attention! If you missed and overcooked squid, do not panic - continue to cook. Seafood is endowed with an interesting feature: after 30-40 minutes they will become soft again.
How to cook giant squid
The cuttlefish is a giant squid with thick sides. Many people prefer to cook salads with this representative of the marine world. When cooked soft, it is great for making sushi and salads. Although many complain that giant squid have a specific smell.
- Defrost the carcass, cut into smaller pieces. Dip in boiling water and after boiling, cook for 2-3 minutes.
How many rings and tentacles are boiled
How squids are boiled in kitchen gadgets
Modern housewives often use kitchen gadgets to cook seafood for salad. Cooking time depends on the choice of assistant.
- In a double boiler - 5 minutes.
- Multicooker - 2 minutes.
- Microwave - 1 minute on maximum mode.
- Pressure cooker - a minute.
Squid sampling rules
Do not want to spoil the dish with a stale product, learn how to choose seafood.
With proper freezing and storage, the exterior of the carcass has a pinkish color with a brown or purple tint. The pulp is dense, white inside.
I advise you to buy frozen and unpeeled clams, they have more benefits. If there is a lot of ice or liquid in the package, the carcasses are frozen, do not take it, as you risk running into a product with repeated freezing.
How to properly clean squid
The first question that arises most often is how and when to clean squid carcasses, before or after cooking. Is it possible to clean them already boiled, and in general - why remove the film?
As a rule, a seafood product is sold frozen and unpeeled. And this is a big plus, since there is a guarantee that the squids were frozen immediately after being caught, right on the ship or at a processing plant located on the seashore. On sale there are shellfish ready for cooking - peeled. In this case, it is highly likely that the product has been thawed at least once. Therefore, unpeeled carcasses are considered to be of better quality and healthier.
Why film a squid
During the cooking process, due to exposure to high temperatures, the film becomes especially hard, which will affect the quality of the dish. In addition, a salad with unpeeled squid looks sloppy and not very appetizing.
How to prepare seafood for cooking
The first step in preparing for cooking is to defrost the squid. Do this by placing the carcasses in cold water, or placing them on a shelf in the refrigerator.
The next step is to remove the viscera and the chitinous plate.
Method number 1. Many prefer to free the shellfish from the skin after cooking. This can be done, but it is better and easier if you get rid of the film from fresh squid.
Method number 2.
Place the squid on a cutting board, press down with your fingers. Pick up the film, and remove it like a stocking with a decisive movement. Fast but smooth.
This method does not always allow you to successfully and completely remove the skin. If you need to clean the tentacles, it is completely useless. Residents of regions where seafood has long been eaten have found a solution to the problem. They use the action of a sharp temperature drop.
Method number 3.
- Dip the carcasses in hot water for about a minute. You will see that the skin has begun to "pull", quickly pull it out and move it to a bowl of cold water.
- The film will not come off on its own. Therefore, right in the water, help the seafood get rid of the unnecessary film.
Watch the video on how to quickly clean squid in just 30 seconds.
Good advice: if you want to make a delicious squid salad, do not overload it with products that have a pungent odor. It is also contraindicated to use a large amount of spices, since the mollusk intensively absorbs other people's flavors and loses its unique taste.
And one more rule: there should be more squid in the dish than other components. Follow the links and find out many recipes for squid salads:
Video with the secrets of the correct preparation of squid. A well-known culinary specialist knows exactly how much and how to cook squid for salad.
