How to cook squid. How to cook squid for salads and other dishes? How much to cook squids so that they are soft and delight in taste

Squid is a cephalopod mollusk that lives in different seas and oceans. Most often, squids and their close relatives shrimp are small in size, approximately 25-50 cm, but in some cases squids can reach incredible sizes.

The meat of this mollusk is very healthy, but not everyone knows how to cook squid so that they are soft. There are also many other ways to prepare this delicious shellfish.

What are the benefits of squid?

The properties of this mollusk have been studied by leading experts for many years, because every year the popularity of squid is getting higher. Numerous studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of daily consumption of squid on cardiovascular health. Squid, entering the human body, does not turn into harmful cholesterol, but helps to normalize the level of this substance in the blood. When splitting, squid meat releases many useful substances that help heal the body and strengthen blood vessels. So, regular consumption of squid can significantly reduce the likelihood of developing a heart attack and stroke.

The composition of the squid includes many vitamins, as well as calcium, zinc, iodine, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, copper and other important macro and microelements. The proteins contained in squid contribute to the growth and development of muscles, and also have a high energy value. Squids do not contain harmful purine substances that negatively affect metabolism.

Also, squid meat has a beneficial effect on the human brain, having some anti-sclerotic effect. With regular use of squid meat, a person improves memory and intensifies mental activity. In addition, squid helps to remove accumulated salts of heavy metals from the body and cleanses of toxins. The positive impact of squid consumption on human reproductive function and excretory systems has also been proven.

How to clean squid?

Many experts recommend buying not peeled or frozen, but chilled squid with a head, skin and entrails. By their appearance, it is much easier to determine the freshness of a mollusk. But often, following such advice, people are faced with a new problem, considering purchased squids, how to clean and cook these marine inhabitants they don’t know much, and squid that is not peeled from the insides and skins will be tough and tasteless.

Immediately you need to separate the head from the squid. The tentacles and a peculiar mantle with wings are edible. Immediately you need to turn the squid inside out and remove the insides. Inside there will be an elongated pocket containing a vein of a transparent color. This vein is a kind of squid spine. It will be easy to find and pull it out.

Next, you need to clean the body of the squid from the skin of a gray-pink or pale lilac color. The easiest way to do this is with boiling water and cold water. The squid is immediately scalded with boiling water, and then quickly dipped into cold water. The skin itself will begin to peel off, and it can be easily removed.

Frozen squids are sold without a head and tentacles. To clean them from the film, without defrosting, throw them into boiling water and immediately pull them out. The skin of the squid will quickly peel off after applying cold water, but you must not forget about removing the spine of the mollusk.

Squid recipes how to cook?

Many people are interested in how to cook squid so that they are soft. The first rule is the cooking time, it should not exceed 2 minutes. If you boil these seafood for even a couple of minutes more, they will become "oak". A completely whitened carcass in boiling water will tell you about the readiness of the squid. The second rule is the number of squid boiled at a time. It is not recommended to cook more than 2 carcasses at a time, because a certain time also passes from the moment the first and last carcasses are pulled out. To improve the taste of squid, you can use a wide variety of spices (basil, dill, pepper, cloves and others).

How to cook squid correctly

There are several ways to boil these clams. When the water in the container begins to boil, boiling, you need to add a little salt and selected spices. Then put a few carcasses of squid into boiling water and boil for 2-2.5 minutes. When doing this, be careful not to get burned by splashes of boiling water. When the required time comes out and the water resumes its bubbling, the squid can be pulled out with a slotted spoon.

The second recipe involves boiling squid in a container filled with 1.5-2 liters of water with spices and salt. When the water boils, pre-thawed squids are lowered into it. As mentioned, you should not take more than 2 carcasses at the same time. Immediately after this, the container with squid is covered with a lid and removed from the fire. After 10 minutes, the squids will independently reach in the gradually cooling water. Since the water will cool itself due to the lack of heating, the squid will not become "rubber". It is very convenient to cook small portions of clams in this way, since it is actually unnecessary to cook squids, they will reach readiness themselves.

With a large number of squids, it is better to use the third cooking method. Initially, you need to put all the squid meat in a container prepared for cooking and pour water so that it covers the meat. Next, salt and selected spices are added. After the squids are drawn out, and the water is put on fire and brought to a boil. Squids return to strongly boiling water with spices and cover with a lid. When the water begins to boil strongly again, and this will happen after about 2-3 minutes, the squids are removed from the fire. After 5 minutes, you can open the lid and get the finished squid. The suggested method might be perfect for people wondering how to boil squid for salad.

Even knowing how to cook squid so that they are soft, many manage to digest them. If the clams nevertheless become tough during cooking, there is no need to rush to throw them away. It is necessary to put the clams back to boil for about 25-60 minutes. But with such digestion, the meat will significantly lose in volume and lose most of its useful qualities.

How to cook squid rings?

Squid, cut into rings, is a versatile dish, served both as an appetizer and as various original combinations. Before cooking peeled squid, cut into rings, you must first defrost them, because most often they are offered in a frozen version. Defrost squid rings without fail at normal temperature without using a microwave. When all the ice has melted, you need to wash the rings under running water. Take some water in a container and bring it to a boil. It is advisable to add a significant amount of salt. Further, the container with salt water is removed from the fire, and shellfish are thrown into it. It is enough to hold the rings in boiling water for 10-25 seconds for their complete preparation.

How to cook frozen squid in the microwave?

First, thaw the clams at room temperature. After that, the bodies are washed with running water and dried thoroughly with a paper towel.

Seafood should be cut into rings or small strips and put in a cooked dish. To the squid you need to add 15 g of wine, preferably white, 18 g of soy sauce, a little salt and selected spices. Clams are cooked in a microwave oven at the maximum possible mode for 1.5-2 minutes. Once cooked, the seafood is garnished with parsley and served with a side dish such as white rice.

How to cook squid so that they are soft in a pressure cooker?

Fresh and peeled mollusk is taken whole or cut into small pieces, you can use rings. If the squid was bought in frozen form, it must first be thawed. Sliced ​​clams are laid out in a pressure cooker and filled with water so that it completely covers the squid meat. You need to add a significant amount of salt to make the water brackish. Rosemary, various mixtures of herbs and types of peppers are also added.

Shellfish are cooked in the “Steamed” mode for 1 minute. The specified time is enough to cook seafood and preserve all the taste and useful qualities. If the squid was taken whole, it must be chopped after cooking and seasoned well with sauce or mayonnaise. To improve the taste, you can put olives and salt.

How to cook peeled squid in beer?

For these purposes, it is better to use squid rings, since it will take longer to cook whole squids in beer, which will affect the taste. In the prepared container for brewing, you need to pour half a liter of any beer, preferably light. Beer must be carefully brought to a boil over low heat and frozen squid (rings) should be thrown in without first defrosting. Boil squid in beer for no longer than 40 seconds, and then quickly remove it with a slotted spoon and remove excess liquid. Ready squids are salted and served as a beer snack.

How to cook frozen squids so that they are soft in milk sauce?

Initially, seafood is defrosted at 18-23 degrees without using a microwave oven. If seafood is packaged in a factory package, you can simply fill the entire package with cold water and hold for about half an hour. At this time, you can start preparing the milk sauce. Wheat flour (230-250 gr.) Should be fried in butter (creamy) until an amber hue appears. Next, you need to carefully add milk (700 gr.), Without ceasing to mix. The sauce is cooked over a scarlet fire for 6-7 minutes. At the same time, you need to try so that there are no lumps of flour left. At the end, you need to add nutmeg, dry herbs, pepper (preferably white) and salt.

The mollusk is cut into rings and poured into the prepared sauce. After 4 minutes, the clam in the sauce must be removed from the heat. Pour the prepared vermicelli (pasta) with the resulting sauce and put this interesting dish in the oven for half an hour. It is served hot, garnished with parsley.

How to cook squids so that they are soft in garlic sauce?

Melt 50g of butter in a frying pan and then add 2-3 cloves of garlic. Garlic must first be cut lengthwise, divided into several parts. Garlic is roasted for 1 minute, and then squid (1 kg.) And ¾ cup of white wine are added. Next, the fire must be made very small, and the pan must be closed with a lid. After 2 minutes, you need to add another clove of garlic, coarsely chopped parsley and 35-40 g of fresh lemon juice to the squid. The dish is salted to taste and peppered, and also decorated with lemon zest. After insisting for 2 minutes under the lid, the dish is completely ready for use.

Salad with squid is a great dish in every sense. Hearty, light, tasty. There is only one problem with it, and it reminds of itself as soon as it comes time to cook squid for salad. There is an opinion in the culinary environment that it is so difficult to cook squid that no novice housewife can cope with this task. Like, only experienced chefs know how long to cook squid for salad or other dishes. They acquired this knowledge from their own experience, and until then no one succeeds in cooking squid correctly: either you overcook it, or you don’t cook it ...

Delicious cooking squid, especially frozen, is really not easy. But it's not so difficult that we can't teach you how to cook squid for salad. By and large, the difficulty lies only in the need to strictly monitor the cooking time, not for a minute deviating from the rules and not relying on your own intuition and / or eye. So, all you need to know to get started is how much to cook squid in one case or another (fresh, frozen, carcasses or rings).

Squid in cooking: composition, benefits and cooking features
Squids are among the most popular seafood. And no wonder: these edible mollusks live in almost all seas and oceans, are mined in large quantities and are suitable for various culinary processing methods. Not to mention the fact that properly cooked squids are extremely tasty, and almost always very healthy. All the difficulties of cooking squid fade against the background of their chemical composition:

• 18% complete protein with a complex amino acid composition and only 3% fat - the dietary qualities of squid meat are undeniable.
  
• Several B vitamins, vitamins PP and E, as well as omega polyunsaturated fatty acids necessary for their absorption.
  
• Iodine, selenium, iron, phosphorus, calcium, zinc, magnesium and other micro and macro elements for the smooth functioning of the human body.
  

How to cook squid for salad?
The only way to avoid hardening of boiled squid is to stop cooking before the protein has curdled. To do this, you need to know exactly how long to cook squid and take into account the recipe for the dish in which you will use them. If we are talking about a salad with squid, then you need to cook fresh carcasses in this way:

1. Conventionally, for 1 kg of fresh squid, you need 2 liters of water and 2 tablespoons of salt.
   
2. To improve the taste, add to the water, in addition to salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of vinegar (apple or table), a couple of bay leaves and a little peppercorns.
   
3. Dissolve salt and other spices in water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low level and lower the squids into the pan for 1-1.5 minutes.
   
4. Remove the squid from boiling water no later than 1.5 minutes (just removing the pan from the heat is not enough).
   
5. Put the squid in a colander and cool to room temperature. After that, they can be cut into cubes, strips or rings, depending on the salad recipe.
   

How to cook frozen squid for salad
Fresh or slightly chilled squid carcasses are an ideal raw material for salads, appetizers and other dishes. Unfortunately, they are not often found in stores - the probability of buying frozen squid is much higher. Deep freezing does not spoil the taste and properties of seafood, but with such squids you will have to tinker longer. Let's start with the fact that the carcasses need to be properly thawed, and then cleaned and prepared for cooking:

1. A few hours before the planned cooking, place the frozen squid on the shelf of the refrigerator farthest from the freezer. Do not try to speed up the defrosting process by pouring room temperature water on the squid or using the microwave setting.
   
2. It is advisable to defrost squid carcasses not completely, in order to facilitate cleaning from films and skin. If you bought peeled carcasses, defrost them completely.
   
3. To clean the squid, a sharp knife is enough to pick up the pinkish-gray skin from the side of the tentacles (or where they were) and remove it entirely towards the head of the squid. Then it is necessary to remove white films, chitinous plates and entrails.
   
4. During cleaning, squids should be completely defrosted. Carcasses can be cut into rings or strips and boiled according to the technology described above.
   
5. During the cooking process, dense hard lumps can form on the surface of the carcass - this happens if some of the films remain on it. Clean them as thoroughly as possible.
   

How to cook squid rings for salad?
Squid rings, as well as any industrially processed and cut parts, are worse for salad than whole carcasses. But if you only have squid rings, and even frozen ones, you will have to make do with them:

1. Boil salted water or broth with spices to taste in a saucepan.
   
2. Dip the frozen squid rings into the boiling liquid (you do not need to defrost them first).
   
3. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, cover with a lid and leave at room temperature for 10 minutes.
   
4. Remove the rings with a slotted spoon, dry in a colander or with a towel and send to the salad according to the recipe.
   

• After 2-3 minutes of boiling, squids become hard - you can find comparisons with rubber, soles and other unappetizing metaphors.
  
• In addition to the structure and taste, the volume of the product is also violated: a properly cooked squid almost does not lose volume compared to fresh, while overcooked squid shrinks. After 5 minutes of cooking, the squids are reduced by a third, after 10 minutes - by half.
  
• But after 30 minutes of cooking with a slight boil, the reverse biochemical process occurs, and the squid meat becomes soft again. True, the volume of fibers is not restored.
  
• Accordingly, if you miss the moment, and the squid shrink in boiling water, leave them to cook for up to 30 minutes. So you, at least, save the dish from unchewable meat.
  
• But be prepared for the fact that squids cooked for half an hour will lose almost 2/3 of their size.
  

How delicious to cook squid for salad?
Cooking in boiling water on the stove is the most affordable and common way to cook squid and other seafood. But modern kitchens are equipped with other technological capabilities. Therefore, you can certainly cook squid for salad in any of these ways:

1. Cook squid in the microwave in water. Fill a microwave-safe dish with hot water or broth. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Put thawed squids in boiling water and turn on the oven at maximum power for 1.5 minutes. Remove the pan and remove the squid.
   
2. Cook squids in the microwave in their own juice. Put the defrosted squid carcasses in a suitable container, pour over 1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and drizzle with vegetable oil. Stir and microwave for 1 minute on full power. Leave for another 5 minutes inside the microwave.
   
3. Cook squid in a slow cooker. Put the thawed carcasses in the bowl of the appliance and fill with water. You can add salt, bay leaf and other spices of your choice. Close the multicooker lid and set the timer to 3 minutes. Turn on the appliance in the "cooking" or "steaming" mode. After the end of cooking, do not open the lid for another 5 minutes.
   
4. Boil squid in a double boiler. Put the carcasses in any compartment of the steamer, close the lid and turn on the device for 10 minutes. For most models, this time is enough, but for weak units, you can increase the cooking time to 12 minutes. In a double boiler, boiled squids retain their size and are tender.
   

But do not forget that even properly cooked squid for salad should be used as soon as possible. The maximum shelf life of boiled squid in the refrigerator is two days. After that, even successfully cooked and soft squids will become tough and tasteless. But compliance with all the rules guarantees the taste and benefits of squid in a salad. Bon Appetit!

Boiled squid meat is often used by housewives to prepare sea salad or fried with various types of side dishes. Well, if you know how much to cook squid and how to do it according to all the rules, the finished product can be used as an independent delicacy.

Before serving, it will be enough to salt it, cut into rings and sprinkle with lemon juice. First you need to spend a little time choosing a quality product, if necessary, clean the blanks. After that, you can start cooking them by choosing one of the many methods.

How to choose a quality squid?

Regardless of whether squid or a more complex dish is purchased for a salad, the selection process must be taken seriously. You should at least remember the following points:

1. The component is best purchased in an unpeeled form, with a skin. It is best that these are whole chilled or frozen carcasses.
2. You need to make sure that the meat of a marine animal has been frozen only once. This is indicated by its integrity and aesthetic appearance. If the carcasses are broken or stuck together, this indicates re-freezing. Even if you boil such products according to all the rules, they will be bitter and fall apart during processing.
3. Squid meat can only be white, but any skin color is acceptable. If the color of the pulp has changed as a result of heat treatment, it is better to get rid of it.

From the acquisition, molded in the form of cubes of squid meat, it is better to refuse. Such blanks are of poor quality. After cooking, they are very bitter and acquire an unpleasant loose texture.

How to boil squid for salad?

To figure out how to cook squid properly, you need to pay special attention to two things. The first is the processing time of the component, which will allow the product to be brought to an edible state, but at the same time will not cause protein folding and the transformation of tender pulp into rubber. The second is the correct use of additional components and a special approach to organizing the process. The delicacy, which will be used as a component of the salad, must be peeled and subjected to the following treatment:

• For 1 kg of fresh component, we take 2 liters of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. In addition, you should take 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a few black peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves. These ingredients are taken so that the squids at the exit are not tasteless and insipid.

Tip: If the squids are overcooked, they will shrink in size and take on the consistency of rubber. In order to somehow improve the situation, you need to continue boiling the components. Processing for 20 minutes of the total time will restore the softness of the meat. True, the dimensions will not be restored.

• We put all additional components in water, which we bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and lay out fresh squid whole or cut into large pieces.
• The blanks are cooked for no more than 1.5 minutes, and there is no need to wait for them to boil again. If the carcasses are small, 1 minute is enough.
• Now the products must be removed from the water, put in a colander and cooled to room temperature. Some housewives simply remove the pan from the heat, but this is not enough. The blanks will continue to cook, because of which they will become rubber.

When boiling squid, you should not rely on your intuition. It is necessary to accurately record the time, and even better - set an alarm clock or start a timer. Just a few seconds of delay can lead to spoilage of the product.

Features of boiling frozen squid

In modern stores, squids are most often sold frozen. To get an ideal component for a salad or main dish from such a product, you need to do the following:

• It will take quite a long time to properly defrost a marine reptile. At least 4-5 hours before cooking, the semi-finished product should be put in the refrigerator, away from the freezer. It is strictly forbidden to try to speed up the process of bringing the product to the desired state by using a microwave, hair dryer, or a container of water.
• No need to wait until the carcasses are completely defrosted. If they are still dense, they will be easier to clean. Cleaning is carried out in the direction from the tentacles to the head of the individual. To do this, just pick up the skin and pull. After that, films, chitin plates, and entrails are removed.
• The resulting mass is cut into rings, small pieces or strips. During operation, the meat should be completely defrosted. We boil it in the same way as a fresh product.
• If during the cooking process dense lumps appeared on the surface of the meat, this indicates poor cleaning. The situation can be corrected only by cutting off problem areas, so the preliminary stage must be carried out carefully.

If boiled squids are not planned to be used immediately, then they can be kept in the same broth in which they were boiled. True, at first both the blanks and the liquid must be cooled to room temperature.

How should squid rings be cooked?

If there were no whole carcasses on sale and you had to purchase rings subjected to industrial cutting and freezing, you need to use a special approach. It is slightly different from how to cook frozen squid if they are whole.

• Boil water with spices or broth in a saucepan. We lower the frozen rings into the liquid. If they are thawed beforehand, the texture of the product will turn out to be very loose and unappetizing.

Tip: If squids have been stored with fish or other strong-smelling foods for some time, which is why they have acquired an unpleasant odor, you do not need to throw away the delicacy. It is enough to boil it in water with the addition of fresh herbs or sprinkle the already prepared component with lemon juice.

• Immediately after this, the pan must be removed from the heat, without waiting for the water to boil. Cover the container with a lid and keep at room temperature for 10 minutes.

After the specified time, squids intended for salad or other dishes can be taken out with a slotted spoon and used for their intended purpose.

Unusual options for boiling squid

Squids can be cooked not only in the traditional way, using a pot of water for this. There are many similarly simple approaches that allow you to get an equally tasty and slightly unusual product.

• In the microwave in the broth. Pour water with spices or ready-made broth into a bowl suitable for use in a microwave oven. Bring the liquid to a boil for 1-2 minutes. We lay out pieces or whole carcasses of fresh (thawed) squid, send it for processing. It is enough to hold the blanks for 1.5 minutes at maximum power, and they will be ready.
• In the microwave in its own juice. Put thawed or fresh pieces of squid in a bowl, pour a teaspoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of vegetable oil. We mix the mass and send it to the oven. We cook for no more than a minute at maximum power. We insist the product for another 5 minutes in the switched off microwave.
• In a multicooker. Put the pieces of squid in the bowl of the device, fill it with water. Add salt, pepper, herbs, spices to taste and close the lid. Set the "Cooking" mode, set the timer to 3 minutes. After turning off the appliance, wait another 5 minutes before opening the lid. If the squids are initially filled with boiling water, open the lid immediately after processing.
• In a steamer. We spread the pieces of carcass or rings in the steamer tray, salt, pepper. If desired, you can put greens or spices directly into the tray. We start the device for 10 minutes, if it is not very powerful or it takes a long time to form steam, set the timer for 12 minutes. This method is the most gentle, in this case it is almost impossible to digest the workpieces.

Contrary to popular belief, not only the carcass is edible in squid. In general, only the head, cartilaginous part (gladius) and intestines are subject to removal. Fins can be eaten, they are denser and fleshy than the carcass itself. The tentacles, which almost everyone throws away, are the source of the most tender meat. They only need to be thoroughly cleaned and can be used in the same way as the rest of the parts. The main thing is not to forget to remove the suction cups.

Squid meat - delicacy, inexpensive, dietary due to its low calorie content, is becoming increasingly popular for preparing tasty and healthy holiday and everyday dishes. The only thing that stops is the fear of getting rubber instead of the most tender meat.

However, knowing how much to cook squid after boiling, you can safely take on the preparation of this dish, highly valued by gourmets.

Easily digestible seafood is superior in its useful qualities to veal and milk.

Useful seafood ingredients per 100 g:

Clams are covered with skin and a thin film, which sometimes adds an unpleasant aftertaste to the dish. Caught abroad, as a rule, cephalopods are not frozen. They quickly get into the kitchen, and cleaning them is not difficult. We use them chilled or frozen. Therefore, 2 options for skinning are recommended:

• • Hot – in water with temperature up to 75°. Hold the cooked fillet for 300 seconds. So it is easier to separate the skin from the pulp, then rinse under running cold water. You can speed up the process if there is not enough time like this: put the fillet in boiling water for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. True, there are drawbacks: meat can acquire a pink tint, an unpleasant odor increases, nitrogenous and other mineral compounds break down, reducing useful properties.

• Cold . Here it is better that semi-finished products are not completely defrosted. They are dipped in cold water, the film and entrails are removed, washed. There will be no change in the color of the pulp, the appearance of a smell and the destruction of useful ingredients.

Meat preparation methods

Cooking time depends on the size of the carcass, the method of heat treatment and the purpose of the product. At the same time, whether they are cleaned or not, frozen or thawed, there is no big difference for the duration of cooking.

There are several ways to cook squid fillet:

1. Classic, in boiling water . Spice, bay leaf are put to remove the specific sea smell, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar. Water is brought to a boil, salt is put. The calculation is as follows: for 1 kg of seafood you need 2 liters of boiled water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook prepared and peeled pieces at maximum heat in just 5 minutes, or rather, from the moment of boiling - no more than 2.

If the squids are overcooked after boiling for more than 3 minutes, they will greatly decrease in size. The average size of a raw clam is from 20 to 50 cm. Size reduction is worth considering if it is essential for decoration or other function of the finished dish.

In the event that the meat of these cephalopods has been digested and has become like rubber, it can be reanimated. To do this, cook an additional 20 minutes. The view becomes less presentable, there will be a loss of nutritional properties, but it will definitely soften.

2. Squid, cooked without defrosting. Water is boiled, frozen clams are placed in a row in a bowl and scalded on one side. Then, with the help of forks, the seafood is turned over and boiling water is poured on the other side. During this time, water should boil in a saucepan on the stove. The skin is removed from the squid, they are washed with cold water and sent to a saucepan with salt, boiling water, spices. The cooking time is the same as the classic way.

3. The fastest option, retaining a large amount of nutrients, found on culinary forums: shellfish meat is dipped in boiling water for only 15 seconds, then pulled out to make the water glass.

Tip: you can determine the readiness of squids by their appearance. If they turn white, then they are ready.

4. Infusion. Many cooks prefer to leave clams cooked in half a minute after boiling on the switched off stove for another 10 minutes.

5. In a boiling pot. Prepared seafood simply pour boiling water in a saucepan, cover tightly with a lid and do not open for a quarter of an hour.

6. Squid poaching - boiling in a small amount of broth or water brought to a boil, but not boiling. It is better to cook the carcass in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. 1 kg of carcasses is placed in a row, poured with half a liter of salted hot liquid, tightly closed and after boiling, no more than 5 minutes are allowed. This option retains more of the nutritional properties of meat than with the classic method.

7. Steamed cephalopod. You will need a double boiler or a saucepan with a tight lid. It takes a little longer to cook this way. As soon as the water boils, giving steam, the meat is steamed for 7-10 minutes. Uncleaned and large parts are steamed for 15 minutes. If you want them to be soft, tender and juicy, this option will be the most suitable. However, you need to understand that you can also digest it for a couple, and this will give stiffness to the meat. Therefore, following the rules: how much to cook squid, you must strictly follow the time.

Tip: In order for the carcasses to retain their size, and to minimize the loss of nutritional qualities, it is better to blanch the meat over steam for 3 minutes. It is advisable to defrost peeled and frozen squid in rings at room conditions, but you only have to cook for a minute. Then you need to quickly turn over in a colander and put under cold water. Hot defrosting is not recommended, as the meat becomes tough. Therefore, unfrozen rings can be dipped in cold water and cooked in parallel with its heating, and after boiling, removed. Another way: in a colander, place some of the rings in boiling water, silently count to 10, immediately remove and cool. Or pour boiling water over the thawed rings, immediately remove from the stove, cork tightly. They are ready in just 300 seconds.

8. Stewed clams take the longest to cook. It is necessary that they are soft and juicy, and for this, the processing lasts at least half an hour.

Tip: in order to achieve the perfect softness of squid meat, it is recommended to lightly beat off its pieces before cooking.

9. Fried cephalopods. They will be ready in 120 seconds after the oil boils and forms a crust.

The use of clam meat in home cooking

As an independent dish, boiled squid meat can be served cut into rings. This product goes well with mayonnaise or lemon dressing. However, most often you have to boil squid for salad.

Tip: for snacks, boiled meat should be cut across the fibers. Minced meat goes into meatballs, belyashi and cutlets. A spoonful of vegetable oil will prevent it from being digested, because the heat treatment for these dishes is carried out twice. Whole carcasses are perfect for stuffing. It is worth considering: the smaller the squids are cut, for example, into cubes for a salad, the faster they cook - 17 seconds. The shorter the cooking period, the less they lose their shape.

The duration of cooking squid using household appliances

Assistance in the preparation of these seafood can be provided not only by a double boiler. They can be cooked in the microwave in a special bowl at a maximum power of only 60 seconds.

In the "Extinguishing" or "Steaming" mode, a multicooker is also useful. It is filled with water up to half, the desired mode is turned on, the lid does not close, so that you can see how the water boils. Spices, seasonings, salt, lemon juice or any other citrus fruit are added. As soon as the water boils, the squids are lowered into the bowl and boiled until whitened - 120 seconds.

Choosing a cooking method depending on how much it costs to cook squid to get tender meat and incomparable taste, you can be sure to get a good result with minimal effort.

All seafood is healthy, especially if cooked properly. And this is their deceit - half a step to the side, and the dish will come out completely inedible. For example, not every housewife knows how to cook squid so that they are soft, which is why these inhabitants of the deep sea do not appear too often in the daily menu. And in vain! Knowing the secrets of the heat treatment of these seafood will help you prepare incredibly tasty and healthy dishes.

Before you cook squids, you need to buy them and defrost them properly. In the store you can find already peeled, light carcasses and unpeeled ones, which are almost half the price.

Since there is no great difficulty in cleaning, it is more profitable to buy unpeeled squid.

Proper defrosting affects the taste of cooked seafood. As for squids, it is better to defrost them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. If this is done at room temperature, the carcasses may become weathered and lose their appearance.

Before cooking, squids are cleaned. So that the meat does not lose its beneficial properties, the carcass film is cleaned in cold water. You can do this even faster by simply pouring boiling water over the defrosted carcasses. Then the top film will fall off by itself.

Cleaned squid carcasses are freed from the remnants of the viscera and the chitinous chord. And then, dry it with a paper towel.

What spices to add

During the cooking of seafood, spices are added to the water, as in chicken broth.

The most suitable spices for squid:

• Bay leaf;
• peppercorns;
• onion head;
• salt.

This is the simplest set of seasonings that can be found in the bins of every housewife. You can also add carrots and parsley root to them.

Cooking methods

During cooking, the most important thing is to preserve its nutritional value and make it easily digestible for the body. When choosing a method of cooking squid, you need to consider that their meat is very healthy, and long-term cooking destroys most of the valuable substances. But sometimes it is still recommended due to the peculiarities of the recipe.

The squid has only 2% fat, there are no carbohydrates at all, but there is a lot of healthy protein that is easily absorbed by the human body.

Learning how to cook this delicacy correctly is a useful skill that definitely will not be superfluous. Especially good squid for men. Their meat tones, promotes rejuvenation and increases the potency of the stronger sex.

Whole carcasses

A whole carcass of squid can be cooked in three ways:

• pouring boiling water several times, but without putting it on fire;
• holding for 40 minutes in boiling water;
• dipped for 1 - 2 minutes in boiling water.

All these methods promise in the end soft squid meat that melts in your mouth. How much to cook squid depends on the recipe for which they are needed.

squid rings

Squid rings are boiled for 1 minute in boiling water or simply poured with boiling water and covered with a lid, left for 10 minutes.

Most often, squid rings are cut from whole carcasses that have already been cooked in the right way.

Frozen squid

You can try to cook frozen squid without first defrosting. To do this, boil a pot of water, add a pinch of salt, bay leaf and peppercorns to it. When it boils, they throw carcasses without defrosting before that.

After 1 minute, the fire under the pan with squid is turned off, covered with a lid and left for 10 minutes.

Squid can be boiled peeled and not peeled. Once in boiling water, the skin of the mollusk curls up in flakes and disappears by itself, it does not even need to be peeled off.

Therefore, there is not much difference in how to cook squid - peeled or in the skin - there is no.

But, for example, for a Korean-style squid recipe, it is better to buy unpeeled carcasses.

Korean-style marinated squid - a spicy appetizer

Products:

• squid - 10 pcs.;
• apple cider vinegar - 80 ml;
• vegetable oil - 80 ml;
• chili pepper - 1 pc.;
• ground coriander - 10 g;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• sugar - 2 tsp;
• ground black pepper - 12 g;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• sesame - 10 g;
• soy sauce - 80 ml.

Cooking

1. It is necessary to heat 1 liter of water to a boil.
2. Clean the thawed squid carcasses from the film, remove the chitinous plate and the remains of the entrails. It is convenient to clean the film from squid with a paper towel.
3. Put the prepared carcasses in boiling water and cook for no more than 2 minutes after boiling over medium heat.
4. In a saucepan, heat 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.
5. Peel the chili peppers, cut into small cubes, add to the saucepan along with soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.
6. Peel the garlic cloves, squeeze through a press and also send to the saucepan. Put in the same 2 tsp. coriander, black ground pepper, sugar and salt.
7. Throw the boiled squids on a sieve, rinse in cold water and cut the carcasses into 0.5 cm rings.
8. Pour squid with cooked spicy marinade, sprinkle with 2 tsp. sesame seeds and arrange in 2 jars with a volume of 300 ml. Close with lids.
9. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Squids are soft, pleasant to the taste. This is the perfect appetizer for spicy food lovers.

To cook thawed and peeled squids in the microwave, you need to put them in a microwave container, sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and season with spices. Set the microwave to 1000W and cook for 3 minutes. But after such processing, squid meat will not be perfectly soft.

In a slow cooker, you can cook soft squid in two ways: cook in boiling water for 1 minute or 40 minutes.

For cooking you need:

1. Pour water into the multicooker, turn on the “Cooking” mode.
2. When the water boils, put the squid carcasses.
3. Set the specified time, add spices, salt and cook until tender.

For squids in a creamy sauce, carcasses are cooked in a special way, so a slow cooker is even more suitable for this purpose than a saucepan. The cooking time for squid in the recipe is 40 minutes, after which they will become soft, but will significantly decrease in size.

Usually squid meat is cooked for no more than 2 minutes, but if they were forgotten and left on the stove a little longer, the cooking process can be continued, increasing the time to 40 - 50 minutes.

Only after this time, the shellfish meat will become soft again. And besides meat, you will get a fragrant broth.

Sauteed Calamari with Cream Sauce

Products:

• squid - 5 pcs.;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• butter - 50 g;
• flour - 50 g;
• milk - 100 ml;
• Dutch cheese - 100 g;
• water - 500 ml;
• bay leaf - 4 pcs.;
• black peppercorns - 7 pcs.;
• salt - 5 g.

Cooking:

1. Thawed squid, peeled from the film and the remains of the entrails, must be cut into strips of 0.5 cm.
2. Peel and cut into half rings a medium onion.
3. Put the onion and squid in a saucepan, pour 2 cups of hot water. Put black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and add 0.5 tsp. salt.
4. Bring squid to a boil and reduce heat. Boil 40 minutes.
5. Throw the seafood on a sieve, pour the broth into a saucepan.
6. To prepare bechamel sauce, put butter in a saucepan, add flour to it and fry in a saucepan for 2 or 3 minutes to remove the specific floury smell.
7. Pour 100 ml of the broth in which the squids were boiled into the flour with butter, add 100 ml of milk and mix with a whisk. The sauce should be viscous, without lumps.
8. Add the sauce to the boiled squid and mix.
9. Fill four small baking dishes with squid in fragrant filling. Sprinkle them with grated hard cheese on top so that after baking you get a golden crust.
10. Turn on the oven at 200 degrees and bake seafood for 5 minutes.

Sauteed squid under a crispy cheese crust is ready! This wonderful, tender dish can be eaten hot or cold and tastes great.

How to cook squid depends on the requirements of the recipe. Half-baked seafood, which is simply poured with boiling water for 10 minutes, retains more useful substances. But if you cook squids for more than half an hour, they will also turn out soft and tasty.