Chef's Tips: How to clean squid quickly? How to cook squid for salad so that they are soft and not tasteless.

Squid is a delicious seafood, an excellent source of protein and iodine. However, many housewives think that they are too difficult to cut and clean. And in vain, because you just need to remember a couple of subtleties, and everything will work out!

How to quickly and easily peel a squid

The squid carcass is completely covered with a film that must be removed. Why do it? The fact is that when cooked, it becomes very hard, literally rubber, and spoils the taste of the product. It is very simple to peel fresh squid from the skin, just grab the skin along the edges of the calf and pull, it will come off with the so-called stocking.

Removing the film from the frozen product

On store shelves, squids that have been frozen are most often found. The main condition for their successful cleaning: first, the carcass must be thawed. Then we act according to the instructions.

  1. With one hand we firmly hold the carcass, with the other we pull the head, removing the insides.
  2. The middle between the tentacles is inedible, cut it out and throw it away.
  3. Squids have a flexible spine - a chitinous plate. It looks like a thin strip of plastic and is easily palpable. This organ is unsuitable for food, so we remove it.
  4. Now we have only the edible parts of the squid - the tentacles and the carcass. We prepare two containers: with boiling water and ice water.
  5. For a few seconds, place the squid meat in boiling water and immediately transfer it to ice water. Now the film is easily removed from the carcass.
  6. We clean the whole carcass, not forgetting the tentacles.
  7. Ready! The squid is cleaned and you can start cooking.

How to peel and butcher raw squid - video

We remove the skin from a fresh carcass correctly: home secrets

There are several secrets to help you quickly remove the film from the squid.

  1. Before carving the squid, defrost it. The film from the ice cream of the raw product is practically not removed.
  2. Pay attention to the color of the carcass: whites without pink patches are easier to clean.
  3. Use a stiff brush to remove the skin: rub the surface of the squid and the film will come off.

Carefully remove all the insides: when cooking, they give the dish an unpleasant taste.

Squid - cephalopod, predatory mollusk , living in warm, southern seas. Most often, carcasses are eaten, although the tentacles are also edible. This low-calorie seafood is rich in phosphorus, protein, calcium and iodine. There are a lot of squid cooking techniques - they are boiled, fried, stewed, canned, dried. Moreover, it is very simple to cook these mollusks, you just need to know how to clean squids and also how to heat treat them correctly in order to preserve the original taste.

To take or not to take? Or which squids are worth buying.

“What a fish, such an ear,” people say. This is true for squid as well. To enjoy a delicious dish, you need to choose a good source product. The sea delicacy is sold most often in frozen form, chilled specimens are less common.

Determining the quality of a chilled product is not difficult - the top, colored film should be easily removed, and the color of the carcass under the skin should be exceptionally white. If blue or pink shades are present, the squid is stale.

The squid has 3 hearts connected to tentacles. And the eyes of some specimens are of different sizes.

The classic case is frozen squid. This is the most convenient method of storing shellfish. However, only the product that was frozen once fresh will be tasty, and then it was not allowed to defrost during storage. If the carcasses are prepared and stored correctly, they will be effortlessly separated from each other, but if the product has already been defrosted, it will be difficult to separate it into separate copies. It is also worth paying attention to the position of mollusks in a frozen briquette - in production they are laid in even, neat rows.

You can often find squid tubes in stores - already peeled, beautiful carcasses. When purchasing such a product, it should be noted that heat treatment is used during cleaning in production, and this tender meat does not like high temperatures terribly. Therefore, such a "convenient" purchase is likely to disappoint you with the rigidity of the final dish.

How to prepare whole squid

Probably the most important thing in preparing squid is to know that they cannot be thawed “quickly” using a microwave or hot water. Frozen carcasses should be left on the kitchen table (or better in the refrigerator to avoid sudden changes) and wait until they become soft.

It is not necessary to completely defrost the product; it is just more convenient to clean the squids if they are a little frozen.
  1. Firmly holding the squid by the body with one hand, with the other we carefully separate the insides from the walls, sticking a finger inside the body.
  2. We take out everything that we managed to separate by pulling on the tentacles.
  3. We wash the bodies of mollusks under running (maximum cold) water, removing the remnants of the insides.
  4. The second part is cut in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe eyes. We throw away the waste, and look for a beak at the junction of the tentacles - it is easily removed by pressing a finger.

How to clean squid from the film

There are several cleaning methods. Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. So what is the best way to clean squid?

The first and most gentle method is to remove the films manually. You just need to pick up the skin with a knife at the wide edge of the tube and pull it, removing it like a case. If the squid has been frozen for a long time, the films can tear in the hands and then you have to clean them with a knife.

It seems that the carcass is already clean, but this impression is false. The mollusk is also covered with a thin, transparent film, which must also be removed.

The body of the squid along its entire length is supported by a cartilaginous plate (gladius), resembling plastic. She effortlessly pulls out of the carcass.

The second cleaning method is much faster. You just need to boil water and lower the squid into it for 1 second (no more !!!). The films will immediately curl up, they can be easily removed from the carcass.

The third way is a contrast shower. The blanks must be placed so that the water can immediately drain, for example, into a sink or colander, and then scald the squid with boiling water. Immediately after that, pour ice water over it. The tentacles are cleaned in the same way, with the only difference being that you have to tinker with removing the suckers.

It is best to process under a stream of cold water so that small particles of the film are immediately washed off and do not stick to your hands. You can clean squid after boiling. It is enough to rub them with a soft brush, removing the curled pieces of the film.

How to cook squid properly

This tender meat categorically does not tolerate long-term exposure to high temperatures, which makes it look like hard chewing gum. Therefore, boiling carcasses is not recommended. The most optimal solution is to stock up on slightly salted boiling water, dip the squids into it, wait until the water boils again and immediately remove the pan from the stove. It is enough to keep the product in water for 5-7 minutes to cook the meat.

If for some reason the meat is overcooked, it can be saved by boiling on a minimum heat for 40-50 minutes. The taste will remain the same, but, unfortunately, some trace elements will evaporate with steam. To add flavor to the water, you can add dill, fennel or a slice of lemon.

Boiled squids are often used for salads or cold appetizers.

What if it's fried?

Sea creatures are no less tasty and fried. It is necessary to fry in hot oil for 3-5 minutes, after cutting them into rings or strips about 5 mm thick. For a more delicate dish, the blanks can be dipped in a classic batter (a mixture of eggs, milk and salt).

Shellfish acquire a very original taste when grilled on coals. In most recipes, meat is recommended to marinate, for example, in a mixture of 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, 100 grams of dry white wine and spices to give the finished product flavor and avoid dryness. With this preparation, you should constantly water the meat with the sauce remaining from the pickling. It turns out a healthy barbecue from rings, smelling pleasantly of smoke.

Goodies from a sea predator

Calamari stuffed with rice and mushrooms

Ingredients:

  • gutted squid carcasses - 4 pcs;
  • rice - 80 gr;
  • fresh mushrooms - 150 gr;
  • butter - 50 gr;
  • carrots - 100 gr;
  • egg - 2 pcs.

Boil rice. Process the carrots on a fine grater and sauté in melted butter for 3-5 minutes. Mushrooms cut into small pieces and fry in sunflower oil.

Boiled eggs cut into cubes. Mix rice with eggs, add carrots and mushrooms. Put the prepared tubes in hot water, fill them with rice mixture, chop off the place of stuffing with toothpicks and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Seafood salad with creamy garlic sauce

  • squid - 100 gr.;
  • hard cheese - 60 gr.;
  • crab sticks - 100 gr.;
  • eggs - 2 pcs.;

for the sauce:

  • garlic 2 teeth;
  • butter - 50 gr.;
  • fat cream 100 gr.;
  • slice of lemon.

Boiled squids, eggs, hard cheese cut into cubes, crab sticks in circles, add green onions. To prepare a creamy garlic sauce, fry thin slices of garlic in butter, add cream, simmer a little (5-10 minutes), cool, dilute with a drop of lemon juice and, if desired, spices.

Sea rings in batter with sauce

  • frozen squid - 500 gr.;
  • egg - 1 pc.;
  • milk 3 tablespoons;
  • hard cheese - 100 gr.;
  • sour cream - 200 gr.;
  • breadcrumbs - 3 tablespoons;
  • flour - 3 tablespoons;
  • garlic - 1 clove;
  • refined sunflower oil, ground black pepper, herbs, salt.

Boil squid tubes, cut into rings. For batter, combine the egg with milk and salt a little. For breading - mix breadcrumbs and flour in equal proportions. Fry the squids in a large amount of oil (it is necessary that the oil completely covers the rings), dipping first in batter, and then in breading. For the sauce, grate the cheese on a fine grater, add crushed garlic, herbs and dilute it all with sour cream.

Properly cleaned and cooked seafood will allow you to create incredibly tasty and healthy culinary masterpieces that will not leave indifferent either the layman or the inveterate gourmet.

Squid is a healthy and tasty seafood, with which you can diversify the daily family diet. Some housewives do not like to cook these clams, thinking that they are difficult to clean. It's a delusion. Squids are easy to clean if you know the little secrets of their processing.

If you bought a fresh whole squid, put it in a bowl and determine where the head is. It has tentacles on it. Holding the body of the squid with one hand, pull the head towards you with the other. It will separate along with the insides. Turn the head with the tentacles towards you, find and remove the beak. Then remove the eyes. To do this, cut the tentacles into two halves or simply squeeze the eyes out. Clean the carcass from the films. In fresh squid, it comes off easily in one go. Remove the hard chitinous plate that is inside the body. Rinse the cleaned carcass well with cold water. More often you have to butcher frozen squid. So that their cleaning does not take much time, choose the right product in the store. Carcasses of frozen mollusks should be easily separated from each other. If they stick together, then the squid has already been defrosted. When cutting, they will spread, and after cooking - bitter. The size and color of the squid depends on its habitat and age. The body of an unpeeled mollusk is covered with a film on the outside and inside. It can have colors ranging from pink to burgundy and purple. Under the film is white meat. After re-freezing, the meat turns gray and loses its taste. Small squids are easier to clean than large ones, and after cooking they are softer. Often, already gutted frozen carcasses are sold in stores. This makes them easier to clean. Remove the cartilage from the butchered squid. Then remove the film from the carcass. If this is not done, during heat treatment they will become tough, and the carcass itself will shrink. There are several ways to clean the film. Without defrosting the squids, put them in a bowl, scald with boiling water, and then immediately transfer to a bowl with ice. The skin will come off like a stocking. You can not put the squid in ice, but simply pour boiling water over them and immediately drain the water. The film rolls up instantly and peels off easily. To remove the skin from a thawed carcass, put it in a pot of boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes. The film partially remains in the water, and the remaining film is easily removed by washing the carcass in cold water. After that, the squid is ready to eat. Its meat is soft and tender.

Peeled squids can be baked, boiled, fried, marinated, dried, smoked, minced. Do not deny yourself and your loved ones the pleasure of enjoying delicious dishes from this valuable seafood.

Cleaning squid seems to many an unusually difficult task, and as a result this tasty and healthy product is not often included in the diet. But from squid you can cook a lot of both everyday and festive dishes! You just need to learn how to clean them properly.

What kind of cleaning do squids need

The structure of the mollusk

squids are cephalopods. Usually they are from 0.25 to 0.5 m long. They live in the northern seas and in subtropical waters. Squids have 5 pairs of tentacles and a torpedo-shaped body. Supporting cartilage runs along the body. The tentacles have suction cups. Squids are an object of fishing and are widely used in cooking.

The difference between cleaning fresh and frozen food

Edible squid body and tentacles. The entrails, head, jaws are thrown out. The tentacles are cut off at eye level and, if they are to be used, are cleaned of suckers.

As a rule, you can buy unfrozen squid where they are caught. Most often, frozen squids are found in stores, but freezing allows you to save useful properties and taste. From fresh, unfrozen squids, the skin is easily removed, and with frozen ones, you will have to work a little longer.

It is best to defrost squids in the refrigerator, putting them there from the freezer overnight.

A few words about buying frozen squid. Squid meat, thawed more than once, has an unpleasant taste and smell, so, first of all, you need to evaluate them in appearance. The skin of the carcass should be brownish or have a pinkish-purple tint, but the meat is only white. If it turned yellow or turned purple, then this is a sign that it has been defrosted.

How to cut a whole carcass

To clean a squid, you need to take it with one hand by the head, and with the other - by the body. Tentacles extend from the head of the mollusk. If you pull on the head, it quickly separates along with the insides.

The jaws are hidden between the tentacles. They must be removed.

There is a transparent plate in the body of the squid, which must be removed. Then you should carefully remove all films, including thin, transparent ones that cover the body of the squid inside and out.

This will require two containers. In one of them you need to pour cold water, you can even add ice. In the second - put the squids, pour boiling water over them and quickly transfer them to cold water. Films from temperature differences are easily removed.

You can also put squids in a container, pour hot water over it and keep it there for no more than two minutes, otherwise they will be “rubber” and tasteless. The skin of the squid is rolled up and then easily peeled off under running water.

Home cleaning options on video

How to clean a whole squid (not frozen)

How to quickly clean squid

How to cook squid easily

How to remove transparent film from squid

Adding peeled squid to dishes

After removing the films, squids should be washed well and dried a little. Now you can

If you want to pamper your family with something tasty, nutritious, healthy and unusual, then it is likely that your choice will be squid. This once exotic mollusk began to appear more and more often on the tables of our compatriots. But whoever tried to cook them at least once was faced with the question of how to clean squids? If you do it incorrectly, it may take a lot of effort and time, as a result, the desire to cook them again will disappear. But if you know some of the nuances, cleaning will not give you much trouble. So let's get started.

To be easy to clean, you need to choose the right

If the product is fresh, then it will not be difficult to quickly clean the squid. The film that covers it easily leaves the entire surface of the mollusk, like a stocking. But usually in the store you can find only frozen squid. And, so that there are no problems with cleaning and cooking, you need to be able to choose them correctly.

The product must not be defrosted. This is a very important requirement. If squids have been re-frozen, this not only makes it difficult to clean them, but also affects their taste.

To check this in the store, you can pay attention to several factors:

  1. squids should not stick to each other. If the seller cannot separate the shellfish carcasses from each other, this means that the product has been re-frozen.
  2. the color of the meat should be white. If the meat has a reddish or bluish tint, this indicates that when it is thawed, it has adopted this color from the skin.

Well, do not forget that at home they should be stored in the freezer, and do not defrost before cooking.

Quickly clean squids

To properly clean the squid, you need to put the frozen carcasses first in boiling water, and then immediately in cold water. From the high temperature, the skin will easily move away from the meat and it will not be difficult for you to remove it. But be careful not to overdo it in hot water, otherwise the meat may cook, and then it will be more difficult to clean the squid. In addition to the skin, you need to clean the insides and the chord (the soft backbone of the mollusks).

To make the dish tasty, you need the squid to be soft. Those who tried to cook it at least once noticed that sometimes the meat is harsh. To avoid this, do not overcook the squid. The best way to cook is to dip in boiling water for 15 seconds. This will give the meat tenderness. Only if the squid is cooked together with other products, such as vegetables, in pilaf, or as part of a sauce, the cooking time may be longer. Some chefs advise adding half a lemon or a bag of black tea to the water where you will boil the squid. This will add more flavor to the dish.

There are a lot of squid dishes. You can stuff them, you can bake or just boil them. The main thing is that it is healthy, dietary and nutritious meat.

So now, if you decide to surprise your loved ones with a gourmet clam dish, it will not be difficult for you to quickly clean the squids.

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