How to cook squid: 7 ways

Who said squids should be boiled for 15 minutes? Forget it! For such a period of time, you will receive a rubber piece of inedible meat that cannot be used for its intended purpose. In order not to spoil the seafood, you must have the basic skills of cooking squid. Let's talk about everything in order.

How to choose a squid

There are uniform aspects that will allow you to purchase a good product without signs of damage.

1. So, pay attention to the color of the meat. A high-quality product is light, almost whitish, but in no case yellow. This shade indicates the low quality of the raw material and its freezing – defrosting several times in a row.
2. If you buy squid carcasses in a single package, evaluate the very structure of the product. Squids should not be glued together with a block of ice. This suggests that the composition thawed. High-quality raw materials suggest that carcasses will be easily separated from each other. This feature is achieved when manufacturers freeze the goods piece by piece, then stack them in one pack.
3. You should pay attention to the coating - icing. If there is a crust of frozen water on the surface, it is likely that you will overpay 1/3 of the total amount for unnecessary liquid.
4. Be sure to study the storage conditions and expiration date. And look not at the sticker that was stuck directly in the store, but at the transparent packaging itself. It is marked with notes from the moment of packaging. Often the dates on the two elements differ.
5. If possible, buy squid carcasses of relatively equal and small size. The meat of such seafood after cooking comes out juicy and tender, eliminates the possibility of getting a rubber piece.

Squid preparation

1. Before you start cooking seafood, you need to remove the skin. It spoils not only the taste of the finished dish, but also the aesthetic appearance. If you do not, you will eat a squid with a bitter or sour taste.
2. To make the peel easily peel off, send the carcasses to a container with boiling water (temperature of about 70 degrees), leave for 1 minute. Then pour cold water over it, the skin will quickly come off.
3. The squid carcass has a spine, or chord, which must be removed. Cartilage is easy to remove from the cavity of the meat, just pull the free edge.
4. After all the manipulations, the seafood is rinsed with water at room temperature and dried on towels. Then you can start cooking by the selected method.

Cooking squid in a double boiler

• peas - 3 pcs.
• laurel - 2–4 pcs.
• carcasses of squid (small) - 2-3 pcs.

1. After preparing, put the seafood in a bowl of a double boiler. Pour water into a special compartment, supply it with peas and laurel (you can not add).
2. Set the device timer for 9 minutes, wait for the program to end. Do not open the lid, the steam cooker cooks in a closed container. At the end of the process, remove the soft seafood, taste.
3. If there is no double boiler, use a steam bath. Prepare the fixture: take a pan and a strainer / strainer, put the second appliance on the sides of heat-resistant dishes. Pour water into the pan, and squid pour into a sieve. Stew after boiling water for 6 minutes.

Microwave squid

• water - 80-90 ml.
• salt to your taste
• squid (carcass) - 2 pcs.
• fresh lemon - 20-25 ml.

1. First prepare the carcasses (exclusion of the spine, removal of the skin).Then rinse the product and let dry. Put the squid in a container suitable for cooking in a microwave oven.
2. Mix fresh lime with prescription drinking water, add salt and knead. Pour seafood with this compound, cover with a tight lid with steam outlet.
3. Place the dishes in the microwave, set the device to 700 watts. As for the cooking time, 2.5–3 minutes is enough. If the power is higher than indicated, the time, accordingly, is reduced.

Cooking squid on the stove

• salt - 25 gr.
• drinking water - 1.9-2 liters.
• squid (carcass) - 900 gr.

1. Pour water into a refractory cookware, add salt and put on fire. Stew until the grains dissolve. At this time, prepare the squid.
2. Dip them in boiling water, then immediately substitute under a stream of cold water. Remove the skin. Set the seafood in boiling water with salt, cook for 1.5-2 minutes.

Cooking frozen squid (with defrosting)

• frozen squid - 700 gr.
• seasonings (any) - at the discretion
• table water - 1.8 l.

1. Remove the squid carcasses from the freezer, remove from packaging and place in thawing bowl. Leave at room temperature or on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.
2. After thawing, drain the liquid, rinse the squid with cool water, let it drain. Scald seafood with boiling water and dip in ice water, remove the skin.
3. Prepare a pot for cooking, pour water into it and pour in spices. Wait for boiling, send the squid into the bubbling liquid. Cook them for 2 minutes, then remove and cool.

Cooking frozen squid (without defrosting)

• filtered water - 2 l.
• salt - 20 gr.
• frozen squid - 900-1000 gr.
• seasoning - optional

1. Remove the carcasses from the freezer, put them one next to the sink. Boil the kettle, pour seafood on both sides with hot water. Then immediately rinse the carcasses under the tap, get rid of the skin.
2. Send the prepared squid to a pot of boiled salted water. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. After the expiration date, remove and cool.

Soft squid cooking in 10 seconds

• drinking water - 1.7 l.
• squid - 800 gr.
• salt - 15 gr.

1. Prepare seafood for further manipulations. Squid must be freed from the skin and spine. After cleaning, rinse the carcasses and let them dry.
2. Pour water into a saucepan, add salt and boil until crystals are dissolved. When the solution is seething intensively, begin to lower one squid into it.
3. Count to 10, then pull out and cool. Repeat manipulations with each carcass separately. In the end, cool, cut into ringlets and send to the salad.

Cooking squid rings

• carcasses of squid - 3-4 pcs.
• table water - 2 l.
• salt - 30 gr.
• lemon juice - 40 ml.
• greens (any) - 20 gr.

1. Peel the squid and chord, then rinse, dry and chop about 1 cm thick ringlets. Boil the water according to the recipe, add lemon juice, salt and chopped greens into it.
2. Start pouring squid rings into the boiling water, do not reduce the heat. Stew for 1-1.5 minutes, then remove and cool.
3. If seafood is cut into smaller pieces, then the cooking time is reduced to 45-60 seconds. After all the manipulations, drain the seafood through a colander.

In the end, to find a juicy and healthy seafood, you need to adhere to the main principles of cooking. Squids can be boiled on the stove, in a double boiler or microwave.

Video: how to cook squid