Seafood has long been used for food, they are tasty and nutritious. Squid is one of the most affordable and healthy seafood. Squids are rich in vitamins, microelements, they contain a lot of iodine, phosphorus and magnesium. They are also rich in valuable protein, which is easily digested and stimulates the production of gastric juice. To prepare dishes with squid, you need to know how to properly clean them from the film. It is also important to cook them correctly so that the meat is soft and juicy.
Before cooking, squid should be cleaned of the film. To do this, pour the carcasses with boiling water for a few seconds, the thin skin should come off by itself. But a problem may arise - after boiling water, squids are already half cooked, and they are easy to digest. In this case, use another method for cleaning squid from the film. Remove the frozen product from the refrigerator and defrost in air. Press the defrosted carcass with your hand and remove the skin, gently prying its edge with your fingernail. Usually the skin from the squid comes off completely, but if it has been thawed and re-frozen, then it may not come off. You also need to remove the skin from the squid wings and remove the chitin plates from the inside before cooking. Depending on the dish you plan to cook, there are several simple ways how to cook frozen squid. For example, to prepare a salad with squid, it is enough to pour the carcass with boiling water and hold for 5 minutes. Then remove the skin from it, cut into rings and sprinkle lemon juice. For some dishes, squid should be boiled a little longer using spices. To cook squid correctly, you will need:- Water - 1 l;
- Black peppercorns;
- Bay leaf - 2 pcs;
- Salt;
- Squid carcasses - 2 pcs.
Cooked with squid a large number of dishes, in addition to the well-known salad, squids are put in sandwiches, in pizza, they make zrazy, stuffed with vegetables, and snacks are prepared. Properly cleaned and cooked, squid is a delicacy and tender delicacy for real gourmets.
My husband brought home a couple of frozen squids and said: βI want a salad!β I was left alone with these "monsters" and thought:
- how to quickly clean a squid frozen from the film
- how many minutes to cook squid thawed and already peeled for salad.
The squid salad has already been prepared, and now I will be happy to answer all your questions. I hope my experience is useful to you π
Cooking instruction (step by step)
- Defrosting.
If you need to defrost the squid quickly, then simply immerse the carcasses in cold (not hot) water and wait a couple of minutes. After that, we take out all the ice, if there are any left, wash the carcasses well, take out the chord (transparent "sticks" that you will find inside). In principle, squids are already ready for cooking.
2. Film removal
Squid skin is a thin film. I do not advise taking it off while the squid is still raw. This is monkey work. During cooking, the skin easily leaves itself. After cooking, simply remove the squid meat from the water, let it cool slightly and rinse under running water. Remaining skin particles fall off easy and fast.
The second option: lower the thawed squid carcass for a few seconds in hot water. The film will shrink and easily rebound.
After, like a squid managed remove film Let's start cooking right away. Pour 2 liters of water into a saucepan, bring to a boil, salt. We lower the squid carcass into boiling water, wait 1 minute until the water boils again. Cook after boiling literally 1.5 - 2 minutes. Turn off the fire and leave the meat in hot water for another 1-2 minutes. We take out. Ready!
Thawed and cleaned squid need to cook how much: literally 1.5 - 2 minutes in boiling water, no more. Otherwise, the meat will become tough, like rubber. And for a salad, we donβt need it at all.
Salad recipe with squid and cucumber
Actually, for the sake of which all this was started: we prepared a salad with squid for dinner and fresh cucumber. Sharing the recipe π
Recipe #1
Products:
- 2 carcasses of squid (about 300 g),
- 1 pack of crab sticks,
- 1 fresh cucumber
- 4 chicken eggs,
- mayonnaise,
- salt.
Cooking:
1. Defrost squids, cook, peel off the film, cut into strips or cubes.
2. Crab sticks defrost and cut into rings.
3. Three cucumbers on a grater (but you can also cut into strips).
4. Eggs are also three on a grater.
5. Put the ingredients in layers in a deep salad bowl, spreading some layers with mayonnaise. The order of the layers doesn't matter. You can layer the ingredients according to your taste.
Recipe #2
Another salad that we have not prepared yet, but would really like to try. In the last recipe, I personally did not have enough piquancy, some kind of sourness. And here, pickled cucumbers are supposed to be in the composition. They will spice up the salad with squid.
Products:
- 1 carcass of squid (about 150 g),
- 1 pickled or pickled cucumber(about 150 g),
- 2 chicken eggs,
- 1 medium onion
- mayonnaise,
- salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking:
- Eggs are boiled, cleaned
- Squid, if it is frozen - defrost, quickly peel off the film and cook for 1.5 - 2 minutes.
- Onion cut into thin half rings.
- Squid meat, eggs, cucumber - all cut into strips.
- We put all the ingredients in a bowl, salt, pepper and season with mayonnaise.
- Mix and serve!
How do you prepare squid salad? Write in the comments π Bon appetit!
0Squid has a high nutritional value, like many seafood. From its meat you can cook a variety of hot dishes, snacks, salads.
In many families, squid is considered an exotic food, because the housewives are not sure how to butcher and cook this marine inhabitant. In fact, this is quite easy to do. One has only to do everything according to the rules once, and squid dishes will often decorate the home table.
The squid is an edible cephalopod. Its elongated body with triangular fins is pinkish-gray in color, and its square head is surrounded by tentacles. The body itself is mainly eaten, and the head and entrails are removed.
Valuable dietary meat
Squid meat is quite tender and soft, due to its low calorie content and lack of cholesterol, it is well suited for a healthy diet.
- The high content of protein, vitamins, microelements makes this product valuable for children's cuisine.
- A large amount of potassium contributes to the normal functioning of the heart muscles.
- Taurine contained in meat regulates blood pressure.
Thanks to these useful properties dishes prepared from squid will bring a bright note to a balanced diet.
How to choose squid
Fresh squids have the highest nutritional value, and they should be bought if possible.
In practice, stores often offer frozen carcasses, whole or gutted. When making a choice, it is important to pay attention to the shade of meat. Subject to storage conditions and temperature regime the meat under the cover film should be only white.
If the clams have been thawed repeatedly, they will take on a bitter taste, and the meat will change color and spread during cooking.
It should be borne in mind that fewer nutrients have been preserved in the cleaned squid, so itβs better not to be lazy, buy whole carcasses and clean them yourself.
Why clean squid
The body of the mollusk, both outside and inside, is covered with films, transparent or with a purple-brownish tint. These films must be removed before cooking. When heated, they become rigid, tighten and compress the carcass. This affects the quality of the meat, it becomes less tender and juicy.
Also, when cleaning, the insides and the flexible transparent spine - the chord - are removed. It is not difficult to do this, the body of the squid has the shape of a bag, so the insides easily slip out of it.
How to quickly clean a squid at home
With even a little experience, you can cope with this task in just a couple of minutes. With the right approach, the skin is removed like a stocking, with one movement of the hand.
Cleaning a whole squid
When purchasing whole marine life, you need to be prepared for the fact that they will have to be cleaned on their own. The algorithm of actions is slightly different depending on whether you got fresh or frozen carcasses.
If the squid is frozen
Squids need to be put in a bowl and pour plenty of boiling water. At the same time, the skin bursts, moves away from the meat and curls up. Now the carcasses need to be quickly moved to ice water, and the skin will finally separate from the surface. Also, the remnants of the films can be cleaned off by hand under cold running water.
If the squid is defrosted
If it so happened that the squid had time to defrost before the start of processing, they can also arrange contrast procedures.
There is another way: boil the carcasses in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. The films will separate themselves and remain in the water. It is important not to overcook the product in hot water so that it does not cook to readiness ahead of time. Cooking the meat too long makes it tough.
Chilled
Seafood can be kept refrigerated without freezing for several days.
Such recently caught mollusks have a greater nutritional value. To clean them, they are freed from the chord and entrails, separating the head from the body. After that, you need to put the carcasses in a colander, pour over boiling water, and then ice water. The peel can be easily removed if you pull it from the wider part to the thin one. From the fins, the film will have to be scraped off with a knife.
fresh catch
Fresh squids are not only the most delicious and healthy, they are also easy to clean. First of all, you need to rinse the body, cut off the head, and then remove the insides. You can just grab the head at the base and separate it, then the insides will slip out on their own. Then find the tip of the chord and pull it with one hand to remove this inedible element. film with fresh squid comes off in one go. You just need to slip your finger under it and remove it from the mollusk like a stocking.
Boiled with skin
To make the meat tastier, it is recommended to boil the squid in a purified form.
If for a specific purpose or inexperience they were cooked with the skin, nothing bad will happen, this is quite acceptable. The film is just as easily removed with a stocking from a boiled mollusk, as well as from a raw one. Sometimes during cooking, the skin bursts and rolls into balls. Then it can be cleaned off the surface with a soft kitchen brush.
How to clean the carcass from the film
By purchasing a headless squid, you can save time on cutting it. But even a prepared carcass will have to be cleaned of films covering its surface from all sides. After the clams have been washed in clean water, the easiest way is to use the contrast temperature method and pour boiling water over the carcasses. Then they are immersed in cold water, and the skin rolls up and leaves almost by itself. When the film is removed from the body, it remains to scrape off its remnants from the wings of the squid and rinse it again with water.
In more detail, the process of cleaning the squid carcass and preparing it for storage in the freezer is shown in the video.
How to clean tentacles
In addition to the body, tentacles are also used for food. They need to be cut off in front of the eyes so that a connecting thin ring of skin remains. They are cleaned from the film in the same way as the rest of the carcass. On the tentacles, the skin is thinner and more delicate, so after scalding they can be washed immediately with water.. The film will come off by itself without any additional effort. Between the tentacles is a hard squid beak, it is separated by squeezing with fingers and thrown away.
Secrets of handling squid
Cooking squid is at first glance a simple matter. Usually cooking consists in boiling or frying and subsequent cutting of meat. But it is seafood that requires special attention so that the meat remains tender and fragrant.
Buy large or small copies?
Large individuals with a brightly colored surface are old molluscs. The younger the squid, the softer its meat. Smaller carcasses are easier to clean and more tender in taste.
How to defrost properly?
Shellfish should not be defrosted in steam or water. This will irreversibly spoil the taste and texture of the meat. You can put them overnight on the top shelf of the refrigerator.
Is it better to clean before cooking or after?
Learning how to properly clean squid is not difficult, you just need to try once and remember the basic steps. Beginners can experience different ways cleaning and cutting to choose the most suitable for yourself. In any case, preparing a dish from these mollusks can be quick and easy.
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 the squids have been re-frozen, this not only makes it difficult to clean them, but also affects taste qualities.
To check this in the store, you can pay attention to several factors:
- 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.
- 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 gourmet dish from shellfish, it will not be difficult for you to quickly clean the squid.
Squids are not a product of everyday demand, but in last years this exotic mollusk began to appear more often on the tables of our compatriots. Mistresses, wanting to pamper the household original dish, they choose squids. Some of them, having bought frozen carcasses in the supermarket, do not even know how to approach them.
Cleaning and cutting squid at home takes a lot of time and discourages cooking from them in the future. By learning some secrets, you will be able to "handle" seafood without the hassle.
Preparation: selection in the store, storage at home
The secret to making a delicious squid dish is their right choice. Food that has been frozen several times is more difficult to clean and has lost its flavor. How to recognize the "correct" squid?
- Firstly, carcasses should not be frozen to each other. The seller should easily separate them, and not "tear off" from the bulk.
- Secondly, the meat should have a beautiful white color. A red-blue tint is released by the skin during thawing.
It is better to cook purchased squids on the same day or, without defrosting, send them to the freezer.
We clean thawed squid from the film
Occasionally in stores you can get on already thawed squids, and sometimes it also happens that the clams are thawed at home, waiting for the hostess to be free from other things. Do not be discouraged, and in this situation you can cook tasty dish. The main thing is to follow the procedure:
- Boil an incomplete pot of water.
- After making an incision along the carcass, gut it.
- Rinse meat thoroughly.
- Dip the squid into the pan and hold for 10 seconds.
- After pulling out the carcasses, you will find that the transparent shells remained in the water.
Video tips
How to clean frozen squid
This procedure is done in five steps:
- Bring a half pot of water to a boil.
- Get the squids out of the freezer and fold a deep container (bowl, pan).
- Pour boiling water over carcasses. Due to this action, almost the entire skin will separate itself.
- Quickly drain the water and rinse the seafood under cold running water, carefully removing the film. If you do not hurry, the carcasses will boil.
- Gut the insides, remove the backbone.
How to clean freshly caught clams
The best squids are those that were not frozen, but were brought from the seabed directly to the kitchen, or they were cooled for several hours before being sold. The meat of such mollusks is nutritious, healthy and tasty.
Some housewives in this case are frightened by the presence of a head and tentacles, because they will have to be removed on their own. This procedure does not require special skills. The head is cut off and discarded, and the tentacles are cut off near the eyes and used to cook the dish. They also have a shell, and it will need to be removed in the same way as with a thawed carcass.
The procedure for cleaning fresh squid carcasses and tentacles is as follows:
- Boil required amount water.
- Shellfish, freed from the insides, are placed in a colander, doused with boiling water, and then placed under the stream cold water.
- The film is removed by pulling from the thick part towards the thin one. It is more convenient to scrape off the wings with a knife.
- Clean the tentacles in the same way. This is easy to do, since the skin under the influence of boiling water will separate on its own.
How to cook squid and how much
Exist various ways cooking squid, so I will give the three most simple and popular.
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, add salt and spices. On a slotted spoon, lower the carcass for 10 seconds in boiling water, then remove it. Cook the rest of the carcasses in the same way. It turned out a semi-finished product for further cooking (slicing into salad, stew, etc.).
- The second method is suitable for cooking frozen, previously peeled blanks. All carcasses are lowered into boiling water with spices, kept on low heat for 1 minute, turn off the stove and let stand in hot water for another 10 minutes.
After boiling water, put thawed clams into it, turn off the fire and let it stand for 10 minutes.
Video recipe
- On various sites, it is advised to cook squid for about 4 or even more minutes. Doing this is not worth it! Excess heat treatment will make the seafood meat tough. Moreover, it will lose nutritional value and taste.
- For flavor, half a lemon or a bag of black tea is added to the water in which the mollusk will be boiled.
- When removing films, keep in mind that both colored and transparent casings must be removed. If the hostess does not notice or deliberately leaves the film, then after cooking the meat will be tough and tight.
- Don't buy large calamari. Their meat has a bitter taste, and it will take more than an hour to cook such giants. Wherein ready meal will be tough.
The nutritional value of seafood cannot be overestimated. Squid meat is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. There is a great variety of dishes that can be prepared from this mollusk. It is a valuable component of many salads; it is stuffed, stewed, fried, boiled, baked, salted and even marinated. If you decide to please yourself and your family with an exquisite squid dish, now you can do it without much difficulty, based on my advice.
