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Cooking Squid,
Preparing Squid & Recipes for Squid
Squid and Calamari should be cooked either quickly over high heat or for
a long time over low heat, when buying squid look for bright skin,
cleaned tubes should be white
Cooking & Preparing Squid:
Buying
When purchasing fresh whole Squid or Calamari look for intact bright
skin, with a light brown to purple mottled appearance and intact head,
arms and tentacles. Cleaned tubes should be white without any brown
markings.
Storing
Make sure Squid or Calamari are gutted and cleaned thoroughly. Wrap in
plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3
days or freeze for up to 3 months below -18ºC.
Preparing
To clean whole Squid or Calamari: grasp the arms and pull firmly to
separate head from tube (try not to break the ink sac, as the ink
stains), cut below the eyes and discard head and guts, push beak (mouth)
out from between the arms. Remove quill, peel skin off tube by grasping
side fins and peeling around the tube. Side fins can be peeled and used;
tentacles can also be washed and used. If cutting tube into rings, wash
inside well to remove any remaining gut, otherwise, cut tube open along
the obvious seam, lay out flat and wipe the inside clean with a clean
cloth. It can then be sliced into strips, or scored in a hatch pattern
(called ‘honeycombing’) and sliced into larger chunks. It is also
possible to cook Squid and Calamari without peeling them, the skin will
turn a dark purple as it cooks. The average yield is 80%. Gould’s Squid
are often larger and tougher than other Squids and Calamari; they have
hard suckers which must be sliced off their arms and tentacles and the
flesh of larger specimen can be tenderised with a meat mallet.
Cooking Squid and Calamari should be cooked either quickly over high heat or for
a long time over low heat, otherwise the flesh will be tough and chewy.
Either way it has a mild flavour and firm texture and will marry well
with almost any flavouring. It is suitable for a wide variety of
preparations, whole tubes can be stuffed and baked, strips or rings can
be dusted in seasoned flour and deep-fried or marinated and char-grilled
or stir-fried.
The ink can be used to flavour and colour risotto or
pasta. Cuttlefish, a close cousin, can be substituted in almost all
recipes calling for Squid or Calamari; they have broader, thicker bodies
and their thicker calcified internal shell is most often seen in birds’
cages. It is Cuttlefish ink, rather than that from Squids or Calamari,
which is traditionally used to flavour and colour black risotto and
pasta.
How to clean a Squid
Sydney Fish Market takes you through the different kinds of
Squid available at the market and how to prepare one for
cooking.
Squid Recipes:
Deep Fried Squid - Calamari coated in egg
and breadcrumbs and fried until golden brown.
Grilled Squid Salad - Squid marinated in soy
sauce and then grilled, served tossed with salad
greens.
Squid Cooked in Squids Ink - Squid cooked in
it's own ink with garlic, white wine, red pepper,
lemon and parsley
Squid in Tomato Sauce - Chop the garlic and
rosemary finely, then put into a saucepan with the
oil ....blend the tomatoes and add them to the pan
together with the ink sacs
