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How to cook fresh squid. Unusual options for boiling squid

How to cook fresh squid. Unusual options for boiling squid

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

However, knowing how long to cook squid after boiling, you can safely begin preparing this dish, highly valued by gourmets.

In terms of their beneficial qualities, easily digestible seafood is superior to veal and milk.

Healthy seafood ingredients per 100 g:

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

- Hot – in water with temperatures up to 75°. Cooked fillet for 300 seconds. This makes it easier to separate the skin from the pulp, then rinse under running cold water. You can speed up the process if you are short of time this way: put the fillet in boiling water for 30 seconds, stirring continuously. True, there are disadvantages: the meat may acquire a pink tint, the unpleasant odor increases, nitrogen and other mineral compounds decompose, reducing the beneficial properties.

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

Methods of cooking meat

Cooking time depends on the size of the carcass, the method of heat treatment and the purpose of the product. In this case, peeled or not, frozen or defrosted, there is no big difference in the cooking time.

You can cook squid fillet in several ways:

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

If squids are left to cook for more than 3 minutes after boiling, they will greatly decrease in size. The average size of a raw shellfish is from 20 to 50 cm. Reducing the size is worth considering if it is significant for decoration or other functions of the finished dish.

In the case when the meat of these cephalopods is digested and becomes like rubber, it can be reanimated. To do this, cook for an additional 20 minutes. The appearance becomes less presentable, there will be a loss of nutritional properties, but they will definitely soften.

2. Squid, cooked without defrosting. Water is boiled, frozen shellfish are placed in a row in a bowl and scalded on one side. Then, using forks, the seafood is turned over and boiling water is poured onto 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 placed in a pan with salt, boiling water, and spices. The cooking time is the same as the classic method.

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

Tip: You can determine the readiness of squid by their appearance. If they turn white, they are ready.

4. Infusion. Many cooks prefer to infuse shellfish, cooked half a minute after boiling, on the stove turned off for another 10 minutes.

5. In a boiling pour. Simply pour boiling water over the prepared seafood in a saucepan, cover it tightly with a lid and do not open it for a quarter of an hour.

6. Poaching squid - 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, filled with half a liter of salted hot liquid, closed tightly and, after boiling, allowed to simmer for no more than 5 minutes. This option retains more nutritional properties of meat than the classic method.

7. Cephalopod, steamed. 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, producing 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 steaming can be overcooked, and this will make the meat tougher. Therefore, following the rules: how long to cook squid, you must strictly monitor the time.

Advice: to ensure that the carcasses 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 tip it into a colander and put it under cold water. It is not recommended to defrost using a hot method, as the meat becomes tough. Therefore, unfrozen rings can be dipped into cold water and cooked in parallel with its heating, and after boiling, removed. Another way: place some of the rings in boiling water in a colander, silently count to 10, immediately remove and cool. Or pour boiling water over the thawed rings, immediately remove from the stove, and seal tightly. In just 300 seconds they are ready.

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: to achieve ideal softness of squid meat, it is recommended to lightly beat the pieces before cooking.

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

The use of shellfish 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 cook squid for salad.

Tip: for appetizers, boiled meat should be cut across the grain. Chopped meat is used in meatballs, belyashi and cutlets. A spoon of vegetable oil will prevent it from being overcooked, because heat treatment for these dishes is carried out twice. Whole carcasses are perfect for stuffing. It is worth considering: the smaller the squid is 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.

Duration of cooking squid using household appliances

Not only a steamer can help in preparing these seafood. They can be cooked in the microwave in a special container at maximum power for only 60 seconds.

In the “Stewing” or “Steaming” mode, a multicooker is also useful. It is filled halfway with water, the desired mode is turned on, the lid is not closed 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 cooked until white – 120 seconds.

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

Meat squid low-fat, and at the same time very nutritious, containing a large amount of minerals, vitamins and microelements. Basically, its body is used, but it happens that the tentacles are also used. Squid meat is superior to fish meat in terms of protein content, vitamins B6 and PP, and squid fats are valuable essential polyunsaturated fats. The meat of these cephalopods contains phosphorus, iron, copper and iodine. There are also few calories in squid - 135 per 100 grams of boiled meat. Taurine present in squid helps lower cholesterol. Knowing how to cook squid correctly, you can prepare a variety of delicious dishes that are easily absorbed by the body.On sale, squid meat is found in canned and frozen forms. And if in the first case it is enough just to pay attention to the date of manufacture of the seafood, the expiration date and the integrity of the packaging, then with frozen squid you should be much more careful.The fact is that shellfish that have been thawed for one reason or another and then frozen again are bitter and fall apart during cooking. To avoid accidentally purchasing a low-quality product in a store, you need to check whether the carcasses are sticking together. Squids stuck together in one lump indicate that they have already been thawed previously. If, on the contrary, they are easily separated from each other, then the meat has not been re-frozen.The skin of squid can be of different colors, from light gray to dark purple, but the meat itself must be white. If its color differs from white, then this speaks volumes about defrosting, during which the meat absorbed the color of the film. The taste of such seafood can be greatly spoiled.

How to properly clean squid

Most people are sure that cleaning squid is a troublesome and unpleasant task, however, if you know some subtleties, this is not at all the case.To quickly and without any problems remove the film from the squid, you need to place them in a frozen state in a deep bowl and pour boiling water over them. Almost all of the skin will immediately curl up and come away from the meat. The boiling water should be immediately drained and the carcasses should be cleaned of the remaining film under running water. Then you should carefully remove the transparent spine-chord and entrails. Now the squid is ready for further culinary processing.

How long to cook squid

Squids can be boiled either in water or steamed. Many people do not know how to properly cook squid so that they maximize their taste. So, in order to cook the carcasses in water, you need to put the already cleaned and prepared meat into boiling salted water (for 1 kg of squid you will need 2 liters of water and a large pinch of salt).

How long to cook squid depends, first of all, on the method of heat treatment of the meat of this seafood you choose.

After 15 seconds, remove the squids and let them drain. When cooked for a longer time, their meat turns out to be too tough and dry, and a significant part of the nutrients is lost. You can add spices to the water: bay leaf, black allspice, white pepper.

You can also poach squid, that is, cook them in a small amount of liquid at a temperature just below the boiling point. The container must be tightly closed. To do this, place the squid carcasses in a saucepan in one row, add hot salted water or broth (at the rate of 0.5 liters of liquid per 1 kg of meat), close the lid tightly and simmer for 5 minutes. With this cooking method, more nutrients are retained than during the cooking process.

You can also steam squid. To do this, you need to have a container with a tight-fitting lid or a special steamer. In this case, the meat will cook longer than in boiling water, and it will take about 5-7 minutes to fully cook. This method has a number of advantages: the squid turns out to be more juicy and tender, in addition, the carcasses do not shrink in size as much as when boiling or poaching.

It turns out very tastysalad with squid, and for its preparation, as, indeed, for other dishes from this seafood, the meat must be cut across the grain. How to cook squid for salad? There are some here tricks and if you don’t know them, you can ruin the whole dish. The squid meat will become tough and rubbery. In order for the squid meat to become soft, you need to know how long to cook the squid for the salad. Place the squid in a pan of boiling water. Salt the water and add spices if desired. Keep the squid in boiling water for 30 seconds, then turn off the water, cover the pan and leave for five minutes. One of the rules for how to cook squid for salad is to put it only in boiling water and cook for no more than three minutes. And if you want, you can use the method given above. This seafood makes delicious salads, meatballs, cutlets, meatballs, minced meat for a wide variety of snacks.

Knowing how to cook squid correctly, you can diversify your menu with a tasty and healthy product!

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This seafood is very nutritious. Squid meat contains many vitamins and microelements valuable for humans: vitamins B, C, PP, calcium, iodine, manganese, iron. A properly prepared product is easily digested and has a delicate, pleasant taste.

How to select and prepare squid for cooking

Fresh squid can rarely be found on sale; as a rule, frozen carcasses arrive on the shelves. What you need to pay attention to when choosing seafood:

the fillet must be white (otherwise the product is spoiled);
skin color can be either grayish-whitish or light pink;
Large squids, which have dense, elastic meat, are suitable for the salad, and small carcasses are ideal for stuffing, as they are tender and soft;
frozen fillets should be easily separated from each other; if the carcasses are stuck together, they have already been frozen several times;
Eating expired products is hazardous to health, so pay attention to the expiration date.

Before cooking seafood at home, it should be defrosted. To do this, the mollusks are placed in a container with cold or warm water (but not hot) and left for a while. After defrosting, the carcasses should be peeled. The easiest way to remove the film is to first pour boiling water over the product. It is necessary to clean squid not only by removing the skin, but also the insides and bones.

How long to cook squids until they are soft?

Some housewives do not know how to properly cook squid, so they avoid preparing dishes containing this ingredient. Meanwhile, this is a very simple process that does not require any special skills. The main thing is to prevent prolonged cooking of seafood. If you keep the carcasses in boiling water longer than necessary, instead of tender and soft meat, you will get tough and tasteless meat. How many minutes to cook squid? It all depends on the form in which you are going to prepare the product.

Peeled

Delicious seafood is prepared very easily and quickly. How to cook peeled squid:

fill the pan with water, wait until it boils;
add salt and seasonings to the water;
Place thawed and peeled shellfish in boiling water for 2 minutes (the meat should turn white), then drain the water;
if you have overcooked the product, leave the pan on the fire for another 30 minutes - during this time the fillet will become soft again;
After boiling the carcasses, cut them into rings and serve with beer.

Unrefined

How to cook squid with film? There is no big difference in the method of cooking unpeeled and “naked” carcasses - the difference lies in the time required for cooking. How to boil squid in skin:

defrost the carcasses;
place a pan of water on the stove;
when the liquid begins to boil, add bay leaf, salt, allspice;
lower the carcasses into the pan, turn off the heat and cover the container with a lid so that the steam does not leave it;
after 10 minutes, remove the seafood from the water.

How to cook squid, frozen in rings

It is more convenient to cook a whole clam than rings, since it will be difficult to quickly remove all the pieces from boiling water. In addition, rings are easier to digest than large carcasses. However, if you have already purchased sliced goods, there are several ways to cook squid rings:

First option. Boil water, adding spices to taste. This can be bay leaf, white/black pepper, herbs, etc. Using a slotted spoon, place a couple of rings in boiling water, counting to 10, and remove them. So boil all the pieces one by one. Serve the cooked dish chilled.
Second option. Pour all the rings into boiling water, wait a minute and remove the container from the heat. The pieces can be removed from the water after 3 minutes. You shouldn’t keep them in liquid for longer, otherwise they will become “rubbery.”
Third method. Boil half a liter of water and season it with spices. Place the defrosted rings inside, close the dish and immediately remove from the stove. Do not open the lid for 5 minutes, after which the dish will be ready to eat.
Fourth way. Fill the multicooker halfway with water, turn on the “Stew” option. Add seasonings (you can use paprika, any pepper, marjoram, cloves, lemon juice, etc.). After the liquid boils, place the rings in the bowl and leave to cook for 1-2 minutes. You can tell when they are ready by their white color - then the pieces can be removed.

Video recipes: how to cook squid for salad

A tasty and healthy delicacy, rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and microelements, was served back in Ancient Greece, calling this mollusk winged fish. Low calorie content (86 calories per 100 g), high nutritional value and the ability to have a beneficial effect on the body have turned squid into a popular dish for those who want to lose weight and get healthier. How to cook squid deliciously so that it decorates the holiday table? There are many ways and recipes for preparing this seafood, but they are all based on some general points that every housewife should know about. Many people are sure that cooking is very difficult, but this is an erroneous opinion, which you will have to debunk in practice.

How to quickly clean squid?

Unpeeled squid is considered to be of higher quality, since after factory cleaning the shellfish are cooked and become tough. Residents of the Mediterranean know how to properly clean squid, frozen or fresh: first defrost it at room temperature or in the refrigerator, then pour boiling water over it for one minute (during this time the skin will curl), drain the boiling water and place the squid in cold water. After this, you can easily remove the curled skin, remove the chord and entrails - and the squid can be cooked. This is the best way to ensure that the squid is soft, tender and juicy.

How to properly cook peeled and unpeeled squid

Add salt, peppercorns and bay leaves to the water, wait until the water boils, lower the squid carcass into it and take it out after 10 seconds. As soon as the water boils again, do the same with the second carcass, the third and all subsequent squids. To understand how to properly cook squid fillet, you just need to try this method, and then you will understand why all previous methods were unsuccessful. It turns out that long heat treatment (for 3-5 minutes) deprives them of taste and nutritional properties and turns them into rubber that is impossible to chew.

There is another way to properly cook frozen squid (it should, of course, be defrosted first) - you need to boil water with salt and spices, put the shellfish in there and immediately remove from the heat. You need to infuse this delicacy for 10 minutes.

And now we will tell you how to properly boil frozen squid without defrosting: you just need to put them in boiling water for one minute, turn off the heat, and then keep them in the water for another 3-4 minutes.

How to properly fry squid

Before frying, squid should be boiled using one of the above methods, cut into rings or strips, dipped in lezon (beaten eggs with sour cream, salt and spices), rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in vegetable or butter for no more than five minutes.

Some novice cooks are interested in how to properly cook squid fried in batter. This very simple dish is made in exactly the same way - boiled and chopped shellfish are lightly marinated, dipped in batter and fried in a lot of oil.

Very tasty squids are obtained in the oven or on the grill, but they must first be marinated for several hours in lemon juice with garlic, pepper and paprika. Then the squid should be placed on a wire rack and baked, pouring over the remaining marinade.

How to properly stuff squid

First, the squids are washed, doused with boiling water, then each carcass is cleaned and lightly beaten. Next, you need to fill the carcass two-thirds with stuffing, which includes mushrooms with eggs, vegetables with rice, shrimp with cheese, green beans and onions, apples and cottage cheese. The edges of the carcasses are fastened with skewers, after which the squids are stewed in the oven with a small amount of water, and five minutes before they are ready, they are sprinkled with cheese and put back in the oven until golden brown. The finished dish is topped with nut, tomato, cream, sour cream, wine, soy or onion sauce.

In many squid recipes you can find unexpected combinations - squid with minced meat, with bread and sprat, with crab sticks and corn, with nuts and dried fruits.

Each national cuisine has its own secrets for preparing squid, but there is one main rule. You should not overload squid with spices and herbs, as they intensively absorb the aroma of surrounding products, and the dish may turn out to be too rich. How to properly cook squid is just the beginning. It is important to choose a suitable side dish (rice, vegetables, pasta) and serve the dish correctly, garnishing it with fresh vegetables, lemon, herbs and olives. In Southeast Asia, squids are eaten raw, sprinkled with spicy sauces, but such extreme food is not for those who like to cook and enjoy delicious food!

Squid meat is very nutritious and healthy. Many different dishes are prepared from it, but most often salads. To prevent squid meat from being “rubbery”, it must be boiled correctly.

Useful properties of squid

Squid meat has a delicate taste, it contains a lot of protein and polyunsaturated fats that are valuable for the body. Squid meat contains B vitamins and contains a lot of potassium, which is necessary for normal heart function. In addition, these inhabitants of the seas are rich in phosphorus, iodine and iron, so their meat is recommended to be included in the menu for all adherents of a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet.

Squid meat contains taurine, which takes part in fat metabolism, helps reduce cholesterol in human blood, and regulates blood pressure. Vitamin E, as well as selenium, protect the body from aging and help older people maintain good memory longer.

In terms of price, squid is cheaper than many other seafood, which makes it accessible to almost everyone.

How to choose fresh squid?

Squid meat is usually sold in the form of frozen carcasses. Sometimes along with tentacles. Like any frozen product, squid meat should not be defrosted during storage and then cooled again. Improper storage spoils its taste, it develops a bitter taste and the unpleasant smell of old fish. During cooking, such a product spreads under your hands and foams during cooking.

The squid carcass should be dense. The color of its upper peel is pinkish-brown or grayish-violet. The squid meat is white inside.

Important! When choosing squid in the store, it is better not to take cleaned carcasses. At first glance, it seems that peeled ones are more convenient, you don’t need to peel the skin off them, and you can cook them faster. But the squid skin is the most important sign by which you can determine its freshness! If the skin is yellow or white-gray, if it is noticeable that the meat is not white inside, but has some kind of tint, the squid is most likely not fresh.

How to clean squid?

You can clean squid very quickly if you pour boiling water over the carcasses or dip them (literally for a second) in boiling water. Almost all of the film covering the carcass is immediately rolled up, and the remains are removed by hand under running cold water. You also need to remove the chitinous plates inside and peel the wings.

How to cook squid?

How long to cook squid? The main thing to remember is to cook the squid meat for no more than 2 minutes! If you keep it on the fire longer, it becomes “rubbery.” Squid meat is considered ready after its carcass has completely turned white in boiling water.

The second important point is to cook in small portions, take one or two squid carcasses at a time, put them in boiling water, take them out, then the next portion.

You can use different spices when cooking squid: black and white pepper, cloves, dill (fresh and dried), basil, parsley. The determining factor is the taste and what dish the squid is cooked for.

Method 1. Boil water with salt and spices in a saucepan over high heat. Throw 1-2 squid carcasses into very boiling water and hold for no more than two minutes. During this time, the water usually has time to resume boiling. Remove the carcasses with a slotted spoon.

Method 2. Pour one and a half to two liters of water into the pan, add salt and spices. Place 1-2 thawed and prepared squid carcasses into boiling water. Cover the pan with a lid and remove from heat. In about 10 minutes the meat will be ready. The water will cool gradually and the squid will not be tough. The method is convenient for a small amount of meat.

Method 3. When there is a lot of squid meat, this method is quite good. Pour enough water into the pan so that all the meat fits, add salt and spices. Place the prepared squid into boiling water over high heat. Wait until the water boils again, cover the pan with a lid and remove from heat. In about 5 minutes the meat will be ready and the water can be drained.

If trouble does happen and the squid is overcooked, then not everything is hopeless. There is one trick to make them soft again: to do this you need to cook them for a long time, about an hour (no less than half an hour). True, after boiling this way, the meat will become much smaller and it will lose its nutritional value.

What to cook with squid meat?

Most often, their squid meat is used in salads, although you can also use it as an independent dish, lightly sprinkling it with lemon juice. Stuffed squid carcasses can be prepared with any filling; in addition, you can prepare everything that can be made from regular meat: meatballs, fillings for pies, etc.