9 months ago

Seafood is insanely popular. For the preparation of gourmet snacks or holiday salads, culinary specialists often use squid. Of course, if you live far from the ocean coast, finding fresh molluscs is not an easy task. But frozen they can be bought at any supermarket. Today we are discussing how much to cook squid for salad.

Unremarkable clams with tentacles and slippery bodies are loved by gourmets from all over the world for their amazing taste, high nutritional value and low calorie content.

Not all hostesses know how many minutes to cook squid for salad. Their cooking time is 1.5-2 minutes.... Now let's take a closer look at some of the features.

Advice! Do not cook squid meat for a long time. Otherwise, it will lose not only its natural taste, but will also resemble rubber in consistency.

So how much to cook a squid carcass for a salad if it is not peeled and fresh? You must first prepare the shellfish for heat treatment. After thorough rinsing under running water, the squid are placed in boiling water for a few seconds.

After that, the film is easily removed. You also need to remove the inside of the plates, which in appearance resemble plastic. Put squid carcasses in boiling water for exactly 2 minutes... After cooling, they are crushed and added to the salad.

And how much to cook defrosted peeled squid for salad? In this case the duration of their heat treatment is also 2 minutes... And here squid rings are cooked a little faster - in 1.5 minutes.

Some cooks have questions about defrosting shellfish. This is best done naturally. Leave the squid in the refrigerator to thaw. If you want to speed up this process, then you can immerse the squid carcasses in water at room temperature or leave at the same temperature threshold without adding liquid.

On a note! Do not use a microwave oven or hot water to defrost seafood. This will hopelessly ruin the amazing taste of squid meat.

Squid is a very valuable, healthy, tasty and quite affordable seafood compared to others, which is used to add to a variety of dishes: for a salad, a main side dish, or just as a snack. But, in order to cook the right dish with this seafood, you need to know how to properly heat the squid for making a salad. video

Opinions about cooking this seafood are very different. Some cooks say that it should only be cooked for no more than a minute, others insist that this product should be thermally processed for at least 10, or even 30 minutes, and a third do not accept cooking at all. But, in fact, at home, the squid must necessarily succumb to the correct heat treatment so that it is soft and, importantly, tasty.

Cook the peeled squid

Professional chefs have found many ways to cook this seafood. The amount of time and the choice of heat treatment method will depend on the following factors:

• Squid size.
• Peeled or not.
• The softness of the product after cooking.

Before cooking unpeeled squid, it must be thawed and poured over with boiling water to make it easier for you to remove the film. Also, be sure to remove all entrails, bones and other inedible parts.

The size of a squid is directly related to its species. There are 2 types of it - thin and thick. The fact is that the first type of seafood is more common and you can actually cook it for 1-2 minutes. But the second type needs to be thermally processed longer, because the thick walls of the meaty part may not be cooked to the end in a few minutes. Cooking thick squid will take at least 10 minutes or at most one hour.

Thin salad squids can be cooked using the following methods:

• In boiling salted water with peppercorns and bay leaves, dip a small peeled carcass, quickly count to ten and remove the product with a slotted spoon. The average cooking time for squid in this way is about 10 seconds.
• After removing the finished product, do the same operation with the remaining carcasses. It is important that the squid is dipped in boiling water.

It is worth mentioning that using this method, the smallest seafood should be thermally processed.

This method has its advantages and, naturally, disadvantages, namely:

Thick squids for salad making can be cooked in this way:

• Add salt and other seasonings to boiling water to improve taste (bay leaves, peppercorns).
• We lower the carcasses of seafood into this boiling water and mark the time - it should take exactly 3 minutes.
• We remove the boiled product, cool and cut.

This method is good because in 3 minutes the product has time to boil and all vitamins, substances and minerals that are more characteristic of it are preserved in it. It is also worth noting that squid is best cooked in small portions - 1-2 medium carcasses. If you bought a large product, then cook it one at a time.

Cooking unpeeled squid

You can also boil unpeeled seafood. By the way, it is easier to choose an unpeeled squid, because it is the film on it that will tell you about the freshness. Gray-white and yellowish skin on the product will tell about its staleness. If through the skin you can see the color of the pulp inside, then it will certainly also help in choosing fresh seafood - the meat must be white. Any other shade of it will indicate long-term storage of squid. A well-chosen fresh sea dweller is half the battle, as its freshness will allow you to get a deliciously cooked product.

During cooking, the film retains more nutrients and vitamins and after the end of the heat treatment it lags behind the squid better. Some cooks and culinary specialists are categorically against cooking seafood in film, but this way it will be more useful.

By boiling unpeeled seafood, you yourself can follow the process of its readiness - if the skin in the squid turns white, it means that it has been cooked and can be removed from boiling water. You can determine the freshness and suitability of the product for consumption in this way - during cooking, monitor its condition. The appearance of foam or disintegration indicates long-term storage and unusability.

Unpeeled squid is best cooked using this method:

• If you bought frozen carcasses, be sure to defrost them. After defrosting, place them on a plate.
• Put seafood in boiling salted and seasoned water and cook for exactly 30 minutes.
• After the completion of the heat treatment process, we take the product out of the water, cool it and carefully clean it from the film.

By the way, in order to quickly boil unpeeled squid without the risk of harming your own body, place it in the freezer and keep it there for a month. Yes, the period is not short, but during such a time all pests and dangerous microorganisms will have time to die.

Technique for cooking squid

In fact, it is possible to thermally treat this sea inhabitant not only in a pot of boiling water, because modern kitchen appliances can cope with such a task for 5+. So, we cook squid using these kitchen gadgets:

Squid can also be cooked in a pressure cooker and other kitchen appliances.

After processing squid in any way, it is better to eat them right away, because after a long time, they can become tough. Even after 20 minutes, the product may simply dry out. If purple spots remain on the edges of the food, trim them off, as they can cause bitterness to the food. To make the product saturated with a richer and more piquant taste, you can lightly fry it in a hot pan for several minutes.

Boiled squid meat is often used by housewives for preparing sea salad or fried with various types of side dishes. Well, if you know how much to cook squid and how to do it according to all the rules, the finished product can be used as an independent delicacy.

Before serving, it will be enough to salt it, cut into rings and sprinkle with lemon juice. First, you need to spend a little time choosing a quality product, if necessary, clean the blanks. Then you can start cooking them by choosing one of the many methods.

How to choose quality squid?

Regardless of whether squid is purchased for a salad or a more complex dish, the selection process must be taken seriously. You should at least remember the following points:

1. The component is best purchased unpeeled, with a skin. It is best to use whole chilled or frozen carcasses.
2. You need to make sure that the sea animal meat has been frozen only once. This is indicated by its integrity and aesthetic appearance. If carcasses are broken or stuck together, this indicates re-freezing. Even if you boil such products according to all the rules, they will taste bitter and fall apart during processing.
3. Squid meat can only be white, but any color of the skin is acceptable. If the color of the pulp has changed as a result of heat treatment, it is better to get rid of it.

It is better to refuse the purchase molded in the form of cubes of squid meat. Such blanks are of low quality. After boiling, they taste very bitter and acquire an unpleasant loose texture.

How to properly boil squid for salad?

To figure out how to cook squid properly, you need to pay special attention to two things. The first is the processing time of the component, which will allow the product to be brought to an edible state, but at the same time will not cause protein folding and the transformation of delicate pulp into rubber. The second is the correct use of additional components and a special approach to organizing the process. The delicacy that will be used as a component of the salad must be peeled and processed as follows:

• For 1 kg of fresh component, we take 2 liters of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. In addition, you should take 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a few peas of black pepper and a couple of laurel leaves. These ingredients are taken so that the squid at the exit is not tasteless and bland.

Tip: If you digest the squid, they will shrink in size and take on a rubbery consistency. In order to somehow improve the situation, you need to continue boiling the components. Processing for 20 minutes total time will allow the meat to return to tenderness. True, the size will not be restored.

• We put all additional components in water, which we bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and spread fresh squid whole or chopped into large pieces.
• The workpieces are boiled for no more than 1.5 minutes, and you do not need to wait for them to boil again. If the carcasses are small, 1 minute is enough.
• Now the food must be removed from the water, put in a colander and cooled to room temperature. Some housewives simply remove the pan from the heat, but this is not enough. The workpieces will continue to cook, making them rubbery.

When boiling squid, do not rely on your intuition. It is necessary to clearly mark the time, or even better - set an alarm or start a timer. Just a few seconds of delay can damage the product.

Features of boiling frozen squid

In modern stores, squid is most often sold frozen. To get an ideal component for a salad or main dish from such a product, you need to do the following:

• It will take quite a long time to properly defrost the sea reptile. At least 4-5 hours before cooking, the semi-finished product should be put in the refrigerator, away from the freezer. It is strictly forbidden to try to speed up the process of bringing the product to the desired state by using a microwave oven, hair dryer, container with water.
• There is no need to wait until the carcasses are completely thawed. If they are still thick, it will be easier to clean them. Cleaning is carried out in the direction from the tentacles to the head of the individual. To do this, it is enough to pick up the skin and pull. After that, films, chitinous plates, and viscera are removed.
• Cut the resulting mass into rings, small pieces or strips. During operation, the meat should completely defrost. We boil it in the same way as a fresh product.
• If, during the cooking process, dense lumps appear on the surface of the meat, this indicates poor cleaning. The situation can be corrected only by cutting off problem areas, so the preliminary stage must be carried out carefully.

If boiled squids are not planned to be used immediately, then they can be kept in the same broth in which they were boiled. True, first, both the workpieces and the liquid must be cooled to room temperature.

How should you cook squid rings?

If there were no whole carcasses on sale and you had to purchase rings that were subjected to industrial cutting and freezing, you need to use a special approach. It is slightly different in how to cook frozen squid if they are whole.

• Boil water with spices or broth in a saucepan. We lower the frozen rings into the liquid. If you defrost them beforehand, the texture of the product will turn out to be very loose and unappetizing.

Tip: If squids have been stored for some time with fish or other strong-smelling foods, due to which they acquired an unpleasant odor, you do not need to throw away the delicacy. It is enough to boil it in water with the addition of fresh herbs or sprinkle the ready-made component with lemon juice.

• Immediately after this, the pan must be removed from the heat, without waiting for the water to boil. Cover the container with a lid and keep it at room temperature for 10 minutes.

After a specified time, squids intended for salad or other dishes can be taken out with a slotted spoon and used for their intended purpose.

Unusual options for boiling squid

Squids can be cooked not only in the traditional way, using a pot of water for this. There are many of the same simple approaches that allow you to get an equally tasty and slightly unusual product.

• In the microwave in broth. Pour water with spices or ready-made broth into a bowl suitable for use in a microwave oven. Bring the liquid to a boil in 1-2 minutes. We spread pieces or whole carcasses of fresh (thawed) squids, send them for processing. It is enough to hold the workpieces for 1.5 minutes at maximum power, and they will be ready.
• In the microwave in its own juice. Put thawed or fresh pieces of squid in a bowl, pour a teaspoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Stir the mass and send it to the oven. We cook for no more than a minute at maximum power. We insist the product for another 5 minutes in the turned off microwave.
• In a slow cooker. We put pieces of squid in the bowl of the device, fill with water. Add salt, pepper, herbs, spices to taste and close the lid. We set the "Cooking" mode, set the timer to 3 minutes. After turning off the device, wait another 5 minutes before opening the lid. If the squid is initially filled with boiling water, open the lid immediately after the end of processing.
• In a double boiler. We spread pieces of carcass or rings in a steamer tray, salt and pepper. If desired, you can put herbs or spices directly into the tray. We start the device for 10 minutes, if it is not very powerful or it takes a lot of time to generate steam, set the timer for 12 minutes. This method is the most gentle, in this case it is almost impossible to digest the workpieces.

Contrary to popular belief, not only the carcass is edible in squid. In general, only the head, cartilaginous part (gladius) and intestines are subject to removal. Fins can be eaten, they are denser and fleshy than the carcass itself. The tentacles that throw away almost everything are the source of the most tender meat. They only need to be thoroughly cleaned and can be used in the same way as the rest of the parts. The main thing is not to forget to remove the suction cups.

Squid is a delicacy product for special occasions: it is not served daily. The less the housewives have culinary experience with shellfish. Some do not know how to clean, others argue that after boiling the protein becomes just rubbery. How to cook squid correctly so as not to spoil it? How do you handle them?

Squid pulp is very useful, first of all, for our heart, as it contains a large amount of potassium. In addition, it is rich in magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins. There are practically no carbohydrates in this meat, and only 3% fat. Everything else is valuable protein that is easy to digest. Therefore, the main task when cooking shellfish is to preserve their usefulness and nutritional value, as well as to do everything to make the carcasses soft and tender.

Most housewives know that prolonged heat treatment can destroy many valuable substances from protein. But not everyone knows that it is the reason for the very "rubberized" squid. We are accustomed to the fact that animal proteins in one form or another must be cooked for a very long time. Therefore, "by default" we refer this rule to mollusks, which are in fact an exception.

It is generally customary for the Japanese to eat squid almost raw, they are only slightly doused with boiling water. But eating half-baked meat is alien to our traditions, so you still need to boil the carcasses, although much less than usual.

Before cooking

Carcasses are usually sold frozen, in a semi-cut condition. Therefore, before cooking, they must be defrosted and then cleaned. Carcasses should be thawed under natural conditions, without forcing events. That is, they are either placed on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator, or left in the kitchen at room temperature. No "accelerating" immersion in hot or cold water, no defrosting with a microwave: all this will significantly impair the taste and tenderness of the shellfish.

From above, they are covered with a thin film-skin, from which they must be removed, otherwise it will give the finished dish an unpleasant bitter-sour aftertaste. In addition, inside the squid has a "spine" - a chord resembling a plastic "braid", which is also removed.

How to do it? You can remove the film in the same way as peeling off, for example, tomatoes: put in a bowl, pour over with boiling water, and then immediately dip it into a bowl with as cold water as possible. From a sharp temperature drop, the skin will immediately flake off. All that remains is to pick it up and pull it off like a stocking. You need to feel the chord with your fingers and just pull.

This completes the preliminary stage - you can proceed directly to cooking. But this is in case frozen carcasses were bought already without heads and tentacles. If the carcass was bought uncut, you will also have to remove the head, entrails, and tentacles. To do this, you need to grab the head in the place where it connects to the body (behind the eyes) and pull.

Whether to add any spices to the squid cooking water is a matter of desire. If the squid is boiled for salad, usually only salt is added to taste. If you plan to stuff the shellfish or serve it under some kind of sauce, you can also add:

• Bay leaf;
• peppercorns;
• carrot;
• Dill;
• lemon juice;
• cloves;
• parsley root.

How much to cook kalimara?

Cooking squid correctly means fast. That is, exposure to high temperatures should be minimized.

There are 5 main ways to cook squid:

1. The water is brought to a boil, salted, then the shellfish are immersed in it, and they are boiled for about 40-50 seconds, after which the carcasses must be removed. You can hold them in boiling water a little longer, but no more than 2 minutes, otherwise the squid will acquire that very "rubberiness".
2. The carcasses are not boiled at all, but simply subjected to short-term heat treatment: they are placed in a saucepan (but not put on fire!), Poured with boiling water, covered with a lid and left to sweat for about 3-4 minutes.
3. With this method, shellfish are also not boiled in the literal sense of the word. They are simply doused with boiling water several times: the first - when it is done to remove the film, the second and third - after the skin has already been removed. The duration of the stay of the carcasses in boiling water is a minute each time.
4. The water is brought to a boil, salted, the squid carcasses are immersed in it in a metal sieve for literally 5-10 seconds and immediately removed. When the water boils again, the squid is lowered again for the same time. After that, they are cooled, and then they are prepared according to the chosen recipe.
5. In the same way, the water is boiled, the carcasses are lowered into the pan, covered and the heat is immediately turned off without removing the dishes from the burner. The clams are left in a saucepan for 3-4 minutes, after which they are taken out, allowed to cool and the main course is prepared.

If you are distracted and the clams have been simmering for more than 2 minutes, don't worry: they can still be saved. Reduce heat and simmer for another 40-50 minutes. After that, the protein will become soft again. True, the carcasses themselves will become much smaller, but you will receive as a bonus a fragrant rich broth that can be used to make seafood soup.

Alternative cooking methods

You can cook squid in other ways.

• For example, when time is running out completely, you can boil them by taking them straight from the freezer, without preliminary defrosting. To do this, you need to boil the water, add salt and spices to it to taste, dip the squid in boiling water, detect a minute and turn off the heat. After 10 minutes, you can remove the pot from the stove.
  It should be remembered that with this method, the skin will be removed almost by itself, but you still need to pull out the chord.
• Another option implies that the clams are placed in a saucepan with still cold water and put on medium heat. After the water is heated, it is salted. After boiling, the burner is turned off, and the carcasses are immediately pulled out.
• You can cook squid in the microwave. To do this, they are defrosted, cleaned, placed in a microwave oven, poured in water and cooked at maximum power for about 2 minutes. When cooked without water, they will begin to behave like eggs (explode and "shoot").
• If the household has a double boiler, you can use it. After pouring water into the container and placing the carcasses in the bowl, close the steamer and turn on the timer for 7-8 minutes. During cooking, you do not need to open anything and try. This is done after the timer has turned off.
• A multicooker is also suitable for this purpose. The water in it is first brought to a boil, then the shellfish, salt, spices are put in and the required cooking time is set. This can be either 1 minute (most often), or all 40. It depends on the final purpose of cooking. Some dishes suggest that calamari must be cooked for a very long time (by the way, some peoples have similar recipes for eggs - not the usual 10 minutes, but several hours!).

It follows that a significant role in the question of how much squid is cooked in time is played by the recipe for the dish for which they are boiled. Sometimes you just need to pour boiling water over them to remove the thin top skin (for example, if further pickling is meant).

Finally, one more piece of advice: do not despair if you still overexpose the carcasses for the first time and they will thicken. As you know, experience is the son of difficult mistakes. Not making a mistake, few people managed to understand how to do something right the first time (and even more so to cook). Cooking is very subjective. Here you need to learn to "feel" each product. And this takes time. And you can't do without stuffing cones.

In modern nutrition, the desire for healthy food prevails; accordingly, healthy products are preferred, saturated with vitamins and all kinds of nutrients, but light, not fatty. The cooking technique involves a minimum of processing and fat. This determines the current pace, and the mode of life, employment. At the same time, it is important that the dishes are prepared as quickly as possible and not difficult, however, in terms of taste and aesthetic characteristics, they were, as they say, at their best. These include squid. An amazingly delicate product filled with valuable substances, easy to digest, light, satisfying and quick to prepare. In addition, they lack the characteristic marine aroma. However, ignorance of how to do it right and, most importantly, how much does not allow this seafood to take, say, competent leadership positions in the kitchen, corresponding to its capabilities and characteristics: nutritional, gustatory, dietary and visual. Meanwhile, squid is an almost universal product. It is put in salads, complemented by all kinds of soups, it can be fried in spicy batter or breading, stuffed, made cutlets, risotto, served as a separate side dish or as an independent dish. In this case, the determining factor of tenderness will be the indicator of how much to cook or fry.

Many people believe, and this is a mistake, that you need to cook squids for about five minutes in general, or 2-3 after boiling water. And they are simply amazed when they get an incredibly tough, almost rubbery product, which is really difficult to chew. In the same, how correctly and how much to cook squid there are simple, but obligatory subtleties. Firstly, the seafood should be lowered only in boiling water for two minutes. For accuracy, you can count to ten not quickly and not slowly. Remove immediately. It is also noteworthy that you cannot throw squids in a crowd, in a ball or in a row. Boil one, take out, wait for a boil, lay the next one. Before cooking, water should boil on its own or in a company with herbs, salt, lavrushka, peppercorns for about five minutes. If the moment, as they say, is missed and more than two minutes have passed, it is better to cook the squid carcass, without taking out further for more than half an hour. Then the product will regain the desired tenderness and softness, but significantly decrease. However, when making soups, it is perfectly acceptable. Squids are also fried and stewed for no more than two to three minutes or longer.

How and how much to cook squid determines their choice and preparation for processing. It is clear that the product is of poor quality, at least two, at least ten minutes to cook a squid carcass, there is no difference, it will be tough and definitely tasteless. Squids are usually sold frozen. It is important to ensure that the carcasses are easily separated from one another, they are not an incomprehensible lump that sticks together, which indicates their repeated, one might say, unauthorized defrosting. Such a product, no matter how much to cook the squid, will give bitterness, heterogeneity and rigidity during processing. Squids should be frozen once when harvested. The film shell of squid comes in different tones: gray, pinkish, purple and their transitions. At the same time, the meat is only white, clean, without streaks and shade. If the color is even a bit different from white and is similar to the color of the film, the squid thawed out, which is unacceptable.

Again, the squid must be peeled before cooking, otherwise rigidity is ensured. Cleaning them is much easier than it seems. Almost thawed carcasses just need to be poured or doused with boiling water, then cleaned by removing the film with a stocking, it leaves almost on its own under running cold water. Do not forget to take out the chord - the transparent strip. Everything.