Mediterranean cuisine is famous for its recipes for preparing a variety of shellfish dishes. Seafood is rich in easily digestible proteins, iodine, phosphorus and iron.

Beneficial features

Squids occupy a special place in the list of cephalopods. Their meat is recommended for those who are trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, to eat well and varied. A large supply of potassium, vitamins of group B, valuable fats allows you to maintain stable heart function, maintaining health for many years.

How to cook squid correctly? How to prepare a delicious and healthy dish from these seafood? We will now tell you in detail. Unfortunately, there are practically no freshly chilled seafood in Russian stores, so gourmets have to be content with what they have - frozen semi-finished product. Most often, in the fish departments, you can buy squid carcasses or tentacles, already peeled. However, do not rush to buy. The convenient semi-finished product was exported, most likely, from Asian countries, where it underwent mandatory processing with chemical enzymes. This preparation allows you to keep the products in a marketable condition as long as possible. But this process does not contribute to the preservation of useful, nutritional and taste properties. Therefore, when planning to cook healthy food, you need to know how to cook squid correctly and which ones are best to buy.

How to cook frozen squid? In the same way as fresh, but they must be properly defrosted before cooking. You should not put the shellfish in hot water to speed up the process. This can destroy nutrients and significantly impair the taste of the product. The frozen squid should be placed in the refrigerator. At a temperature of about five degrees, soak the seafood for two hours, avoiding complete thawing. The product that is not completely defrosted is easier to process. Thawed squids should have a slight sea smell of iodine, which confirms their freshness and freezing in compliance with the technology. If the shellfish have no smell at all or, even worse, they smell like old fish, this indicates that the product has been frozen and thawed several times. During the cooking process, such pulp will creep and acquire an unappetizing grayish color. You can eat such seafood, but there will be very little benefit from this food.

How to clean squid properly?

Having thawed the semi-finished product to the desired condition, you should proceed to the next stage - cleaning. If the squid is entirely unprocessed, then the head and tentacles should be lifted from the carcass with a sharp movement. The insides will be separated with them. All that remains is to remove the chitinous plates and remove the thin skin from the carcasses.

When it is possible to acquire decapitated squid, they usually lack tentacles either. The hostess is left with only external processing. If the product was not completely thawed, but retained the light strength of the tissues, then this will greatly facilitate the process of cleaning the carcass from the pinkish-gray film. It is convenient to use a sharp knife with a thin blade for cleaning. Prying the skin in the place of the cut left from the head, you should pull it towards the tail. Usually the thin film is peeled off without much difficulty. In the event that the seafood has completely thawed, it becomes more difficult to cope with cleaning. Then you need to choose a knife with a rounded tip and scrape off the skin with it, being careful not to damage the carcass. The peeled squid pulp has an even white color.

After thorough processing, the carcass should be carefully rinsed under running cold water. If the water temperature is high, it can significantly degrade the taste of the product, making it less juicy.

Cooking time

How to cook squid correctly? This question is often asked by housewives who do not very often prepare seafood dishes. There are some tips on this, but most importantly, you need to know exactly how much to cook the squid in time. The consistency of the finished product and the preservation of nutrients and beneficial properties depend on this. Boiling seafood should take no more than three minutes. Otherwise, the flesh will become tough and hardly edible.

Brewing process

So, how to properly boil squid? Let's tell you now. The prepared carcasses should be dipped in boiling water, pre-salted and flavored with bay leaves and a few peas of black pepper. In order not to be mistaken with the cooking time, you can use the next move. After dipping the squid into boiling water, wait for the water to boil again and start counting to ten. After finishing the countdown, you need to immediately remove the clams with a slotted spoon and allow them to cool. The deep white color of the flesh will be a sign of the readiness of the product.

If the cooking time is sustained, then the meat will turn out to be unusually tender and juicy. Do not cook a lot of squid at once. This significantly lowers the temperature of the water, and the reboiling process takes much longer. It is better to boil semi-finished products in small portions, putting two or three pieces in a saucepan.

What to do if re-boiling was skipped?

If suddenly the main rule of preparation is violated, then you should not fall into despair - the situation can still be saved. Having overdue the moment of the end of cooking, you do not need to remove the product from the pan, let it continue to cook further. For full readiness, it will take at least half an hour. Squid meat will again become juicy and tasty, but the volume of the finished product will significantly decrease. Unfortunately, there will also be less nutrients in it.

Cooking in the marinade

Not everyone knows about the features of how to cook squid for salad. To properly prepare a semi-finished product, it should be boiled in a marinade. To do this, dissolve two tablespoons of table salt and three tablespoons of granulated sugar in cold water. When boiling, pour in two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and add a few black peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves. Thanks to the prepared mixture, squid pulp acquires extraordinary juiciness and piquant taste. Seafood cooked in brine can also be used as an independent dish.

Now, knowing in detail how to cook squid correctly, you can cook a considerable number of various salads and snacks based on them. It is in cold dishes that the taste of seafood is revealed especially brightly and subtly. Below is a description of a simple salad recipe, which can be prepared not only for a family dinner, but also for a festive table.

Delicious final dish

For two servings of the dish, you need to take one hundred grams of boiled squid pulp and cut it thinly across the fibers into strips. Peel two boiled eggs and cut into small cubes. Also chop boiled potatoes, fresh cucumber and green onions. Tear a few green lettuce leaves into small pieces with your hands. Mix all products and add canned or frozen green peas to them. It is recommended to season the salad with mayonnaise or low-fat sour cream. For taste, you can add a little black pepper and salt. Put the finished mixture in a salad bowl and garnish with finely chopped dill.

All seafood is healthy, especially when cooked properly. And this is their cunning - half a step aside, and the dish will come out completely inedible. For example, not every housewife knows how to cook squids so that they are soft, because these inhabitants of the deep sea do not appear on the daily menu too often. And in vain! Knowing the secrets of thermal processing of these seafood will help you prepare incredibly tasty and healthy dishes.

Before boiling squid, you need to buy them and defrost them properly. In the store, you can find already peeled, light-colored and unpeeled carcasses, which are almost half the price.

Since there is no great difficulty in cleaning, it is more profitable to buy unpeeled squid.

Defrosting properly affects the taste of cooked seafood. As for squid, it is better to defrost them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. If you do this at room temperature, carcasses can become chapped and lose their appearance.

Before boiling, the squid is peeled. So that the meat does not lose its beneficial properties, the film from the carcasses is cleaned in cold water. You can do this even faster by simply pouring boiling water on the thawed carcasses. Then the top film will fall off by itself.

Peeled squid carcasses are freed from the remnants of viscera and chitinous chord. And then, dry it with a paper napkin.

What spices to add

During the cooking of seafood, spices are added to the water, as in chicken broth.

The most suitable spices for squid:

• bay leaf;
• peppercorns;
• onion head;
• salt.

This is the simplest set of spices that can be found in the bins of every housewife. You can also add carrots and parsley root to these.

Cooking methods

The most important thing during cooking is to preserve its nutritional value and make it easily digestible for the body. When choosing a method of cooking squid, you need to take into account that their meat is very useful, and prolonged cooking destroys most of the valuable substances. But sometimes it is still recommended due to the peculiarities of the recipe.

Squid contains only 2% fat, there are no carbohydrates at all, but there is a lot of useful protein that is easily absorbed by the human body.

Learning how to properly cook this delicacy is a useful skill that will definitely not be superfluous. Squids are especially good for men. Their meat tones, promotes rejuvenation and increases potency in the stronger sex.

Whole carcasses

A whole squid carcass can be cooked in three ways:

• pouring boiling water several times, but without putting it on fire;
• holding for 40 minutes in boiling water;
• dipping for 1 - 2 minutes in boiling water.

All these methods promise in the end a soft squid meat that melts in your mouth. How much squid to cook depends on the recipe for the dish for which they are needed.

Squid rings

The squid rings are boiled for 1 minute in boiling water or simply poured with boiling water and, covered with a lid, leave so for 10 minutes.

Most often, squid rings are cut from whole carcasses that have already been cooked in the correct way.

Frozen squid

You can try boiling frozen squid without first defrosting it. To do this, boil a pot of water, add a pinch of salt, bay leaf and peppercorns to it. When it boils, they throw the carcasses without defrosting before that.

After 1 minute, turn off the heat under the squid saucepan, cover it with a lid and leave it for 10 minutes.

Squid can be boiled peeled or not peeled. Getting into boiling water, the skin of the mollusk rolls up in flakes and falls off by itself, it does not even need to be peeled off.

Therefore, there is not much difference in how to cook squid - peeled or in the skin - there is no.

But, for example, for a Korean squid recipe, it is better to buy unpeeled carcasses.

Korean marinated squid - a spicy appetizer

Products:

• squids - 10 pcs.;
• apple cider vinegar - 80 ml;
• vegetable oil - 80 ml;
• chili pepper - 1 pc .;
• ground coriander - 10 g;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• sugar - 2 tsp;
• ground black pepper - 12 g;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• sesame seeds - 10 g;
• soy sauce - 80 ml.

Preparation

1. It is necessary to heat 1 liter of water to a boil.
2. Peel the thawed squid carcasses from the film, remove the chitinous plate and the remnants of the viscera. It is convenient to clean the squid film with a paper towel.
3. Put the prepared carcasses in boiling water and cook for no more than 2 minutes after boiling over medium heat.
4. In a saucepan, you need to warm up 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.
5. Peel the chili pepper, cut into small cubes, add to a saucepan along with soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.
6. Peel the cloves of garlic, squeeze through a press and also send to a saucepan. Put there 2 tsp. coriander, black pepper, sugar and salt.
7. Throw boiled squid on a sieve, rinse in cold water and cut the carcasses into rings of 0.5 cm.
8. Pour the cooked spicy marinade over the squid, sprinkle with 2 tsp. sesame seeds and put in 2 jars of 300 ml each. Close with lids.
9. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Squids are soft and tasty. This is the perfect snack for spicy food lovers.

To cook thawed and peeled squid in the microwave, you need to put them in a microwave container, sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and season with spices. Set the microwave to 1000 W and cook for 3 minutes. But after such processing, the squid meat will not be perfectly soft.

In a slow cooker, you can cook soft squid in two ways: boil in boiling water for 1 minute or 40 minutes.

For cooking you need:

1. Pour water into the multicooker, turn on the "Cooking" mode.
2. When the water boils, put the squid carcasses.
3. Set the set time, add spices, salt and cook until tender.

For squid with a creamy sauce, carcasses are cooked in a special way, so a multicooker is even more suitable for this purpose than a saucepan. The cooking time of the squid in the recipe is 40 minutes, after which they will become soft, but will significantly decrease in size.

Usually squid meat is cooked for no more than 2 minutes, but if you forget about them and leave them on the stove a little longer, the cooking process can be continued, increasing the time to 40-50 minutes.

Only after this time will the shellfish meat become soft again. Besides meat, you will have a fragrant broth.

Saute squid with creamy sauce

Products:

• squids - 5 pcs.;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• butter - 50 g;
• flour - 50 g;
• milk - 100 ml;
• dutch cheese - 100 g;
• water - 500 ml;
• bay leaf - 4 pcs.;
• black peppercorns - 7 pcs.;
• salt - 5 g.

Preparation:

1. Thawed squid, peeled from film and remnants of entrails, must be cut into 0.5 cm strips.
2. Peel and cut a medium onion into half rings.
3. Put onion and squid in a saucepan, pour 2 glasses of hot water. Put black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and add 0.5 tsp. salt.
4. Bring the squid to a boil and reduce heat. Cook for 40 minutes.
5. Throw the seafood on a sieve, drain the broth into a saucepan.
6. To prepare the béchamel sauce, put butter in a saucepan, add flour to it and fry in a saucepan for 2 or 3 minutes so that the specific flour smell disappears.
7. Pour 100 ml of the broth in which the squid was cooked to the flour and butter, add 100 ml of milk and mix with a whisk. The sauce should turn out to be viscous, without lumps.
8. Add the sauce to the boiled squid and stir.
9. Fill four small baking tins with squid in a fragrant filling. Sprinkle them with grated hard cheese on top, so that after baking, you get a golden crust.
10. Turn on the oven at 200 degrees and bake the seafood for 5 minutes.

Saute of squid with a crispy cheese crust is ready! This wonderful, delicate dish can be eaten hot or cold and tastes great.

How to cook squid depends on the requirements of the recipe. In semi-raw seafood, which is simply poured with boiling water for 10 minutes, more nutrients are retained. But if you cook the squid for more than half an hour, they will also turn out soft and tasty.

It contains a large amount of protein and vitamins, and its taste with a hint of sophistication leaves few people indifferent.

But in order to feel the unique taste of the delicacy, it must be cooked correctly, because there is a risk of digesting squids, which is why they acquire an unpleasant "rubbery" taste. Let's figure out together how to cook squid correctly.

Cooking squid for salad

Salads are the most common dish where you can find him. But before you cook squid for salad, you must peel them. This is done quickly and easily. It is enough to pour boiling water over the clam for a couple of seconds (but no more!).

You will see how the film covering his body will curl up, and then it can be easily removed. Then you need to rinse the cleaned carcass under running cold water, and then start cooking.

It must be remembered that boiling on the stove should be only two minutes so that they are soft. If you cook them for longer than the specified time, the clam will taste "rubbery" and, accordingly, tasteless. It can be determined that it is completely cooked by its color: it should turn white.

If you cook several carcasses at a time, then you should not throw them all in the pan. Put one at a time in boiling water, remove after cooking and only then cook the next one.

Can spices be added during cooking? Of course. Pepper, dill, basil, cloves - whatever your heart desires. Only the main thing is not to overdo it.

There is a second way to boil squid for salad. It involves the following actions:

1. Take frozen unpeeled cephalopods, peel them as above, and rinse.
2. Boil water in a saucepan (or pour boiling water from a kettle).
3. Dip peeled carcasses into a pot of water.
4. Cover the pan with a lid and wait 10 minutes. Done!

It is worth noting here that this method can be used when you need to cook a few carcasses. If there are many of them, then it is better to use the first method.

You can cook them using kitchen appliances. Any housewife should know how to cook squid for salad in the microwave.

By analogy with the first method described above, we take the previously thawed peeled and washed fillet, put it in a special thermal dish, tightly close the lid and put it in the microwave for exactly two minutes.

And how to cook squid for salad in a slow cooker? Almost the same. Pour water into the multicooker bowl so that it covers all the meat, and set the "Cooking" mode for two minutes. The time for cooking, as you noticed, is the same everywhere - it is quite enough for the delicacy to be completely cooked.

Separately, it should be noted that before cooking, you need to make sure that the product is completely defrosted, otherwise they will be undercooked. At the same time, you need to defrost them either in a natural way - just leave them in a warm room, or with cold water.

Never defrost the delicacy with hot water - it will simply darken.

It would seem that it is very simple - to cook. However, there are a few nuances here that will prove to be useful tips.

1. As a rule, small sizes are tastier than large ones.
2. Before cooking, add more salt to the pan - the clam will taste much better.
3. Lemon juice will give a special taste and juiciness.
4. You already know how much you need to cook the squid, but if it suddenly turns out that they turn out to be overcooked, do not worry - leave them on the stove for another half hour. True, they will decrease slightly in size, but at least you won't have to throw it away.
5. If you are preparing soup, for example, then add them to the dish last, when it is ready.
6. You should not mix squid and products that have a pungent smell - this will overpower the delicate taste of the delicacy. There should be more shellfish in the dish than the rest of the ingredients.

How to choose a squid

It is very important in this article to talk about how to choose squids for a salad, because the quality of the product and its taste, and, therefore, the success of the dish itself, depend on the correctness of this choice.

The stores are presented in three types:

• carcasses;
• fillet;
• rings.

Most often, housewives purchase carcasses - they are almost ready for use, and you don't have to tinker with them for a long time.

Rings and fillets are also a very convenient option, you don't even need to cut them here, only both rings and fillets are chemically treated during the production process, so it is best to buy ordinary carcasses, you can frozen, unpeeled.

Squid on the market must be frozen or chilled as they are perishable.

So, in order to choose the right one, you need to follow simple and uncomplicated rules.

1. Buy only frozen, unpeeled cephalopods. Choose carcasses that are small in size, without visible damage.
2. Pay attention to how it is packed. The packaging must be tight, intact, without cuts or damage. If they are sold without packaging and you notice that they are stuck together and there is too much ice on them, then they have been repeatedly frozen and thawed, which is considered fatal. It is better not to purchase such a product - during cooking it can simply fall apart, and its taste in such cases leaves much to be desired.

Products should be easily separated from each other - this means that they have not been subjected to repeated and prolonged freezing.

1. It is also worth paying attention to the color. Fresh, properly frozen, usually a gray-purple or pink-brown hue. The pulp inside must certainly be white or creamy. If the flesh is gray, then, most likely, it is an old cephalopod, and the meat of old squids is tough and tasteless. It is also possible that the product was not properly stored. A yellow carcass is a sign that there is a delay.
2. The consistency should be firm, firm and uniform. A viscous and thin consistency, as a rule, indicates the expiration of the product.
3. It is important to sniff the squid before buying. Fresh, properly frozen and stored smells like a subtle, subtle fish scent. An unpleasant smell suggests that it is old or has deteriorated long ago.
4. There should be no damage to the product. This is very important, because such a carcass can simply "burst" during cooking.

In conclusion, we note that in order to choose and cook correctly, you need to be careful and have useful knowledge. As you can see, there is nothing complicated about it. This shellfish is delicious, tender and healthy.

When choosing a product, pay attention not to color, shape, density, conditions of freezing and storage. You need to cook for no more than two minutes.

Let's talk about squid. This is a wonderful delicious delicacy. It is rich in vitamins and proteins, minerals, trace elements. In addition, it is low in calories but also highly nutritious, which has made it popular with dieters. However, not all dishes with this ingredient are tasty. Why? But because not everyone knows how to cook them. and cook them - we will discuss them in detail below), so to speak, are very demanding in terms of processing, and not every housewife, especially a beginner, will cope with the task, having conceived to treat the family with a tasty and healthy dish. However, this is not a reason to deny yourself the pleasure. We will share with you the main secrets.

Oh, this squid ...

Many people know how to clean and boil these representatives of the marine fauna. In theory ... But as soon as it comes to practice, problems begin. The culinary gurus naturally have their own secrets. We are not one of those, but, as they say, we will help in any way we can.

It is believed that these clams are difficult to cook, but this is not the case. We want to debunk this myth. There is nothing complicated in technology, you just need to own certain information. Basically, it all boils down to one question: "How to cook and clean properly?" Squids are very moody. If you overexpose seafood in hot water, it will become rubbery, and the dish itself will be tasteless. And when cooked properly, they are delicious and nutritious.

So let's start by figuring out: are squid peeled or boiled first? What is the right thing to do? In general, unrefined ones are considered more useful and of higher quality. After all, in factories they are subjected to heat treatment, because of which they become more rigid. However, the inhabitants of the Mediterranean countries know a lot about their preparation. So, they advise you to do this: first, defrost the seafood to room temperature, and then dip it in boiling water for a couple of minutes (the skin should curl up), drain the unnecessary liquid and send the carcass now into cold water. Believe me, after these manipulations, the curled skin can be very easily removed. Then the insides are removed. And now our squid is almost ready. The hardest part has already been done. This method, in our opinion, is the best, it allows you to preserve the softness, juiciness and tenderness of the product.

Time matters

We have already figured out how to peel squid. How much remains to be seen. And this is how it is done. Put pepper in a pot, salt and, of course, bay leaves in the water. Next, you need to wait until the liquid boils, then you need to lower the carcass into it for literally ten seconds and quickly remove it. In this way, you need to do with each piece.

Hard? Not at all. However, this is not all. It would seem, what else should the hostess do to prepare these seafood, besides peeling and boiling? Squids, especially properly cooked, are a delicious delicacy. But in order to feed the relatives exactly this, and not "rubber", it is advisable to practice. It takes skill. Try to cook the clam at least a couple of times in the same way as we described above. And it is not necessary to spoil the whole carcass, it is enough to cut off a couple of pieces. And remember: prolonged heat treatment (over 3 minutes) is contraindicated! It completely deprives seafood of any taste, and there is no need to talk about nutritious ones. Tender meat turns into a piece of sole that cannot be chewed.

Here he is so capricious - a squid. How to clean and boil these cephalopods, in fact, is already clear. But, as they say, there is no limit to perfection, which means that we will continue to get acquainted with the tricks of culinary art. So...

Another cooking method

There are actually many ways to cook squid. However, let's be honest, they're not all good. We want to offer you another option worthy of your attention. We need to bring the water to a boil with spices and salt, and then put our clams there. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. And let them stand in boiling water for about ten minutes.

Speaking about what a wonderful product squid is, how to clean and cook it correctly, it is impossible not to mention one more method of its preparation - without the defrosting process. To do this, you just need to dip the carcass in boiling water for literally one minute, then turn off the heat and hold it for another two or three minutes in water.

We not only cook, but also fry

Squid is that versatile product from which you can make a lot of delicious dishes. They are all very varied and not so difficult to prepare. And now you will be convinced of this.

So, you have a squid on your table. We figured out how to clean and cook it, now let's figure out how to fry it properly.

You may be surprised to find that the shellfish should be boiled before frying. To do this, use one of the above methods. Next, cut them into rings or into strips. Dip each piece in a beaten egg sauce with salt, sour cream and spices, roll in croutons and fry in vegetable, or better yet, butter, but no more than five minutes.

Squids baked in the oven or on a wire rack are wonderful. But for this cooking option, they must first be marinated for several hours. Lemon juice, garlic, pepper and paprika can be used as a marinade. Then the mollusks are placed on a wire rack and baked, pouring over the rest of the liquid.

As a rule, inexperienced cooks are interested in how to clean squid correctly: before or after cooking? Of course, before, just pre-pouring boiling water over them. Knowing this simple secret, you can easily cope with the preparation of any shellfish dish.

Stuffed squid

First, the squid is peeled, and then each carcass is beaten off. Then half you need to fill the carcass with minced meat. As a filling, you can take eggs with mushrooms, rice with vegetables, cheese and shrimps, apples and cottage cheese. The edges of the squid can be sealed with toothpicks, and then simmered in the oven in a small amount of liquid. A couple of minutes before they are cooked, you can sprinkle them with cheese and send them back to the oven to form a tanned crust. In the finished form, the dish can be poured with wine, cream, sour cream, nut or tomato sauce.

Do not be surprised that in many recipes you will find unusual For example, squid with crab sticks and corn, with minced meat, sprat and bread, dried fruits and nuts.

Any national cuisine has a lot of its own secrets of making shellfish. But you should always remember one rule. Do not overload such dishes with spices. The main ingredient has the ability to actively absorb all surrounding odors. Therefore, your culinary masterpiece may turn out to be too intense.

Cooked seafood itself is far from everything; you need to choose the right side dish for it. For example, vegetables, rice, pasta. Then decorate the finished dish with herbs and lemon, olives. Then the dish will turn out to be harmonious and unique in general.

How to choose when buying fresh squid?

To prepare a good dish, you must first of all purchase a sufficiently fresh product. Squid meat is usually sold frozen. Carcasses are sometimes even with tentacles. Any frozen product should not be frozen and thawed several times. Incorrect storage conditions can negate all the taste. Therefore, it is not surprising that an unpleasant fish smell and a bitter taste appear. When cooked, such a mollusk crawls in the hands and foams strongly during cooking. A dish made from such a squid will not turn out tasty, and this is no longer your fault, and it is not a matter of the recipe. Therefore, inspect the product carefully when choosing it in the supermarket.

The shellfish carcass must have a firm consistency. The top film that you will shoot is brownish pink, and the meat itself is white.

Never buy peeled carcasses. It's convenient, of course. But it is the squid film that is the part by which you can definitely determine its freshness. How? It's very simple. Look: if the skin is yellowish in color, and the meat is not white inside, then it is better not to buy such a product. Surely he has been in the window for a long time.

Little trick

Imagine a situation where you nevertheless, purely by accident, overcooked squid, and the meat became tough. Dont be upset. It's not all bad. You should not immediately throw out the product. There is a little trick that will make the carcass softer. For this, the squid needs to be boiled for about an hour. Yes yes exactly! Of course, the mollusk will greatly decrease in size and lose almost all of its beneficial properties, but you will correct the situation. And you will gain your own experience in cooking these inhabitants of the deep sea.

What delicious can you make from squid?

Most often, squid meat is used for making salads, but they can also be served as an independent dish.

Naturally, seafood salads are not prepared in large quantities. This is a delicious and nutritious product with a specific taste, because the main ingredient is the squid itself. He must prevail. The rest of the components should be put much less.

Rice recipe

How to properly cook and peel squid for salad, we have already figured it out. Let's now take a look at a few recipes.

For cooking, take:

1. Rice - 100 g.
2. Eggs - 3 pcs.
3. Squids (better than their fillets) - 250 g.
4. Green peas (canned) - ½ can.
5. Dill greens - one bunch.
6. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
7. Sour cream with mayonnaise.

Boil rice for cooking. We clean and boil the squid in one of the above ways. Then we cut them into rings. Cut boiled eggs and mix with squid and peas. Mix sour cream with mayonnaise for dressing, add salt and pepper, and chopped herbs. Mix all ingredients, seasoning with sauce. So the salad is ready.

Squid with potatoes and onions

Let's take the following set of products:

1. Potatoes - 0.5 kg.
2. Squid (fillet) - 0.4-0.5 kg.
3. Vegetable oil.
4. Bulb onions - 100 g.
5. Green onion.
6. Ground pepper.
7. Table vinegar.

To prepare the salad, boiled squid carcasses must be cut into strips. Boil the potatoes in their skins, cool, and then peel and cut into cubes. Cut the onion into rings. Gently combine all ingredients by adding ground pepper. You can also sprinkle some vinegar. The salad itself is dressed with vegetable oil.

Instead of an afterword

As you can see, seafood recipes are not complicated at all. The main thing is to properly pre-clean and boil the shellfish. And further preparation will not be difficult. Use our advice and you will be pleasantly surprised with the result. Enjoy your meal!

Squids are mollusks, marine inhabitants, which are so loved by the Russian people for their unobtrusive and delicate taste. Various snacks are prepared from them, but most often they are used to prepare boiled salads. How to cook squid so that they are soft, and how much - many ask this for a reason. If you digest this product, it loses its tenderness, it becomes elastic and hard, like rubber. To avoid such problems and not be branded as an inept hostess in front of guests, we suggest that you learn all the secrets of cleaning and cooking squid.

How to peel squid?

If you are planning to prepare some kind of festive salad with the addition of seafood, then, after defrosting the squid carcasses in a natural way, they need to be peeled. On top of these molluscs there is a thin film that must be removed. You need to clean the squid the same way inside. How is this done correctly?

The easiest way is to use the temperature drop so that the film peels off by itself. Put the carcasses in a saucepan, boil water in a kettle. Place a bowl of very cold water next to it. Pour boiling water over the squid and immediately transfer them with a slotted spoon to ice water. As you pull the clams onto a cutting board, you will see that the thin hymen is peeling off. All that remains to be done is to pry it off with your fingers and pull it off the entire surface of the carcasses. The squid has a thin, hard plate inside that needs to be removed. Feel it with your fingers and gently pull it out. That's it, the product can be cooked.

Rubber squid - a relic of the past

Although squid is now common and is sold in almost every store, it has not become as popular as, for example, in Japan. It's all about the prevailing stereotype - as many housewives say, this product is rubber. The misconception about these mollusks was formed due to the fact that in Soviet times our grandmothers boiled them for 7-10 minutes. They passed this technology on to their daughters. However, squid contains a lot of protein, which, like egg, becomes hard with prolonged cooking. The Japanese, who know a lot about seafood, do not boil these shellfish at all. For them, this is a normal and familiar phenomenon. So do you need to cook squid? If so, how?

How and how much to cook squid so that their carcasses are soft?

The secret of making this delicacy is simple - the less you cook it, the more tender the meat. How do the Japanese cook shellfish? They scald the carcasses with boiling water at most, nothing more. They add almost fresh shellfish meat to salads or pickle and eat, and they do it often. Isn't that why they are distinguished by good health, longevity and a sharp mind?

Some housewives are afraid to exactly follow the example of the Japanese, so they still boil a sea product. This can be done in different ways.

1. Peeled carcasses are immersed in boiling salted water for literally 30-40 seconds.
2. After cleaning, the mollusks are poured with freshly boiled water and covered with a lid. Leave them to lie in hot water for 3-4 minutes.
3.Using a sieve, lower the carcasses into salted boiling water for 5 seconds, then take them out, and when the water comes to a boil again, lower them for another 5 seconds.
4. Immerse the clams in boiling water and turn off the fire immediately. After 3 minutes, remove the squid from the pan.

As you can see, in the heat treatment of this product, the word "cook" is not entirely appropriate. Rather, the mollusks are doused with boiling water or insisted in it for a short time, but not boiled. What happens if you cook squid for more than 2 minutes? They gradually lose their taste, become tough, and difficult to chew. Dishes with such shellfish are unlikely to please seafood lovers. The longer you cook the squid, the coarser the protein fibers become. In addition, with prolonged heat treatment, this delicacy loses its useful properties.

What spices to add to water when cooking?

Some hostesses and seafood connoisseurs do not add spices at all when cooking squid. The maximum is salt. Just taste the water by adding salt. If you like the degree of salinity, send the carcasses there. Some people like it when seafood is seasoned. They add peppercorns, bay leaves and lemon juice to boiling water. You can put a little dill, cloves or parsley for the smell.

Why are squids useful??

The meat of these sea creatures is not only tasty. It belongs to dietary products, as it is easily absorbed and promotes the secretion of gastric secretions. It contains a lot of protein and absolutely no fat. Eating these shellfish meat on a regular basis will help replenish the body's iodine supply. It also contains a lot of potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. Squids are loved for their delicate flavor, which is a bit like lobster. The latter are not available to a wide range of consumers, but almost everyone can afford squid.

Conclusion

Now you understand how to cook squid correctly so that they are soft? It's simple - you don't need to cook them at all. Maximum - subject to heat treatment for 10-30 seconds. Don't worry about having to eat raw shellfish meat. Boiling water quickly penetrates the protein and curls it up. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures will turn your product into "rubber" and deprive it of its beneficial properties.