How to cook squid for salad: step-by-step instructions and secrets
Squid is a delicious seafood that is rich in protein and contains twice the daily allowance of iodine, but if cooked improperly, it turns into a rubbery mass. The secret of success lies in the exact observance of the heat treatment time: literally one extra minute can spoil the dish. All the details are in the Izvestia article.
How to choose squid in the store
The quality of the finished dish directly depends on the correct choice of seafood at the purchase stage. The stores offer frozen and chilled squid, peeled and unpeeled carcasses. Experts recommend buying frozen shellfish, as chilled ones may turn out to be stale when transported to regions far from fishing sites.
When choosing a package, you need to pay attention to several key parameters. Carcasses should be packed separately from each other and easily separated, only a light coating of frost is allowed, but not a thick ice crust. Excess ice indicates repeated freezing of the product, which negatively affects the taste and texture of the meat. High-quality squid has a creamy or slightly pinkish tint with a purple tint, the meat should be translucent, the color of an eggshell.
Chefs advise choosing unpeeled squid, as the peeled carcasses have been subjected to at least one defrosting and re-freezing. In addition, chemical cleaning, which is used by some manufacturers instead of mechanical, leads to the fact that meat absorbs harmful compounds and acquires an unnaturally white color. It is better to choose small carcasses — they have a more delicate texture and rich taste. There should be no damage or tearing of the skin on the package, which indicates a violation of storage conditions.
Preparation of squid before cooking
Frozen carcasses must be properly thawed before cooking. Professionals recommend gradual defrosting: first transfer the squid from the freezer to the refrigerator, then bring it to room temperature. A quick way to defrost is to pour boiling water from a kettle over the carcasses for 20 seconds, after which the seafood will completely soften.
There are two ways to clean the squid from the film: hot and cold. With the hot method, the thawed carcasses must be put in a container, pour boiling water so that the water completely covers the seafood, and set for one minute. During this time, the film is slightly boiled and curled, after which the carcasses are thrown into a colander, doused with cold water and cleaned from the film manually or with a small knife. The cold method is considered simpler: the partially thawed carcass is hooked with a knife from below and the skin is removed upward towards the fins.
It is important to remove not only the skin, but also the transparent film under it, both outside and inside the carcass. It is this film that contracts when heated and makes the meat tough. It is necessary to remove the insides and the chord — a long transparent rod located along the entire length of the body of the mollusk. After cleaning, the carcass is thoroughly rinsed under running cold water.
How long to cook squid in time
The exact cooking time is the main secret of making tender squid for salad. Professional chefs say that fresh carcasses should be cooked for 40 to 50 seconds, and frozen ones for about 60-90 seconds, depending on the size. Some cooks allow a cooking time of up to two minutes, but even a slight excess of this interval leads to the fact that the meat becomes tough.
There are several proven ways to cook squid. The first method involves lowering the cleaned carcasses into boiling salted water for 2 minutes, after which the product is immediately removed. The second method is that the squid is put in a saucepan with cold water, brought to a boil and immediately removed from the heat. The third option is the blanching method, when the carcasses are dipped in boiling water for 50-60 seconds and then cooled, this method is ideal for salads.
To improve the taste, it is recommended to cook squid not in plain water, but in a flavored broth with bay leaf, a few peas of allspice, salt and a small amount of lemon juice. It is important not to leave the stove and monitor the process, because just a few extra seconds can ruin the texture of seafood. Ready—made squid should turn white and curl slightly - this is a signal that it's time to get them out of the water.
Why do squids get tough
Squid turn into a rubbery mass due to the peculiarities of their chemical composition and improper heat treatment. Shellfish meat consists almost entirely of protein, and protein molecules fold already at a temperature of 60-65 degrees. When heated for a long time, the protein loses moisture, the fibers shrink and the meat becomes tough and tasteless. All seafood with a high protein content — squid, shrimp, octopus, cuttlefish — are subject to a single rule: the less heat treatment, the more tender the result is.
The critical time interval when the squid becomes as tough as possible is from 3 to 20-25 minutes of cooking. Cooking seafood in this time range is strongly discouraged. If the squid is still overcooked and turned into rubber, there is a way to remedy the situation: you need to continue cooking for another 30-45 minutes at a very low boil. During this time, the protein molecules will "unwind" back, the collagen in the flesh will break down and the squid will become soft again.
However, the method of long-term cooking has a significant disadvantage: seafood loses a lot in volume and weight, becomes fibrous and loses its delicate taste. Overcooked squid is best used to make stews, goulashes, or soups by stewing them in sauce, broth, or water over low heat for 40 minutes to an hour. For salads, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the initial rule: cook for no more than 2 minutes or more than 30 minutes, avoiding the "rubber zone" between these intervals.
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