Sotong, Squid or Calamari, whatever you call it, it still tastes the same. I'm not really a fan of squids but those fried calamari with mayo dip is really tasty. However, my family eats squids once in a while and my mum really likes to cook her squids either in Tomato sauce, Tom Yam or Curry. I recently cooked this dish for lunch. But before we get to the recipe let us see how do we actually clean squid. Some of you out there may find it darn tideous especially when your fingers would have that squid-y smell after. If you do just use some lemon juice to wash your hands, not too much because the acid might just dry your skin up.Here are the step-by-step method to clean/prepare squid.
How to Clean or repare Squid/Calamari (adapted from About.com).
Step 1 - Remove Head from Squid Body.
Grasp the squid tail in one hand and the head in the other. Firmly pull apart with a slight twisting motion. The head and innards should easily slip out of the body.
Step 2 - Removing the Squid Ink.
The squid ink sac is located in the innards (internal part of the squid- attached to the head). It looks like a black vein, and it is easily removed with your fingernail.
From my knowledge, Squid Ink is actually edible. They are famous in making some Italian dishes such as in Risottos. However, some wound not really favour the taste.
But in order to get the ink, you can pierce the ink sac and squeeze it into a little water, or other cooking liquid. Be very careful when removing the ink because it can stain. Trust me, I accidentally punctured the eyes one time and it looked like I just murdered the Squid because I had the ink all over my shirt and Apron :oS
Step 3 - Cut the tentacles.
The squid tentacles are completely edible and especially good when flash-fried as in fried calamari or in soups/chowders. Place your knife just behind the eyes of the squid and cut straight down.
Step 4 - Remove beak from tentacles.
The squid beak is a bony piece of inedible cartilage. It is located at the base of the tentacles where they connect to the head of the squid. Once the tentacles are cut from the head, squeeze the connective tissue at top and the beak will easily come out.
Step 5 - Remove tail tube/Cartilage.
The tail tube portion contains a thin, clear sliver of cartilage. This cartilage is also known as the cuttle or cuttlebone, hence its family name of cuttlefish. The cartilage almost looks like a super-thin shard of glass, as you can see in the photo. It is inedible and must be removed. Simply grasp the cartilage with your fingers and pull it from the squid body tube. It should release fairly easily.
Step 6 - Remove Skin Membrane.
The skin membrane is the dark spotty layer on the squid. Remove the skin by separating it from the flesh by rubbing it off with your finger than slowly peeling it off. Once you have the skin removed, thoroughly wash the inside of the squid body tube, using your finger to pull out any residual innards. Note that the skin membrane is edible.
Step 7 - Cutting the squid.
To make Calamari rings, just cut the squid body crosswise. Squids don't need to be cut if you're making stuffed squid recipes. And if you plan to stir fry, you can cut the tentacles into smaller portions. As for the squid body, cut it length wise and cut through the flesh halfway through in a hash pattern.
(For graphics please visit http://homecooking.about.com/od/seafood/ss/cleansquidsbs_3.htm)
Curry Squid
Ingredients:
2 Medium Sized Squids/0.5 Kg of Squid
3 tablespoons of Seafood Curry Powder
1 teaspoon of Chilli Powder
1 teaspoon of Tumeric Powder
2 teaspoons of Soft Brown Sugar
1/4 cup of Tamarind Juice
Half a stick of Cinnamon
2 cloves (Spice)
1 Star Anise (Spice)
2 inches of Ginger
1 Chilli
Half large Onion
1 Clove of Garlic
1 Red Onion
2 teaspoon of Salt
Method:
Marinate the Squid with the curry powder, chilli powder and Tumeric powder. Add a pinch of salt and set it aside for a few hours.
First, with a pastor and mortar, grind the ginger, onions and garlic. Then add a few tablespoons of oil to a cooking pan and sate the grinded ingredients including the spices and chilli (cut into half) on low mediun heat. Stir it for abit until you can smell the aroma of the spices and the grinded ingredients. Now, you can put in your prepared squids (as taught above). Stir it till it turns white and curls up (to this point lower the fire). Lastly, put in the tamarind juice (get the juice by taking half a tablespoon of tamarind mixed with quarter cup of water and seive it). Add some salt and the sugar to taste.
There you go, a simple recipe for squid!
Enjoy and I'll see you in the next post. Stay tune because I have in store for you some very simple but delicious home - oriented recipes which you just can't miss!
