Whole Raw Squid Prep Work aka Smelly Hands for Tender Squid
RAW.
Tender. There are always trade-offs.
Buying fresh squid and prepping it yourself yields tender results. So tender it’s worth doing every time? Mmm, not in my humble opinion. I feel like I can smell the squid-y smell on my hands long after the dirty work’s been done. The frozen seafood pack is good enough for me!
But it’s a good skill to know. Cos you never know, when you might need it. Better to always be prepared.
What you need:
Fresh or frozen (defrosted) whole squid
Scissors
What you do:
Give it a good rinse under running water (you can just do all this in the sink with the water running and keep rinsing as you cut and handle the squid).
Cut the length down the body.
Open it up and pull off the tentacles (all the guts will come off too).
Remove bony spine (the hard plastic-like inner shell).
Trim and remove errant pieces- it’s edible, but I just take everything off.
Optional: Peel off the skin (this is purely for presentation purposes, you can leave it on).
Rinse and feel around for any internal shell pieces you may have missed.
There are innards that are edible, but I just cut off everything above the tentacles.
Make sure to remove the sharp beak that’s its mouth. It is at the top of the tentacles. Just squeeze it and it should pop out.
Boom. Done. Ready to be sliced and diced according to recipe.
This sounds like an instruction on medieval torture. I would like to state for the record that I am an animal lover. But I am find land and water meats delicious. Life is cruel. Enjoy!
