I bought a pack of frozen squid at the store today. The directions just say to thaw, clean and chop into rings. Clean how? Are there unedible things that need to be removed, or does squid just need to be washed off? Any recipe ideas (simple if possible)? I had it fried a long ago, which was pretty good, but I’m really not up for battering and frying things.
Chop the head off right behind the eyes (so that the eyes and tentacles come off in one piece). Pull out the beak and the quill (the bony stuff – you won’t have any trouble finding it) and the guts from inside. That’s pretty much it. You’re done.
The tentacles are edible and you can cut them off them and chop them up for stew or soup or whatever.
I think calamari rings are the best – just cut the body into rings, dredge inflour, egg wash and flour again, then fry (or you can just dredge in seasoned flour alone), but squid can also be stuffed (don’t cut it into rings obviously) sauteed or stewed.
One easy way to use it is to basically make a marinara sauce with it it, just stew it in some kind of store bought or homemade spagetti sauce and serve it over pasta.
I’ve also used it for gumbo and jumbalaya.
You may need to remove the skin as well. It pretty much just rubs off.
I like them stir-fried Thai style with peppers, onions, fresh basil and a dash of fish sauce and oyster sauce. Add the basil last and just let it wilt in the heat of the dish after the other things have cooked.
If it’s prairie squid, do what comes naturally! 
(Or unnaturally . . . whatever.) But be sure to debeak before use!
The golden rule with cooking cephalopods is: either cook them very briefly and hot, or cook them really low and long.
So deep fried in a tempura batter in really hot oil will be great, searing and cooking over very hot charcoal for a minute will also be great, as will baking them for hours in a tomato sauce. Anything in between and it will be like eating rubber bands.
Last time I had squid it was like eating fish through a garden hose. I chewed my self to sleep. How does one prevent that?
Zackly what Mangetout said. Cook them very briefly at a high temp or slowly at a low temp. Anything in between=garden hose.
I like chopping the tentacle and stuffing the bodies with a mix of breadcrumbs, sauteed onion, some parsley, etc., cover with marinara sauce and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
OK, I’ve been meaning to ask this question for years. Today I had Garlic Pepper Squid for lunch at a local Thai restaurant. Almost every Thai restaurant has some variation on it. It’s pretty simple and very similar to your recipe. Unfortunately, I’ve never found a recipe for it. The closest thing I’ve found is garlic shrimp. There is a boatload of garlic which is fried to the point of near crispiness and the sauce is very similar to oyster sauce, or a slightly sweet teriyaki marinade. It’s usually served on a bed of iceberg lettuce.
Does anybody have a good recipe for Garlic Pepper Squid? I’ve tried winging it with oyster sauce, garlic and ground black pepper, but it didn’t come out so great. I’m also wondering if this is an American dish, as I’ve never seen it in a Thai cookbook.
Too bad their frozen and not fresh. Otherwise, I’d say chill them, slice them and eat after dipping in soy sauce. Ika sashimi is the best!
cher3: That looks like a good recipe. I’ll have to try it sometime. How much oyster sauce do you use, and how do you figure this is “Thai style” as opposed to “Chinese style”?
Erf. Alton Brown’s 2d episode on squid played just an hour ago.
Isn’t raw squid really tough to chew? I know raw octopus is. So is cooked octopus, usually.
Clean, salt and pepper and throw on a very hot griddle. Splash some brandy and butter just before they are ready (in no time). A flat iron on top is optional and makes them prettier to serve. A sprig of rosemary also adds a nice extra, if you are into herbs. Great with any spanish style tapas.
If all else fails they make great bait.
…I was about to say, donate it here, we need some fresh recruits for the initiation ritual, but it’s frozen. Never mind.
(I second Dio’s suggestion of calamari rings–done right, those are sweet succulent heaven on a plate.)
Can we have it? The SDMB squid is getting a little lonely.
It can be on the “crunchy” side, for sashimi, but it’s not tough to chew.
I think the dish you are looking for is called Pla Meuk Tod Gratiem Prik Thai.
Pla Meuk Tod Gratiem Prik Thai (Garlic Pepper Squid) ปลาหมึกทอดกระเทียมพริกไทย
Recipe from: It Rains Fishes, Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking by Kasma Loha-Unchit
Squid fried quickly this way is not crispy and chewy like batter-fried squid you may have had elsewhere. Instead, it is succulent and tender, with a lot of garlic and pepper flavor. It is good as an appetizer, or served with other courses family-style with a hot and sour or sweet and sour sauce.
2 pounds fresh squid
2 to 3 tablespoons nam pla
1 to 2 tablespoons white peppercorns, coursely ground
10 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon tapioca or corn starch
1 tablespoons unbleached white flour
3 to 4 cups peanut oil for deep frying
lettuce leaves to line serving platter
2 small tomatoes, sliced in rounds
Clean and skin the squid, cutting each body tube into 3 to 4 segments, about 1 inch apart. Leave the tentacles whole. Rinse and drain well. With your hand, gently squeeze the squid to remove any remaining pockets of water. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with fish sauce to coat evenly. Set aside. The squid should be at room temperature before frying.
Grind peppercorns in a spice mill or clean coffee grinder and chop the garlic evenly. When ready to cook, heat the oil in a wok. Drain the squid of any excess fish sauce, squeezing lightly with you hand until the pieces aer no longer dripping with liquid. Toss with the coarsely ground pepper, chopped garlic, tapioca (or corn starch) and flour. Use your hand to mix so that you can feel and make sure all the pieces are evenly coated with the flours, white pepper and garlic. The tapioca starch helps some of the garlic and pepper to stick to the squid during frying.
Test to make sure the oil is hot enough by dropping a small piece of garlic in it. It should sizzle and not sink to the bottom before surfacing. It also should not burn in a matter of seconds; reduce the heat if it does. Fry half of the squid pieces at a time. They should sizzle loudly, and the garlic pieces should turn golden in a minute or so. Use a fork or a pair of chopsticks to separate those pieces that are sticking together because of the flour.
Fry only 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon or wire spatula and allow to air drain on a wire basket over a bowl. Use a find wire mesh spatula to remove loose garlic pieces from the oil; allow the oil to reheat before frying the next batch. Cool the fried squid 1 to 2 minutes and serve while warm – topped with the loose garlic pieces – on a platter lined with lettuce and encircled by tomato slices.
Note:
Allow oil to cool in the wok, then strain and store in a tight jar for future use. Refrigerate to keep fresh if you will not be using it again for a while. Because the oil picks up a garlicky and peppery flavor, it can be used with good results for stir-frying vegetables or seafood.
What is “nam pla”?
Fish Sauce. It’s the ubiquitous Southeast asian version of soy sauce that is a very distinctive ingredient in most Thai dishes and sauces. Don’t let the smell straight from the bottle fool ya… it’s quite stinky straight but when used properly as an ingredient in dishes it enhances and ties flavors together very nicely.
It’s the basil and fish sauce. I’m not absolutely sure that all thai restaurants use oyster sauce, but I do know this comes out similar to the dishes I’ve had in restaruants. I wing it on the oyster sauce–just shake it out of the bottle until you have as much sauce as you want. Don’t overdo it, or it will be too salty, though. I use a combination of bell peppers and chilis. I don’t like it as hot as the restaurants usually make it.