We´re very lucky Up The Mountain to be able to get hold of fresh fish, even though we live 45km from the coast. Having said that, I do keep fish in my freezer and cleaned squid is one of those things that keeps well and seems to suffer no ill effects from freezing. We don´t get a visit from Fish Man on Mondays, becuase there is no fishing on Sundays, but this morning he drove up, and this is what we bought.
One of the effects of little Alfi´s run in (literally) with Fish Man´s van is that when he hears him approaching and bipping his horn, he runs and hides under the nearest table, shaking and looking very sorry for himself. Whilst I don´t like to see him frightened, at least I know he has learned a very important lesson as far as cars and dogs go.
Today I´m going to give you a super easy way of cooking squid, which I know can be quite scary looking. I´m also going to tell you how to clean them if you ever do get lucky enough to get hold of fresh squid for either cooking that day or freezing for another day.
Feeling brave? Come on then, get those kitchen gloves on and let´s get cracking.
First of all you need to grab hold of that squid like you mean business.
Now pull the legs and anything that comes with them out and put to one side for the moment.
Now pull out the spine which looks like a sliver of clear plastic. Sorry this is a bit blurred – Big Man was in charge of photos and was excited about eating squid!
Rinse the body (including the inside) and go back to the legs which you will pull or snip away from any mucky bits in the middle just below the “eyes”. Still blurry, still excited!
From the centre of the legs (which are really tentacles!) pull out the hard centre core (or beak).
Rinse the legs and contemplate your bowl of lovely clean squid. Well done!
Now you can either cut the squid up or leave it whole. For battered squid rings (covered in flour and deep fried) “A La Romana”, you´ll need to slice. Today we´re just going to keep it very simple.
Sprinkle with salt and olive oil and put onto a hot griddle or into a frying pan (no oil needed as you have already put some on the squid). Keep the heat high, they´ll need a couple of minutes on each side depending on their size. When the flesh is no longer opaque but a good white colour, turn and continue to cook.
Remove from the heat when done and either drizzle with salsa verde and lemon juice, or add some finely chopped parsley, garlic and lemon juice. Serve with plenty of delicious crusty bread to mop up those amazing juices.
And if you can´t get hold of fresh squid, oriental stores often sell packets of squid tubes frozen which are very good!
Chica Andaluza 
Fantastic, I love squid, especially the tentacles! Apparently a huge amount of squid are fished for European consumption, from around the Falkland Islands 😉
Well I never, didn´t know that. Will have to ask more questions next time I buy! I love the tentacles too…gorgeous.
I love squid – a la Romana, griddled, a la plancha, barbecued……these look great! That plastic bit is always a bit of a surprise, isn’t it?
Yes – if you miss it you feel like you´re eating a price tag!
Simple and wonderful way to cook squid. The cleaning part,uh, looks like a job for the fishmonger 🙂
I don´t have any choice here 😦 I have to DIY, but am now super quick at doing it!
Ooooh… I love squid – one of my all time favourites. I don’t even mind the cleaning (as a child, I used to love finding the backbones and sliding them out). I know… I’m odd! 🙂
I know what you mean – when it all slides out cleanly, there´s a certain satisfaction!
mmm… I’ll leave all that squidding to you and just munch down my calamari rings… you’re amazing, I don’t know how you did any of that, but one day, surely, maybe, I’ll give it a go myself!
Squidding…love it! You´ve invented a new verb 🙂 Calamari rings are good too!
DELICIOUS! Simplicity with squid is always the best. Great tutorial pics – I see you are a lefty. Don’t know why I thought I would mention that…
🙂 Mandy
Oh yes, didn´t realise it even showed up in the photos, but I´m a lefty! Are you?!
Nope, I’m a righty – is there even such a word 😉 Although, I do do a lot of things left handed and wear my watch light a lefty for what that’s worth.
How funny – I do most things apart from write and cook (i.e. use a knife) with my right hand…we´re both a bit odd, in a good way!
I love squid and this recipe looks extremely delicious. Have to try this this weekend when I can get squid in the open market. Thanks for the recipe and inspiration!
Thanks Malou – don´t know if it´s expensive for you where you are, but even if you can only get a little it´s great in fish soups too!
great photos and post but sorry, no thanks, just give me some good ole Southern grits!
They´re good too … you´ll have to “show” me how to make them properly!
I love squid and this reminds me that it’s been awhile since I’ve made it at home. This is a perfect recipe for my weekend!
So simple -so tasty!
Well, Tanya, you know how I feel about these beauties! Great tutorial on how to clean and cook ’em. Your grilled calamari look wonderful! I can get them fresh without any problems. For frozen, I’ve found the Asian markets have an incredible selection and a wide range of sizes. It just depends upon how they’re to be used.
Glad you liked it – when I was in London I often chose frozen over fresh from the Asian supermarkets for the choice (and I am sure they were probably often “fresher” than the fresh)!
I’m very lucky my little Italian market cleans my squid for me!! I just don’t think I can do it!! I like the easy, quick recipe. I’m always thinking I need to do so much more, but the simpler is the better!!
Lucky you – although if we buy them frozen they are often cleaned! Simple is good but so is fancy…it just depends on how much time you have that day.
There’s a running joke in our house that if I’m cleaning squid or making salsa I will ruin my shirt. I should probably get an apron one of these years. Anyway, great tutorial here!
I have a lovely “Flamenco” one that would suit you!
I’ve only once been involved in the complete process of squid cleaning. Yes, it was for a tapas party, and yes, it turned out fabulously, so it was completely worth the effort for a big house-full of friends (plus, I was only ‘assistant’ at that station, since I had pork rolls to attend at my primary assignment on the occasion). Thanks for bringing back a very happy memory!
Glad I bought back memories of what sounds like a fun party! Pork rolls sound tasty too 🙂
Oh, yum!
We get fresh squid pretty much year-round, but more in the early summer. I haven’t cleaned it in years, but you’re right about how easy it is!
You´re like us then – and it´s really not that tricky to clean, it just looks a little daunting!
That squid looks so fresh! I love this recipe, I love how you prepared it.
Thank you – collected that morning from Malaga fish market and on my plate at lunch time. Super fresh 🙂
Mmmmmmmm!!! I love squid, and this is one of D-Man’s favorite way of cooking fish. You make the cleaning part look so easy! Your cooking tips have really helped me so much along the way, especially when it comes to seafood!
Ah, thank you, but I bet your Suegra was helpful too! We love squid and eat a lot of it.
Great instruction on cleaning squid. I love it and it gets a thumbs up by all family members so I really ought to cook it more often.
Oooh – good to find more fans of squid!
what a great HOW TO! I have seen some professional chefs get this wrong!
High praise indeed as I know you have seen some pretty impressive chefs at work. Thanks Tandy!
¡Qué rico!
Me encanta esta idea. Tendré que probarla en casa…
¡Es facilísimo!
This was really interesting to me as I had no idea how to clean a squid and have bookmarked this for reference. They are such tasty morsels if you can get them fresh and I love your simple preparation, too. Also love that you have on your bracelets with your gloves while cleaning…a sign of a woman who clearly has command of what she’s doing! 😉
Made me laugh – I rarely take those bracelets off! Glad it was useful to you 🙂
I love squid and we were fortunate to have enjoyed it a few times during our holiday travels, mostly because we were in coastal areas.
Hey and don’t criticize the Big Man for blurry photos…perhaps you shouldn’t have been moving so quickly. 😉 (We men have to stick together)
Glad you´ve managed to enjoy squid on your travels. Ok, I´ll stop blaming Big Man – he actually takes most of the “finished” food photos as his seem to come out better than mine!
It seems some of the best of foods need only salt, olive oil, parsley and lemon. Perfectly example here.
I don’t think I’ll ever DO this – Im just a bit squeamish on such things. But I’d EAT it, that’s for sure! And I loved the tutorial all the same!
Eating is the most important bit – and done simply like this the flavour really shines!
I am not a seafood person but my husband really loves those fried rings. Thank you for the “how to” if I ever work up the courage I will give it a try
Or you could buy them frozen…much easier!
I just love the nail polish under those gloves ;0) that made me smile. Great tips, we don’t get fresh squid here but I’ll keep the knowledge stored for another day.
I secretly try to “keep up the standards”. Actually, that´s a lie, keeping chickens and growing plants makes wearing nail polish a rare thing now…I must have been out somewhere nice the night before 😉
I am lucky in two ways. The market where I buy my seafood offers squid three ways, whole, bodies, and legs. If I can only find them whole, my husband does the cleaning. No messy body parts for me.
Lucky indeed – I´d be buying all the legs as I love them!
Fantastic, I love squid, especially the tentacles! Thanksss!