Squids

[Karletto]

another thread where u can't use a spear gun

Squids are fast, swim close to the bottom only, can change color and press black liquid in order to disorient -> cover the bucket. Squids are hunted by pulling jigs long/ fast up and down movements from coast or boat + during whole year except summer. In my experience heavy and bright color jigs are the best. If u want more tips send PM. Recipe is similar to frying smelts recipe.

Pull its head and the bone out; calamari don't have the big bone; from the head -> only arms are eatable/ soft
Wash the squid with a lot of water in all pockets/ squeeze out
With fingers inspect if all hard parts are removed (if not clean it again)
Cut in pieces (usually round) and roll in flour
Heat the oil in a pan till it almost boils -> check the temperature of the oil with dropping a small amount of flour in the oil -> it should begin to fry right when it falls in the oil
Fry till gold color
Use paper towel for excess oil
Add salt

Serve with half a lemon, maionese and bread; the decoration can be a piece of parsley; drink dry/ semi sweet or sweet of white wine
Bon appetite
:thankyou

 

[Karletto]

squids are shorter and more oval than calamari and have different dark colors like brown, black, gray, yellow; calamari are pink almost white color; on the back are both white;
calamari don't have the bone and have longer arms

 

[Karletto]

Filled calamari ->

Wash and clean calamari like described above.
Leave the body intact but cut arms in pieces.
The filling consists of: parsley, garlic, pieces of tomatoes, salt, popper, pieces of cheese that melts on the heat -> mozzarella and arms that u cutted.
Fill the body with mixed filling
Use a tooth-pick in order to prevent the filling to exit the body -> cut through 1 part and come back through the other part (-> so 2 holes/ 4 its rounded)

Cook in the microwave foooor 8min (?). Inspect by tasting/ cutting.

 

[Jewan]

who know the stuffed squid with Tuna !!

 

[Mr. X]

People spear them. Although fairly unusual as squid is not a traditional food here. I bought some squid jigs during the winter to try out from my kayak this Summer/Autumn. I met a young lad last year going squid fishing from a well known Dorset beach in a small boat. He said he caught 8 stoneof squid the day before (more than his own body weight)! He used a single hand line but carried about half a dozen jigs with him - not sure how he used them but it looked like he sometimes fixed two together to make a double length jig. The squid here are quite large though. The small squid/calamari used for bait are imported - the last ones we bought came from San Fransisco, frozen.

BTW We don't have a microwave oven, any idea how long the filled calamari would take in a regular oven?

 

[Karletto]

BTW We don't have a microwave oven, any idea how long the filled calamari would take in a regular oven?

check by tasting after 8 min; squids/ calamari are cooked a bit faster than fish

-----------------------------------------
Hunting it:

where are squids there are also calamari; i usually use the fishing rod with a jig attached from land; of course longer rod means longer throw (-> more chance to catch it!); learn fishing knots a bit or u'll loose the jig!

in my experience heavy/ bright jigs are the best; the only problem with cheap Chinese jigs is the weight -> simply too light; in this case help yourself with some extra weight; in case of color help yourself with thin white rope -> roll it around the jig (of course end with a knot); modern jigs have a light in it in order to attract squids/ calamari (probably the color thing that u can illuminate with light).

the time to hunt is
- whole year except summer
- moonlight
- early morning or late evening
- night but only in case of minimum depths with lights
- after/ before bad weather (?)
location:
- rock

street lights on the coast help to attract squids/ calamari

the trick is this:
throw the jig as long as possible; wait till the jig reaches the ground; start rolling your reel in order to prevent the jig to catch the ground; every 5sec stop rolling and immediately pull on the side as fast + long as possible; the feeling is -> it becomes heavier at the moment u pulled; the idea is that the jig represents a fish witch escapes (the squid will reach for the bate with its arms etc)
if the jig catches itself in the rock, help yourself with changing position on the peer (first let go the fishing string) and pull in different directions; if u loose the jig, be sure that you are first to found it in the spring; if not there are plenty for u in rocks

from a boat the pulling trick is the same like from the coast -> fast + long/ hard pulls and of course throwing the jig is not needed

 

[Mr. X]

Interesting. I thought Calamari was Italian/Latin for squid (/ink pen) -- is it a particular type of squid e.g. small/slim squid (or are you comparing it with cuttle fish/sepia)? [Where is Spaghetti?]

I have a couple of jigs which have a large, white, plastic body that is luminous in the dark -- similar idea to your light jigs but perhaps less effective/cheaper. I have a couple of the Oriental, patterned cloth covered jigs too, 2 different designs. The built in weight is visible on one, I thought it was quite large (30g/1oz?). I guess you could gang two together for more weight. I notice they both have bits which are luminous, too.

Not sure if you can catch squid from shore with a rod here. The boy mentioned above said not from that particular beach without a boat (but he might be wrong). I believe they are often caught on the West Coast USA from piers, so that might be possible here too. I seem to recall reading somewhere that they are attracted to bright lights at night, so some shore line/pier with street lighting might be worth a try.

Have you seen the size of the jigs used for Humbolt squid? Huge!

 

[Oldsarge]

Interesting. I thought Calamari was Italian/Latin for squid (/ink pen) -- is it a particular type of squid e.g. small/slim squid (or are you comparing it with cuttle fish/sepia)? [Where is Spaghetti?]

I have a couple of jigs which have a large, white, plastic body that is luminous in the dark -- similar idea to your light jigs but perhaps less effective/cheaper. I have a couple of the Oriental, patterned cloth covered jigs too, 2 different designs. The built in weight is visible on one, I thought it was quite large (30g/1oz?). I guess you could gang two together for more weight. I notice they both have bits which are luminous, too.

Not sure if you can catch squid from shore with a rod here. The boy mentioned above said not from that particular beach without a boat (but he might be wrong). I believe they are often caught on the West Coast USA from piers, so that might be possible here too. I seem to recall reading somewhere that they are attracted to bright lights at night, so some shore line/pier with street lighting might be worth a try.

Have you seen the size of the jigs used for Humbolt squid? Huge!

Calamare is the Italian for squid, calamari is the plural. I've never heard of anyone catching squid of piers but that doesn't mean as much as you might think. Haven't gone jetty-fishing in years and the Humboldt's, especially, are coming farther and farther north each year. I've certainly seen them in the surf zone in Baja.

Any recipe you have for abalone you can use for squid steak, and vice versa. The abalone will have a richer taste, at least to those of refined palate. I plead not guilty.

On my dead hard-drive I have Alison's recipe for cilantro pesto that goes so well over fried calamare steak. I'll try and get it off but don't anyone hold your breath. It might be on an old thread?

 

[Mr. X]

Apparently Humbolt Squid are moving up the West coast of the USA and it is quite a problem (more on this thread), so keep those squid recipes coming!

 

[Oldsarge]

Found it!



Alison’s Cilantro Pesto


The pesto
1 1/2 cups of fresh cilantro, Firm Packed
1/2 cup of parsley, firmly packed
1/2 cup of parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup of vegetable Oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Pine Nuts, 1 oz

Place all ingredients in food processor work bowl fitted with steel blade or in a blender container; cover and process until well blended. Makes about 1 1/4 cups Pesto. Servings: 4

Cut the squid steaks into inch wide strips (2.5 cm), bread or batter and fry. Pour the pesto over the strips. That's all


And here's one that looks almost as good as the previous one. I think Alison sent me this one, too.


Mojo Verde

2 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp. oregano
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
½ cup chopped cilantro
3 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup water

Place ingredients in a blender and liquefy. Serves 4 and ought to go just as well with fish as the above.