I always thought that “scoring” squid would prevent it from curling up when it cooks, but that doesn’t seem to be true, so is the practice just decorative, aid in tenderness, done on only one side of the squid? At any rate, on a recent beach trip, we found some fresh squid at the market and we decided to grill some of it and mix it in with some tomatoes and greens for a hearty salad.
First, I cut the squid bodies into triangles and scored them with a charp knife (cut ever so slightly into the flesh, without cutting through to the other end. Do this in a diamond pattern.
Intuitively, I assumed you scored the side inside the squid, to prevent curling, but I tried both both sides and everything still seemed to curl up on the barbecue…
Here a photo of each scored piece of squid. If it didn’t help with the curling, it at least provided more nooks and crannies for the olive oil and seasoning to penetrate and add flavor.
A very quick marinade of olive oil, salt, red chili flakes (made from siling labuyo dried and crushed) and freshly ground black pepper and these were grilled briefly until just cooked, some pieces with a nice crisp edge or two.
Add to a salad of arugula or rocket greens, some tomatoes, red peppers and dress with some olive oil and fresh lemon juice. The squid was very tender and I personally LOVE the crunchy tentacles. In this particular salad, the squid was the star, and everything else simply the supporting cast. I did a similar salad here before, but note that the volume in greens in that one made the squid a minor player… Oh, if your wondering why these squid look so “clean” — we skinned them before scoring them…
12 Responses
Yummy on a monday morning read :)…. Mixing grilled squid with grilled leek and thai sweet chilli sauce is another variation you can do.
I held that notion too but now I’m almost certain it’s just to tenderize and to decorate. The slices of squid or cuttlefish I come across often in Chinese dishes are curled but with perfect diamond grid done deep on one side with a diagonally held knife, almost like a pineapple design. Incidentally, they do this too with slices of kidney and liver both of which are reputedly difficult to get right in tenderness.
Off topic…What happen to Betty Q? She seems to disappear
junb, i’ve been wondering too….she’d have an answer to the squid issue
What a beautiful salad. I love squid tentacles too.
Just wondering MM if the sizes of the squid matter for this type of salad? Since you grilled it. Coz I never buy the bigger varieties and often buy the smaller “bisaya pusit” for any squid dish I make.
If you overcooked your pusit in a grilled it will actually taste like daing na pusit.
Yes, I miss Betty Q!
MM,
I believe the issue is in relation to which side of the squid was scored. If they were all done on the skinned side of the body as opposed to the inside. Scoring on the inside mitigates the curling up effect.
im good with grilled squid + grilled bellpeppers! mouthwatering!
i score the squid so that it curls and its already the sign that the squid is cooked. If you overcooked it, it will be tough like rubber. thanks for sharing this Delicious salad!
ahh… now i await the post re: how to skin the squid
I’m with you MM, keep the rest of the squid, just leave the tentacles to me… those pics are making me hungry :)