Squid is one of the most popular seafood that has been eaten by humans since ancient Rome. And it is not surprising that today it is as popular as it was thousands of years ago. There are many reasons for this. And one of them is the availability of squid.

Squid is also the best source of iodine, which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the thyroid gland. And if dried squid rings appear on sale, you should buy them immediately. Or prepare this delicacy with your own hands at home.

How can you dry squid at home? The squid must be thoroughly cleaned. If you are going to dry an unpeeled squid, you need to know certain subtleties of cutting it.

The squid must be cut down to the fins very carefully. This is due to the fact that in this place the squid has an ink sac. And, if you don’t know how to dry squid, you may experience certain difficulties during cleaning.

The abdominal cavity must be thoroughly cleaned and the chitinous plates removed. Cut off the head. Cut the squid into rings. Mix salt and water in a container and put on fire. Get the brine, which needs to be cooled. This is what the dried squid recipe calls for.

Place squid rings in cold brine for about thirty minutes. Leave them at room temperature. Remove from brine and allow liquid to drain. Squid rings should be dried either in the oven or in the microwave at a temperature of 50-60 degrees.

Squid is a very tasty and healthy seafood product. It is rich in iodine and other beneficial substances. Therefore, in addition to gastronomic pleasure, this product benefits the body. On store shelves, squid can be found in different forms: frozen, canned and salted-dried. The latter is an excellent snack. Not many people know how to dry squid at home. And this can help not only save the budget for delicacy lovers, but also balance the taste in accordance with personal needs.

Preparation

First you need to prepare the squid. Most often, you come across a frozen product in stores; only residents of coastal cities where seafood production is practiced can enjoy chilled carcasses.

It is important to properly defrost the carcass in order to preserve the maximum benefit in it. Do not use a microwave or hot water for this. It is best to defrost squid naturally. If you want to speed up the process, you can immerse the seafood in a cup of cold water without removing it from the packaging or putting it in a bag. This is necessary so that some of the beneficial substances do not go into the water.

After the squid has defrosted, it needs to be cleaned. This should be done carefully so as not to damage the ink bag, otherwise it will color the meat blue. It is necessary to remove the chord and entrails. You should also remove the thin film covering the carcass.

Advice! To remove the film easily and quickly, you need to immerse the squid in boiling water for a few seconds, then place it in cold water. It is important not to overcook the product, otherwise it will cook.

Pickling

Before drying squids, you need to salt them. During production, seafood is heavily salted to preserve it for as long as possible. At home, you can adjust the amount of salt to taste. There are two methods for salting squid, one of which is designed for long-term marinating, the second is preferable when there is no time to wait long.

1. For the brine you will need a liter of warm boiled water and two tablespoons of salt. If desired, you can add flavorings to suit your taste. This could be pepper, bay leaf, garlic and much more. You can also rub the carcass with seasoning until it is salted. The product is placed in brine and kept for 12 hours. Usually they are salted in the evening and left overnight.
2. The second method provides quick salting, so a steep salt solution is prepared. 200 grams of salt should be dissolved in one liter of water. It is better to do this in warm water so that all the salt dissolves faster. To obtain a salted product, it is enough to keep it in brine for 2-3 minutes. After this you can start drying.

The squid soaked in a saline solution needs to be dried; to do this, you need to briefly lay it out on a paper towel or napkin.

Drying

There are several ways to dry seafood. Some people prefer to dry the whole carcass and then gut it into fibers. For some, dried squid rings are preferable. This is a matter of taste and is decided individually.

You can dry the product naturally, this method is more labor-intensive and time-consuming. If you are drying a whole carcass, you need to hang it in a well-ventilated place, while preventing access to it by insects. The pieces are laid out on trays. It is important to turn the pieces over from time to time to ensure even drying. The air-dried product will be ready in a few days. Readiness is determined visually: the carcass becomes dry and decreases in size.

It is much faster to dry seafood in the oven. This method is more suitable for squid cut into pieces. The oven needs to be preheated to 60 degrees. Higher temperatures will make the product tough. The pieces are laid out on wire racks or on a baking sheet and placed in the oven. Drying should take no more than 4 hours.

A vegetable dehydrator or air fryer is a great way to dry the squid. The temperature should be set to no more than 60 degrees. On average, drying takes about two hours; you need to monitor the condition of the pieces so as not to accidentally dry them out.

You can dry squid in the microwave, but only if the appliance supports the convection function. The device is set to minimum power and seafood is placed in it. Drying takes approximately 30 minutes.

As you can see, drying squid is simple and not troublesome. You can treat yourself to a treat without overpaying for the product. In addition, seafood prepared at home will satisfy all taste preferences and contain less salt, which is not very beneficial for the body.

Squid dishes, like all seafood foods, are distinguished by a high content of microelements, mineral salts and vitamins. In addition, squid can add a special delicate taste to dishes. Dried squid is considered a special delicacy, so it is quite natural for housewives to be interested in how to cook dried squid? So, to prepare this delicious food product you will need one ingredient - frozen squid, and salt as seasoning.

Dried squid recipe

The entire process of preparing a dried squid recipe can be divided into a number of stages:

1. Before cooking, it is recommended to defrost this seafood. To do this, take it out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for several hours. The defrosting process can be speeded up by placing squid carcasses in cold water.
2. After this squid is defrosted, the insides are removed from it and the carcass is thoroughly washed with water.
3. The procedure for removing films from squid is carried out under hot water, which are easily separated under the influence of temperature.
4. At the next stage of preparing dried squid, it is salted at room temperature. For this purpose, prepare in brine at the rate of 2 tbsp. l. salt per 1 liter of water, and place squid carcasses in it for 12 hours.
5. You can significantly speed up the process of preparing a dried squid recipe if you prepare a concentrated solution of table salt. In this case, add a quarter kilogram of salt to 1 liter of water. In this case, the squid is immersed in brine for only 4 minutes.
6. Answering the question - how to cook dried squid, it should be noted that I came to cut their carcasses into thin rings. The procedure for drying squid itself is quite lengthy, and usually lasts about 3 hours, because squid can only be dried at low temperatures from 40 to 50 degrees.

Useful tips for those who will dry squid

• When drying squid, it is necessary to observe this temperature regime, otherwise the product will turn out very tough.
• A dish of dried squid will turn out more juicy if, when preparing it, you place a vessel with water in the lower part of the oven.
• The procedure for drying squid in the microwave is much faster. When using this device, cooking this seafood will take from 30 to 60 minutes. However, in order to cook dried squid, you can use a microwave oven only if it is equipped with a convection function.
• Drying squid in the microwave occurs at low powers, otherwise the finished product will acquire the properties of rubber.

Dried squid is a favorite snack for many. And if you wish, you can cook it at home. Find out how.

What kind of squid is suitable?

If you do not live near the sea, that is, its gifts are not available to you, then most likely you can only buy frozen squid in the store. And they will fit just fine. But it is better to choose fairly large carcasses so that the dried rings turn out quite large and beautiful.

Defrosting

The first step in preparing squids is to defrost them. And it needs to be done correctly. Under no circumstances should you try to defrost carcasses in hot water, much less in a microwave, as this will completely ruin their taste.

Squids should be placed in cold water and left there until completely defrosted. But the carcasses should not stay there for too long, otherwise they will lose their taste and beneficial properties.

Squid cutting

The carcasses need to be washed thoroughly to remove any mucus and other contaminants remaining on them. Now take one squid and carefully separate the head from the tentacles without damaging the ink bag (it will color the fillet). You can first make a small and shallow incision to make the separation faster and easier.

Now remove all the insides from the head, remove all excess and wash the squid well again.

Cleaning

Slicing

If desired, you can salt the whole squid, but it is still better to cut them. The carcass can be cut into rings, and the tentacles into long pieces (you don’t have to touch them at all if they are not very long).

Salting

Salting can be done in two ways:

1. The first recipe is suitable for those who do not urgently need a snack. To prepare the brine you will need a liter of water and two tablespoons of salt. You can heat the water a little so that the salt dissolves in it faster. Place the squid in this solution and leave overnight, that is, for twelve hours.
2. The second method is accelerated, it involves the use of a strong saline solution. To prepare it, dissolve 150-200 grams of salt in a liter of warm water. Place the carcasses in this mixture and leave for literally five minutes, this is enough for complete salting.

Drying

How to prepare such a snack? Dried squid are usually dried industrially using special equipment. But even if you don’t have one, you can do everything at home, and in several ways.

Drying options:

• The natural way. If you have a private house and a veranda or gazebo that is protected from insects and well ventilated, then simply put the pickled rings on a tray and leave them in the open air. It is advisable to stir or turn them over periodically so that they dry evenly. When they dry out and shrink in size, they can be eaten.
• On a fruit dryer. Just put them in the device and wait for them to dry.
• Air fryer. Place the rings on the grill and turn on the device. Control the degree of drying to obtain the desired consistency.
• Oven. Place the squid pieces on a tray or wire rack and place in an oven preheated to 50-60 degrees for about three to four hours.
• Microwave oven. This option is only suitable if the device has a convection function. The drying time is determined based on the characteristics of the microwave, but usually at minimum power the process lasts about half an hour.

Is this snack healthy?

Squids are not only tasty, but also healthy. Their benefit lies in the high content of protein, iodine, polyunsaturated fats, vitamins E, PP and group B, phosphorus, potassium, selenium and other useful substances. Squid should be consumed to increase mental activity, to normalize the functioning of the thyroid gland, and to improve the functioning of the nervous system. The product is also good for the cardiovascular and reproductive systems (especially for men).

But it is worth noting that the snack contains a certain amount of salt, and it can be harmful. Thus, it retains fluid in the body and, if consumed excessively, can disrupt kidney function and even provoke an increase in blood pressure. So don’t get carried away with dried squid; you need to know moderation in everything.

Some useful tips:

1. To give the appetizer a piquant taste, you can add seasonings to the brine, for example, ground garlic, bay leaf, pepper. You can also use flavoring additives before drying, distributing them evenly over the surface of the pieces.
2. After salting, be sure to remove any remaining brine solution. To do this, you can place the squid on a paper towel or napkins.
3. If you decide to dry whole carcasses, it will take much longer.
4. When drying naturally, it is very important to protect squid from insects, because they can spoil the product. But at the same time, provide access to oxygen, otherwise the snack will spoil or become moldy.
5. When purchasing squid, evaluate the amount of ice and packaging. The latter must be sealed and intact. And there should not be too much ice: if the amount is excessive, this indicates improper freezing.

Try making dried squid; everyone will definitely like this appetizer!

One of my favorite beer snacks is dried squid. In fact, delicious squid straws can be easily made at home! The advantage of home cooking is the ability to regulate the amount of salt and spices. In addition, you can add different flavorings, such as garlic and herbs.

Ingredients

Dried squid recipe

Rinse the squid carcass thoroughly and remove the film. To do this, you first need to scald the carcass with boiling water, and then with ice water.

Prepare the brine: dilute salt in water, add pepper and bay leaf, and leave the squid fillet in it overnight to soak the meat. Tip: if you need to significantly shorten the salting process, prepare a concentrated salt solution (250 g of salt per 1 liter of water) and soak the fillet in it for 4-5 minutes.

Dry squid yourself to avoid buying snacks. You can dry squid meat in one of the following ways:

• Remove the fillet from the brine, pat dry with a paper towel and cut into thin rings. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the squid rings. Dry the meat in the oven for 3 hours at a temperature of 50-60 degrees. You should not raise the temperature, otherwise the squid will become hard.
• You don’t have to cut the squid into rings, but simply hook it whole and hang it to dry in a well-ventilated area. After a few days, when the carcass is dry, the squid meat can be cut with a knife or torn with your hands along the fibers.