Squid - Why Fresh Is Best

[paulb]

Paid $17 in parking fees the other morning and caught a 27cm Calamari (hood length). M Needed a little extra in order to feed the family so my wife bought two smaller hoods from the local fish shop at the mall - for only $5 total.

Both were cut to a very similar size. The shop bought squid felt soggy and a little heavier for a similar size cut.

Compare the pairs after cooking (both cooked at the same time). The shop bought ones on the right reduced to a fraction of their size and tasted like $#!t. The freshly caught was almost crisp in texture and absolutely delicious. No wonder fish prefer one over the other.

[sbd]

Nice demo Paul, convinced me.

On Friday, I converted $2 of disgusting squid into a 47cm & 37cm snapper. They were delicious.

It is mysterious that they can sell the horrid squid for human consumption. Does it all go to dodgy takeaways, or are there people out there who'll buy crap squid more than once for eating? Just the smell of it makes me gag, I wear gloves to cut it into strips for bait.

[SharkNett]

I have never tried to arrow squid but apparently they are not great so maybe that is what you got from the shop? Hard to tell once they are cleaned. Saw a video the other day where a guy was cooking what looked to me like arrow squid (fins at the top half of the hood) but calling it calamari.

[sbd]

I have never tried to arrow squid but apparently they are not great so maybe that is what you got from the shop?

Fresh (self caught) arrow squid are fantastic eating, not as thick as calamari, but A1 tucker nonetheless.

[paulb]

In hindsight I'm fairly sure they couldn't be southern calamari from the shop - the proportions seem wrong, ie shorter / fatter rather than much longer then wide. I do know you can get some good calamari from the fish markets, though you have to hunt around a bit.

[AJD]

Most of the store bought squid has been 'long time' frozen. No wonder it losses it's texture and shrivels up like nothing else. Fresh is best regardless of the squid species.