Improvisation in the key of C... food
Dec. 15th, 2011 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpA little nervous in the knowledge that the frozen squid I had been buying for the cats in Pagosa had been cleaned before packaging, I fired up the iPad and watched the first YouTube video on "how to clean a squid" that popped up.
It was a deliberately wordless presentation (probably a good thing, as the demonstrator was Asian, and there was Asian music playing as an accompaniment), but the procedure is so simple, the video images alone were enough. I took the squid specimen I bought at the H Mart and pretty much did what the fellow had done in the video. There were some details that weren't entirely clear near the end, but my specimen was small enough to where I wasn't too worried about them, and I'm sure the cats will enjoy the tentacles, which are free of such details.
My one major surprise during this cleaning exercise was finding a "stiffener" that sits against and runs along the "back" of the "cone" part of the body; said stiffener is transparent, shaped like a feather, and—if I didn't know better—I'd say it was made of plastic.
Anyway, once the squid was clean and sliced, out came the ghee, some corn meal, some hot paprika, and mung bean sprouts. I rolled the cut squid in a mixture of the meal and paprika and put the coated squid in a frying pan with the ghee. After a few moments, it became clear there wasn't enough oil in the pan, so I added a few tablespoons of canola.
After about 3-4 minutes, I put a generous handful of the bean sprouts on top, reduced the heat to medium, and covered the pan. The frying sounds continued and checks every minute or so verified that the squid and the sprouts were getting cooked.
When I judged the ingredients were done, I moved them to a bowl and spooned two teaspoons of Thai chili sauce on top.
Not bad (even if Galina won't have anything to do with it).
My next escapade will involve a propane torch and some crème brûlée. That, Galina will partake in (and anyone who bets otherwise is throwing money away).
Wish me luck, I'm off to find some matches.
Cheers...
It was a deliberately wordless presentation (probably a good thing, as the demonstrator was Asian, and there was Asian music playing as an accompaniment), but the procedure is so simple, the video images alone were enough. I took the squid specimen I bought at the H Mart and pretty much did what the fellow had done in the video. There were some details that weren't entirely clear near the end, but my specimen was small enough to where I wasn't too worried about them, and I'm sure the cats will enjoy the tentacles, which are free of such details.
My one major surprise during this cleaning exercise was finding a "stiffener" that sits against and runs along the "back" of the "cone" part of the body; said stiffener is transparent, shaped like a feather, and—if I didn't know better—I'd say it was made of plastic.
Anyway, once the squid was clean and sliced, out came the ghee, some corn meal, some hot paprika, and mung bean sprouts. I rolled the cut squid in a mixture of the meal and paprika and put the coated squid in a frying pan with the ghee. After a few moments, it became clear there wasn't enough oil in the pan, so I added a few tablespoons of canola.
After about 3-4 minutes, I put a generous handful of the bean sprouts on top, reduced the heat to medium, and covered the pan. The frying sounds continued and checks every minute or so verified that the squid and the sprouts were getting cooked.
When I judged the ingredients were done, I moved them to a bowl and spooned two teaspoons of Thai chili sauce on top.
Not bad (even if Galina won't have anything to do with it).
My next escapade will involve a propane torch and some crème brûlée. That, Galina will partake in (and anyone who bets otherwise is throwing money away).
Wish me luck, I'm off to find some matches.
Cheers...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-12-15 11:47 pm (UTC)We find a lot of those squid (or cuttlefish) shells on the beach. My in-laws parrot loves to chew on them. They are full of calcium and minerals too, so they must be good for her.