The One Cooking Tip You Need To Prevent Chewy Calamari

Calamari is not only delicious, but it also has a lot to offer. It's low in calories, high in protein and minerals, and can be affordable compared to other seafood. What can put off a lot of home cooks is calamari's reputation for being rubbery. And if you've ever eaten a tough piece, you know what a disappointing experience it is. But once you know one simple rule, you can confidently add calamari to your recipe rotation.

To avoid a chewy texture, calamari needs to be cooked hot and fast, or low and slow. And when we say fast, we mean a maximum of two minutes. And slow cooking needs a minimum of 30 minutes. The reason is due to the makeup of the calamari. Squid, which is the name for the whole creature, differs from other fish due to its dense muscle structure. By cooking quickly, you're taking the calamari off the heat before the muscles have time to contract and become tough. Beyond this two-minute window, you'll need to cook the calamari for long enough for the meat's collagen to break down and become gelatin, a process that takes 30 to 45 minutes.

Keeping this simple rule in mind will help you to better navigate recipes or plan your own calamari dish. For example, if you want to go for the hot and fast method, you'll need to make sure you're basically ready to eat before the squid begins cooking. For the ever-popular fried calamari, you might not need much prep, but for dishes like grilled calamari salad or this squid with chickpeas, the rest of the dish should already be assembled. Quick cooking can also be done with a one-minute blanch in boiling water, followed by an ice bath. This works for cold dishes, like an umami-packed potato salad.

For low and slow cooking, think of recipes like stuffed squid, braises, or stews, like this chickpea and calamari inzimino. Although it is more time-consuming, slow cooking the calamari has the benefit of being more forgiving, as well as being more flavorful, as the long cooking time expels more of the water from the meat. There is also a third option, which is an alternative way of looking at the quick cooking method. For dishes like this seafood risotto and these fideos with calamari, the squid is added in the last two minutes of cooking. Just be sure to serve immediately so the calamari doesn't continue to cook as the dish sits.