Calamari are a seafood product that offers us endless possibilities on how to cook and present them on our table. They can be fried, baked, boiled in stews, soups, rice dishes or stuffed.
They are surprisingly easy to prepare and cook, but like everything in the kitchen, they have their own small requirements and tricks to make them as tasty and tender as possible and to avoid the possible unwanted results.
First of all, we need to know that it is not the same whether we fry, bake or boil this seafood - the cooking times of each of these processes are completely different.
When frying/breading, calamari need a very short heat treatment - 1-2 minutes in very hot fat and it needs to be plenty to cover them. If they're fried longer than needed, they will turn out dry and tough.
When boiling them, however, things are completely different - the longer they're boiled for, the more tender they will turn out. The heat here is recommended to be from low to moderate and the minimum cooking time is 35 minutes. Poorly boiled calamari turn out tough and not pleasant to eat at all.
If we are going to bake on a raclette grill, grill or a pan, in order to get tender and tasty calamari, we need to cook the seafood with very little fat (unless it is grilled), when the temperature has reached its highest point. This way, it is immediately sealed, it aquires a pleasant color and then it is flipped onto the other side for a short time. The whole process does not take more than 4-5 minutes. If they are baked at an insufficiently high temperature, liquid will be released, the seafood will shrink and become tough.
If we follow these rules we will have good results, but in order to be even safer, we can apply another trick.
Soaking in advace in milk is a great way to get tender calamari. A very good effect and tenderness is achieved if you put the cleaned calamari in a bowl of milk for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Sometimes beer is used - 30 minutes in the alcoholic liquid, then another 30 minutes in the milk.
Another way is to mix lemon juice with milk and when the mixture is curdled to put the seafood inside for 30 minutes to 2-3 hours.
This way, not only will they become more tender, but their taste will also unfold.
Some good cooks have stated their opinion that calamari tubes should not be peeled, because the thin membrane that they're covered in helps to keep the inside softer, tender and tasty.
If you're wondering what to prepare with calamari, check out our suggestions for pan-fried calamari, breaded calamari and why not even Greek-style calamari.
