Grill me tender

“Sir?”

There I stood, wondering: What’s wrong with this weather? It was a cloudy morning, and from the relative gloom of the wet market I could see out to the sea and distant horizon without so much as a squint. Wonderful. Will it rain as it had yesterday?

“Sir.”

My eyes focused, slowly taking in the meager catch my suki had arrayed on the counter. At least they were fresh, having been caught nearby. But–

“Again? Don’t you have anything other than tuna?”

So, what’s with the weather lately? Is it something in the water that mostly only tunas are biting? Bulis (bluefin), bariles (yellowfin), mangkô (mackerel tuna), the smaller pirít (bullet tuna). I love tuna, but right now I am simply overwhelmed.

The vendor shrugged. What could he do, other than point me to the squid? I sighed, started to move on — and realized I had already circled the place twice, only to end up here, again. Do I dare make one more? Should those squid be gone by then, I would really hate myself.

For all its slime and general unsightliness, squid is very easy to cook. Takes some getting used to, sure, the important consideration to appreciate how delicate it is. Cooking squid in liquid gives you leeway, because even if you overcook it — and by that we are talking mere minutes for it to toughen up — you can cook further until it softens back down. When frying or grilling, there is no way back. You’re stuck with rubber.

The key here is moisture. It is water that heat works on first, which is why frying calamares can be a messy affair. It needn’t be that messy, of course, as long as you remove as much of the moisture as you can from the squid (or any meat, for that matter). Less water = less spatter. With grilled squid, what you want is for its exposed surface to sear in the brief period it takes to cook. If the squid is watery, that precious time will go to drying out the moisture. The squid will still be cooked through, make no mistake about it — only it won’t look like it is. You can leave it on longer to sear, but by then, sorry.

Now I know what quite a few of you are thinking. You’re doubtless flashing back to the last time you were at your favorite barbecue stand, where the cook plopped waterlogged squid straight onto the grill — didn’t that come out tender and wonderfully seared? On a well-seasoned, wickedly hot grill, sure. Is yours? Unless you are an old hand at grilling squid, I do not see how following a few simple precautions can hurt.

• Preparation. The vendor should have removed each squid’s eyes and beak (also called “teeth”); if not, start with those. Hold squid by the tail with one hand, and with the other pull-twist the head out of the body together with the internal organs. Some people prefer to eat the innards, but in this case I discarded them (after saving the ink sac for future use), slicing just below where the eyes used to be. Clean out any remaining gunk inside the cavity, then remove the cartilage/pen/internal shell. Optionally, strip off the dark-spotted skin.

  Clean/rinse squid under running water. Drain well, then pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. If desired, slice squid into slightly larger than bite-size pieces, taking into account that squid shrinks as it cooks.

• Seasoning. Season squid just before cooking — remember that salt draws out water, which we do not want happening. To start, coat squid with a thin film of olive oil (extra-virgin, if you have it; I forgot I was out of olive oil, so I used pesto, oil and all), then add salt and ground black pepper, mixing well. Avoid water-based condiments like soy sauce and vinegar, saving those for dipping.

• Cooking. Your grill should be blazing hot well before you season the squid. Squid cooks in a matter of minutes, so intense heat coupled with relatively little moisture makes for a nice sear here and there. To make the job easier, I used a mesh grill basket (pictured here), oiled and pre-heated. Grill squid for about 3 minutes on each side or until cooked but still tender. Transfer to serving plate and drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.

Do check out the archives for more posts featuring squid: fried in batter, stuffed and grilled, and with recipes for adobo (large/sliced; small/whole), pan-seared squid, seafood broccoli, chow pat chin, caldeirada (Portuguese fish stew), and squid soup.