HOW TO: Clean Squid

When I went to the fish market yesterday and saw a glistening mound of local caught squid, I scooped up two pounds for Adobong Pusit, a Filipino squid braised in a soy sauce-vinegar sauce. I rarely cook Filipino food, but this is one of my favorites.

Here's a quick 'how to' clean squid...in four easy steps.

Step one: remove the beak. Spread open the tentacles and pinch the area around the beak. Pull. It'll come out easily.

Step two: remove the quill. Feel around the opening of the squid. You'll feel - or even see - a clear, cartilaginous quill. Grab the end and pull slowly. If it breaks, just reach in and pull the rest of it out.

Step three: remove the innards. Reach your finger inside the squid and swipe out anything that's in there. You might find a glossy ink sac; you can save that if you want to make anything with squid ink.

Step four: rinse with cold water.

A couple of notes - some people slice the body from the tentacles and remove everything above the eyes I don't find that necessary. Also, some people remove the skin which I don't do. That's all there is to it. Now you can slice the squid into rings or use them whole.

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