Featured Products: Filipino Recipes for Squid

Squid remains to be underrated seafood in the US. For one, requesting the freshest squids is a big ask because most domestic catch from the Californian waters is exported for processing at cheaper labor markets. Squids tend to be rubbery and difficult to cook when they had to cross borders before reaching the grocery store. But that’s also because Americans typically prefer the bigger species from the Falkland Islands or Mexico to be served on the table. The smaller cousins stay overseas, where they are consumed as part of a regular diet.

In general, most Americans don’t find any great experience eating it as they are limited to few Mexican recipes (think of calamari). As adventurous as they are, Americans don’t think of squid as something they would prepare at home to try a new recipe. They would have them by choice at poke places or niche restaurants that serve specialties with tentacles in it, where—fingers crossed—the cooks know how to deal with a squid. Even then, appetite for squid varies according to the regional diet in the US.

Squid can be tricky to cook all by yourself. With this seafood, there’s no in-between. When cooked lightly, it tends to be chewy. Let it stay under the heat for a little too long, and it might just hurt your jaw. On the other side of the Pacific, however, it seems Asians have mastered the precise art of rendering the seafood into the perfect tender. From Tokyo to Shandong to Manila, the secret behind the best squid recipes involves searing it on high heat within two minutes or even less. Recipes for braised dishes require 30 minutes up to an hour of cook time to allow the squid to return to tender texture. When you learn the masterful technique of cooking this protein, you come out of the kitchen with expanded culinary imagination.

Squid is one of the mainstays in the Filipino diet since the Philippines is surrounded by water—the freshest catch arrives at the wet market in under an hour. Filipinos have a profound appreciation for the versatility of the squid as they can make plentiful choices of stews and sizzling platter with it. Squid can be seasoned sweet or spicy, braised or pan-fried or grilled, and come out uniquely delicious and beautiful each time. Now that you’re less uncertain how to cook a squid, you can now quit the bland squid dishes you’re settling for and give these exciting Filipino recipes a go.

SQUID ADOBO

This dish follows the same recipe for making chicken or pork adobo, except that the protein is squid this time. Clean the squid properly and remove the cartilage inside it. Simmer the seafood in a savory mixture of soy sauce and bright vinegar until the squid is cooked through. You can also add coconut milk to make the sauce rich and creamy. The result is a sweet-tangy and nutty stew that gives a new spin to the traditional hallmarks of Filipino adobo flavor. Oh, and don’t forget the rice. It’s a sin not to enjoy adobo without it.

DRIED SQUID IN COCONUT MILK

The other version of squid adobo swaps the soy sauce-vinegar combo for a decadent sauce made with coconut milk. Simmering the squid in coconut milk gives you more time to tenderize the seafood and allow it to soak in the sweet and earthy notes of the coconut. This recipe from Kawaling Pinoy recommends a two-step process that simmers the squid first in vinegar before cooking in coconut milk until sauce is reduced and fat is rendered. If you want to add crispy texture to make things more interesting, Panlasang Pinoy suggests grilling the squid first in less than 5 minutes. Put the squid into a slow cooker, then add coconut cream and other ingredients to be cooked for 8 hours. We know this takes a lot of time (and electricity) but imagine the rich and sumptuous dish you would make…yum!

RELLENONG PUSIT (STUFFED SQUID)

If you have tried rellenong bangus before, you would be glad to know that you can replicate the recipe to a medium-size squid. If it’s your first time hearing about relleno, it is a Spanish cooking method (from the Spanish word rellenar which means “to stuff”) adapted in the Philippines that involves stuffing a chicken or, alternatively, milkfish with ground pork, preserved meats, sweet pickle relish, cheddar cheese, raisins, and other ingredients to create a delightfully confusing smorgasbord of sweet, tangy, and buttery impression on the palate. Rellenong pusit follows the traditional procedure. You just need to separate the head from the body and remove the organs before marinating the squid in calamansi juice to denature and remove the funky smell. As suggested in Panlasang Pinoy, stuff the cooked picadillo or ground pork into the squid's body (you can add other ingredients listed above). Roll the squid over the flour and dip in the beaten egg before covering it in flour. You’ll come up with a crispy and crumbly breading that is far from the odd texture of squid that you got used to. This is exactly the perfect party dish that Filipinos love to have. 

SPICY SIZZLING SQUID

Nothing can beat the sizzling pork sisig as bar chow or appetizer. Still, too much of it is regrettably the enemy of a well-functioning heart. It is hard to resist the original buttery and zesty platter of chopped pig’s ears and snout. But the good thing about sisig is you can replace the fatty protein with healthier alternatives and still be able to replicate the flavor profile that got pork-loving Filipinos chowing down on it and reaching for pineapple juice later. This recipe from Epicurious involves chopping the seafood to get squid rings (or bite-size pieces if preferred) and seasoning the meat before searing in a large cast-iron skillet. Add chopped red chilies and a squeeze of calamansi, then serve with steaming rice (optional). Now that’s a sisig we love sans the guilt.