Fideua con Láminas de Sepia Salteadas

HI,

I made Fideua con Láminas de Sepia Salteadas aka Angel Hair Pasta with Sauteed Squid last week.

I used large squid I had acquired from H-Mart, where 3 squids weighed approximately 2 pounds. While we loved the dish, the only aspect I am still wondering about is:

Sauté squid while pasta stands:
Toss squid strips with sea salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add squid and parsley and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. (Squid will still be partially translucent but will continue to cook from residual heat.)

While I did my best to cut the squid into "Lay each body flat on a cutting board, interior side up, and cut lengthwise (including flaps) into thin spaghetti-like strips (less than 1/8 inch wide) with a sharp knife." Some were indeed thicker.

When it came time to sautee, I threw in the garlic in a pan hot enough they were quickly starting to color. The mound of squid, which I had maybe 1/2 pound more than the recipe called for, didn't seem to have enough time to cook in 30 seconds. I ended up doing for several minutes until I was satisfied, though now they were semi-braising in their own liquid. Meanwhile some of the squid strands began to curl.

I am still wondering in the back of my mind if the squid would have been cooked adequately if I had stopped at 30 seconds. Did I go to the other extreme of overcooking them? The squid had some texture, though not rubber band level.

Anyway I am hoping for some feedback on whether I overcooked the beast or because I was working with a larger (thicker?) specimen, I compensated adequately.

Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy,

That's a very nice dish there and it sounds like you were pretty much happy with the texture of the squid. I could imagine thicker cut pieces needing a couple of minutes in the pan to be properly cooked through but not yet toughening up, though in general, as stated in the recipe you cite, there is residual cooking out of the pan and so, if the pieces are small, a minute (or perhaps less, if the pan is really hot) is all that's needed. That's the approach I use in dishes that involve sauteed squid, e.g., this somewhat non-traditional but very tasty fideuejat amb mariscs:


http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=67862#67862

Antonius

Antonius,

Thanks for the feedback.

I might have taken pictures, though we were pretty hungry. I am certain there will be a next time since everyone left the table happy.

Regards,

Cathy, there may be a couple of reasons why you had liquid braising, instead of frying. One possibility is that the squid was too wet. Drying it in paper towels is an option. The other possibility is that you putt too much squid in the pan, causing the temperature to drop and braising, instead of sauteing or that the temp. in the pan wasn´t high enough. An additional point is that is better to salt the squid after cooked not before, it toughens up. Also if it is too thick and in danger of getting tough, you can put a little lemon juice on it, leave it for half hour or so and, before you put it in the pan, dry it with paper towels.
In any case, if you are going to add the squid to the fideuá, you don´t need to cook it completely, it will finish cooking together with everything and will add flavor to the fideos.

Antonius, there is a variation on the fideuá, that is characteristic of the Tarragona area. Is called Fideus Rosats or Roseyat de Fideus.
Is a very simple dish, with the hard part of getting a fish broth of considerable strength. This a dish typical of the fishermen that would make a broth out of the fish they weren´t going to be able to sell in the market, and prepare it on board.
Once you have the broth made, it can be done with fish heads, bones, shells, etc. and reduced to increase flavors, sautee very lightly some shrimp, fish cubes (monkfish is good for it because of its fimness), squid or whatever you like, in a paella pan or a wide pan, take out and reserve. In the same oil, add some if needed, put the Angel hair pasta and keep tossing it until it gets golden or light brown. Add the broth little by little, stirring the pasta often. As it absorbs the broth keep adding carefully, until the pasta is done to your liking. In the last couple of minutes add the sauteed shrimp, etc.
Take it off the fire and let it sit for around five minutes and serve.
It get very well complimented with Allioli. You don´t need to put any fish or anything if you dont want or may want to add a few clams before you finish cooking the fideus.
This dish is done also with rice and called Arrós a Banda.
The only problem with these dishes is that everything is based in the quality of the broth. The better the broth the better the dish.
Bon Profit!!

Athough I've never tried them in anything, I've made salt-and-pepper squid a couple times with the Korean squid. I cook them a little bit longer than I would have cooked their tiny cousins. (my benchmark is when they begin to turn opaque) I have noticed that, regardless of cooking time, the larger squid seem to be a bit more toothy than the little ones - and when you've crossed the line, they're positively inedible.

I prefer them, though, partly because it's far less work cleaning two or three squid than ten or so little ones - and you can't beat the value.

Rafa wrote:Cathy, there may be a couple of reasons why you had liquid braising, instead of frying. One possibility is that the squid was too wet. Drying it in paper towels is an option. The other possibility is that you putt too much squid in the pan, causing the temperature to drop and braising, instead of sauteing or that the temp. in the pan wasn´t high enough. An additional point is that is better to salt the squid after cooked not before, it toughens up. Also if it is too thick and in danger of getting tough, you can put a little lemon juice on it, leave it for half hour or so and, before you put it in the pan, dry it with paper towels.
In any case, if you are going to add the squid to the fideuá, you don´t need to cook it completely, it will finish cooking together with everything and will add flavor to the fideos.

While the pan was hot and the squid dry, I agree with your thought I put too much squid in at the same time. I did salt the squid in advance simply following the recipe, I will salt afterwards next time.

I have to admit a lack of confidence in this thicker squid getting cooked adequately after the quick sautee. I know food continues to cook after being taking off the heat. I might want my steaks rare, I am not so sure about my squid.

What should be texture be of the tenticles chopped up and cooked separately in the sauce? They were a bit chewy, though not unpleasantly.

Thanks!

Regards,

Normally, the tentacles tend to be chewier than the body, but being thinner if you are not careful they will overcook, compared to the rest. Again, with big size squid you can tenderize it with lemmon juice, for 15 min. to half hour, or you can beat it with a roller, same that you would do with octopus.

Kathy,

I wouldn't use large squid for a quick fry or saute any more than I would grill a brisket medium rare. When I'm making a shellfish soup, rice, or pasta dish (which in the winter is often) whether its Spanish, Italian, Brazilian, Korean etc., I usually rely on a large tough critter like a big octopus, clam, squid, etc. as part of the base (broth), cooking (with dried shrimp, anchovy, bacalao, or whatever you've got) until it gets well past that vast, middle stage of rubberiness. You can then take it out and toss it or chop it up to incorporate at the last moment with the small, tender, and quick-cooking animals.

Some might think that the idea of long-cooking tough cuts of shellfish with dried, processed, even tinned seafood before adding the good stuff clashes with the basic idea of cooking fresh and expensive seafood, but according to my received wisdom, its standard operating procedure. Parallels abound in Asian (fish sauce, dried shrimp, scallops, fish) and African influenced cuisine.

Which begs the question, what if you only have the big tough guy? Then I'd still go with the long cook. Then again, I learned to cook from folks that elevate rice with Vienna sausages or canned cuttlefish with ink to festival food status...

Hey Jeff,

I agree; with the bigger cephalolpods, be they squid or (the in this country rare) cuttlefish, I like a slow braise either on the stove-top or in the oven, be they either cut up in pieces or stuffed whole. For the sort of preparations such as Cathy's dish above or the one I refer to above, I prefer the frutti di mare or marisc(o)s on the small side. In the fideuejat version or adaptation illustrated above, the squid were fairly small, the shrimp medium to small; the scallops were big sea scallops but I halved each of them into two thinner disks. Either with rice or with pasta, the balance of bite between the seafood and the starch element works better for me if the seafood pieces aren't too big.

*

Hola Rafa,

Yes, as a long time student of things Catalan I am indeed familiar with the dishes you mention. I love dishes like arròs a banda, where the one cooking process yields a two course meal, in this case, first the rice and then the fish with the potatoes and other vegetables. There are some wonderful analogues in other cuisines, e.g. bouillabaisse.

Regarding broths, yes, a proper fish broth would be more flavourful than the shrimp shell broth I used in my New Year's fideuejat alla fantasia di Antonio pictured above, but there are various complications involved with such things in a place like Chicago, which is so far from the sea.* The traditional array of pescados de roca could only be approximated here and would be expensive, something which for our very small household is hard to justify on an occasion when the three of us are eating alone. In that case, I think the shrimp shell stock is really a great alternative that lends a dish a nice round and pleasant seafoody background. Of course, with a little forethought and advanced planning, one could gather some good bits of carcass and freeze them, then make a good batch (and maybe even freeze some of that for a future rainy day).

Bon profit!
Antonius


* Let's not revisit the old bone of contention about the availablility of great seafood in Chicago here. My position is: yes, you can sometimes get very good stuff in various stores, always get very good or excellent stuff in a certain handful of stores, but all in all, the level of quality is lower (and the geneuinely high quality stuff here concommitantly more expensive) than in places where the seafood eating culture has deeper roots, which is to say, places where there were and in some cases still are active fishing industries. If you disagree with that fine but lets go off on that tangent in one of the existing threads.

The question of fish broths is fraught--as Antonius justly notes--for us in the middle of the country. (Count Montreal pretty much mostly in on this, too.) It's just awfully hard to Do It Right.

One option that I have in Kansas City has worked out fairly well for me. There are a couple of places in town that still rely upon the Missouri Rivery fishery as a commercial source. Which means that I can always find buffalo fish and carp, and sometimes suckers, quite fresh and available. For $3-5, I can buy an assortment of heads, spines, and various chunks, enough to give me an excellent broth.

Now this does not sound in the least elegant. And it ain't. But the broth is quite usable for, e.g., clam chowder, fish stew, and the like. I must admit that I haven't chanced it for anything refined, lest my guests ask about the base of the fish course.

Now here's a question that I'm sure many of you can answer. Once upon a time--maybe in Julia?--I read that one should never simmer fish parts longer than 30 minutes in the making of a broth. I've followed that principle religiously ever since I read it, probably 25 yrs ago.

I've never tested this principle. Is it correct? If so, why? Advice anyone?

Geo

Now here's a question that I'm sure many of you can answer. Once upon a time--maybe in Julia?--I read that one should never simmer fish parts longer than 30 minutes in the making of a broth. I've followed that principle religiously ever since I read it, probably 25 yrs ago.

I've never tested this principle. Is it correct? If so, why? Advice anyone?

I have read and practiced the same. When I peel and clean raw shrimp, I keep the shells frozen for a future broth. I also will make broth from lobster shells. If you go beyond the 30 minute period, then the broth begins to take a bitter turn.

When I made the squid, it was for a weekday lunch. I didn't have two hours to cook lunch, I could possibly spare an hour. I used a tomato sauce I had canned last summer. Instead of fish broth, I used a combination of white wine and water. I didn't even have the right pasta shape, I used bucatini. Somedays you just have to work with what you have.

Regards,

I know that what I am going to say may sound to sacrilege to many, but in the times where i lived in Chicago and couldn´t find a fish store that had anything but frozen stuff, there were occassions when you could make a relatively decent broth by using clam juice, powder bonito flakes (found in the few oriental/japanese stores), dry ground shrimp (hispanic stores) and some shrimp shells.
Again, this was long, long time ago, back in the 70s.
If you are desperate enough, you could always try it!!!
The important thing is, in case of need, you improvise!!

Geo wrote:Now here's a question that I'm sure many of you can answer. Once upon a time--maybe in Julia?--I read that one should never simmer fish parts longer than 30 minutes in the making of a broth. I've followed that principle religiously ever since I read it, probably 25 yrs ago.

I've never tested this principle. Is it correct? If so, why? Advice anyone?

Geo

Geo,

In The Way to Cook, Julia advises to simmer fish fumet no longer than 20 minutes after a boil/simmer has been reached, and in Madeliene Kamman's The New Making of a Cook, you are instructed to simmer the fumet no longer than 35 minutes.

Your use of carp and buffalo fish as a substitution for salt water species is ingenious. Conversly, several times a year, when I prepare large scale batches of [/u][/i]Gefilte Fish at the private club where I'm the chef, I find myself using red snapper or grouper fumet to supplement the fumet made from our pike and whitefish bones. I fine the two types of stock pretty much interchangeable.

Cathy2 wrote: I didn't even have the right pasta shape, I used bucatini. Somedays you just have to work with what you have.

Cathy,

The bucatini you substituted for the angel hair strike me as a vastly better shape for this recipe. I've said this before in some posts from the early days of LTH that, for my Italian sensibilities, I find angel hair to be good in certain brothy preparations where the textural character of the pasta itself is not an important element but otherwise not such a great form, since they so easily -- pretty much inevitably -- end up cooked beyond the 'al dente' level I like. In a dish such as the one you made, I myself would prefer the bucatini, which can easily be cooked 'al dente'. But of course, that would be injecting an Italianate element in a Spanish recipe... but then, if I'm eating the dish, I don't mind doing that!

*

Evil Ronnie/Geo,

Very ineresting about the use of the fresh water fish for stock. Thanks for the info.

Antonius

Geo wrote:Now here's a question that I'm sure many of you can answer. Once upon a time--maybe in Julia?--I read that one should never simmer fish parts longer than 30 minutes in the making of a broth. I've followed that principle religiously ever since I read it, probably 25 yrs ago.

I've never tested this principle. Is it correct? If so, why? Advice anyone?

According to Harold McGee in "On Food & Cooking":

"Fish stocks, or fumets (from the French for "aroma"), are also generally prepared in an hour or less, since longer simmering of fragile fish bones can dissolve calcium salts that then cloud the liquid and give it a chalky taste."