Learn: How to clean calamari

1. Always wearing gloves, gently pull the head away from the body and separate it, removing the innards and the small ink sac at the same time. Save the ink for other recipes.

2. Use a knife to cut off the lower part of the head to remove the eyes, as they burst when fried and splatter hot oil. Keep the tentacles, and if the head with the tentacles is large, cut it into smaller pieces so they all fry evenly.

3. Pull to detach the white internal cartilage from inside the squid. Remove it.

With fresh squid, never remove the dark outer membrane.

4. Lightly score the squid’s tail and rinse thoroughly under running water to remove any sand.

The marinating myth
Fresh squid doesn’t need marinating. To put it differently, it’s a sacrilege to take such fresh seafood that smells like the sea and soak it in liquids, herbs, or alcohol to marinate it.

Fresh squid has a natural sweetness paired with a briny aftertaste.

When do we salt them?
We don’t. Most of their content is seawater, and they’re flavorful on their own.