Botany Bay Calamari Morning

[SydneyIsSkyBlue]

Good afternoon raiders,

Headed out last Friday morning to Botany to chase a few calamari as it's been a while since I've been out. Came across a new land-based area which I thought I'd test out and turned out to be a really fun couple of hours. A word of warning to anyone fishing in Randwick council however, you MUST be wearing life jackets at all times when fishing. In the 3 hours I was there, there were police doing random sweeps and at one point I had one come up to me and thank me for wearing a life jacket (followed by a good chat about his squidding experiences haha), however I saw them dishing out fines to 3 people in my immediate vicinity.  What I don't understand though is that there were people (I presume tourists) down by the water with with no life jackets. Apparently they don't need them if not in possession of fishing gear - bizarre!

All in all though, nice to get out again and get onto some calamari. The biggest measured 30cm hood length, then 24cm and 17cm. Called it a day and came home with a feed of - half braised in a Greek tomato sauce to be served over some rice or dipped with bread and the other half crumbed and made into rings. Unfortunately leaving the rings in kiwi fruit over night turned them to mush when cooked - duly noted for next time.

On that, has anyone had any experience with tenderising calamari specifically? I don't mind the "un-tenderized" snap that they naturally have but my partner loved the calamari rings she had the other day from the local seafood place down the road the other day which was super tender but still held structure. I suspect I should be doing it for more like 2 hours as opposed to overnight. Guess I know for next time! 😀

[61 crusher]

Good one, sounds like you had a great morning session at a new location, bloody double standards re life jackets, kiwi fruit probably 1/2 to 2hrs, I once tried milk overnight but the others in the family weren’t overly impressed I didn’t mind it though 

[SydneyIsSkyBlue]

11 minutes ago, 61 crusher said:

Good one, sounds like you had a great morning session at a new location, bloody double standards re life jackets, kiwi fruit probably 1/2 to 2hrs, I once tried milk overnight but the others in the family weren’t overly impressed I didn’t mind it though 

Thanks mate. I know it's bizarre! Have a feeling that knick in the side of the calamari's wing came from a follower as I was reeling it in too. They're aggressive buggers when they want to be.

Interesting you say that, I've tried the milk overnight too and didn't think it did much. Still a snap when you bit into it.

[61 crusher]

10 minutes ago, SydneyIsSkyBlue said:

Thanks mate. I know it's bizarre! Have a feeling that knick in the side of the calamari's wing came from a follower as I was reeling it in too. They're aggressive buggers when they want to be.

Shame you didn’t have a spare rod, you could have had your hands full😂, re the milk we also noticed it still had a snap to it, the kiwi fruit definitely works 

[Central Coast Fisherman]

Great job on the squid. I’ve been catching a heap of them up here on the Central Coast. A couple of weeks ago I caught 5 in 5 casts right on sunset with the biggest going 33cm hood length. 

We have 1-2 meals of squid per week. What I do is clean the hoods then butterfly them so they are one big piece of squid. In the morning on the day you intend on eating the squid, I mix up one mashed kiwi fruit with one cup of milk then pour this over the squid in an air tight container and put it back in the fridge for around 10 hours. 

Then before you cook it for dinner give the squid a really good wash under fresh water to get all the kiwi fruit and milk off, dry it really well with paper towel, score the squid in a crisscross pattern then cut into strips and cook however you like your squid.

My wife and I had quite a few goes at different tenderising methods and I reckon this way is best. 

To cook we prefer flour, egg then crumb and shallow fry. The kids absolutely love it (and dogs when there’s left overs). 

We also eat the tentacles and candles.

All the squid I have been catching have been big so I guess you can reduce the tenderising time depending on the size of the squid.

Cheers,

Phil

[SydneyIsSkyBlue]

17 minutes ago, Central Coast Fisherman said:

Great job on the squid. I’ve been catching a heap of them up here on the Central Coast. A couple of weeks ago I caught 5 in 5 casts right on sunset with the biggest going 33cm hood length. 

We have 1-2 meals of squid per week. What I do is clean the hoods then butterfly them so they are one big piece of squid. In the morning on the day you intend on eating the squid, I mix up one mashed kiwi fruit with one cup of milk then pour this over the squid in an air tight container and put it back in the fridge for around 10 hours. 

Then before you cook it for dinner give the squid a really good wash under fresh water to get all the kiwi fruit and milk off, dry it really well with paper towel, score the squid in a crisscross pattern then cut into strips and cook however you like your squid.

My wife and I had quite a few goes at different tenderising methods and I reckon this way is best. 

To cook we prefer flour, egg then crumb and shallow fry. The kids absolutely love it (and dogs when there’s left overs). 

We also eat the tentacles and candles.

All the squid I have been catching have been big so I guess you can reduce the tenderising time depending on the size of the squid.

Cheers,

Phil

Lovely - thanks for that Phil. 

Doing a bit of research today and it appears as though blended pineapple, papaya or kiwi fruit are the way to go. At the end of the day, I guess it's all about trial and error. Will give the kiwi and milk for a shorter time frame a go next time. 

The tried and tested low and slow method was awesome though for the braised squid. Great texture and extremely tender.

[Welster]

Great work at the new spot.   I have the same issue not getting my calamari as tender as a restaurant or shop.    Minimal cooking time definitely helps though. 

[Keflapod]

Hi sydneyIsSkyBlue(sydneyFC is it?), the tender calamari you are eating at restaurants is likely the Gould's squid. They are very tender but not as tasty as the Southerns.  You did really well both in catching a good feed as well as dodging a fine. Funny that. There's nothing fine about a fine. They should have called them turds or something.

[SydneyIsSkyBlue]

1 hour ago, Keflapod said:

Hi sydneyIsSkyBlue(sydneyFC is it?), the tender calamari you are eating at restaurants is likely the Gould's squid. They are very tender but not as tasty as the Southerns.  You did really well both in catching a good feed as well as dodging a fine. Funny that. There's nothing fine about a fine. They should have called them turds or something.

Definitely Sydney FC mate  Glad to see someone picked that up!

Are Gould's squid the same as "arrow squid"?

It's bizarre, there was one elderly couple who walked onto the rocks and literally crouched down and dipped their hands in the water as the swell was coming through and crashed onto the rock. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and yet, no requirement for a life jacket. 

[Keflapod]

Mate my son chants in the cove at every game right next to the capo. I can hear him in the shower "ole ole ole...." As well as all those other taunting chants we can't repeat. 

The arrows are  inshore species whereas the Gould's are offshore. 

Those elderly people must not have had any experience with ocean rocks. Surprising given they have made it this far in life but also surprising if there was no obvious signs around for them to read.

[masterfisho7]

Well some good eating there or great baits 

[blaxland]

Nice catch and good eating. I dont mind a bit of snap from fresh calamari there not chewy. As to rules they are for the lowest common denominator guess thats city life.

[SydneyIsSkyBlue]

8 hours ago, Keflapod said:

Mate my son chants in the cove at every game right next to the capo. I can hear him in the shower "ole ole ole...." As well as all those other taunting chants we can't repeat. 

The arrows are  inshore species whereas the Gould's are offshore. 

Those elderly people must not have had any experience with ocean rocks. Surprising given they have made it this far in life but also surprising if there was no obvious signs around for them to read.

Love it mate!  what a legend.

My strong guess is that they were tourists and there were definitely signs around warning of the danger (including death).

[Fishn50]

Hi,

I've been a chef for 20+ years. The number 1 thing people do wrong with squid is over cook it. 

I almost always cut mine at home into finger strips like beef stroganoff as i like to stir fry it for maximum flavor.  Keeping it all cut the same size is also very important to keeping tender. 

It Never Ever Needs milk, kiwi fruit or anything else to tenderize it, if you don`t overcook it it will always be as soft as butter. The best way i can explain is to think how thin a piece of squid is either in a ring or a strip, it doesn't take much time to cook such a thin piece of seafood. 

What you are looking for is the squid to turn from translucent to white. As soon as the squid firms up in shape ( isn't soft and floppy ) its done. 

As a guide:

1. Squid strips stir fried - 2 mins no longer.
2. Rings deep fried at 180c -  1 1/2 to 2mins, no longer.
3. Cooking in a tomato based sauce, there is 2 ways:

•  First is to have the sauce 90% cooked/reduced to desired thickness then add the squid and cook for 2 mins only. 
• Second is once the sauce has started before reduction, add the squid and cook for 45 mins as a minimum up to 1 hour, with the lid on and stirring occasionally. This is the classic way that Italians and Greeks cook their squid which gets spooned over pasta.

Hope this helps you all to get your squid tender!

 

[SydneyIsSkyBlue]

37 minutes ago, Fishn50 said:

Hi,

I've been a chef for 20+ years. The number 1 thing people do wrong with squid is over cook it. 

I almost always cut mine at home into finger strips like beef stroganoff as i like to stir fry it for maximum flavor.  Keeping it all cut the same size is also very important to keeping tender. 

It Never Ever Needs milk, kiwi fruit or anything else to tenderize it, if you don`t overcook it it will always be as soft as butter. The best way i can explain is to think how thin a piece of squid is either in a ring or a strip, it doesn't take much time to cook such a thin piece of seafood. 

What you are looking for is the squid to turn from translucent to white. As soon as the squid firms up in shape ( isn't soft and floppy ) its done. 

As a guide:

1. Squid strips stir fried - 2 mins no longer.
2. Rings deep fried at 180c -  1 1/2 to 2mins, no longer.
3. Cooking in a tomato based sauce, there is 2 ways:

•  First is to have the sauce 90% cooked/reduced to desired thickness then add the squid and cook for 2 mins only. 
• Second is once the sauce has started before reduction, add the squid and cook for 45 mins as a minimum up to 1 hour, with the lid on and stirring occasionally. This is the classic way that Italians and Greeks cook their squid which gets spooned over pasta.

Hope this helps you all to get your squid tender!

 

Legend!

Thank you so much @Fishn50.