Southern calamari ready to be cleaned

There’s a bit of a knack to cleaning squid. Done right, it can be quick and easy.

Before cutting into a calamari, make sure it’s been chilled down for a few hours first in the fridge.

There are two main problems when cleaning squid; dealing with the ink and dealing with the slime.

Cleaning squid straight out of the water or at room temperature

Begin by removing the head

Step 1

Set yourself up a cleaning area near some running water and make sure you have a sharp knife and a container to put waste into.

Step 2

Firstly, the head needs to be removed.

Another advantage to cleaning squid after they’ve been in the fridge is that the flesh and the entrails become more ridged. This means that when you remove the head, most of the

The entrails should come out completely

Step 3

The two side flaps and the skin around the mantle can then be removed by pushing your thumb under one of the flaps, then pealing the whole lot away as one piece.

Step 4

Now you’re left with a tube and if you want to make calamari rings, you’ll need to pick out any remaining entrails and the backbone from inside the mantle before cutting them into rings.

I prefer to slice the mantle open, remove the entrails and the clear ‘plastic’ like backbone, then cut the calamari into strips when it comes time to cooking. It’s much easier.

Step 5

After a quick rinse and wipe down, you’ll be left with a flat piece of beautiful white flesh.

If you don’t intend to eat them straight away then lay them flat in individual plastic bags and put them in the freezer. Squid freezes remarkably well, and keeps for ages.

Remove the skin and wings in one

Keep the heads and wings for bait

Too Easy

Cleaning squid doesn’t have to equate to slime and ink over all and sundry.

Doing it this way is easy, quick and you won’t end up looking like a 5 year old who’s been finger painting all day.

Slice the clean hood open	Remove the feather
Remove any remaining entrails	Packaged for freezing