Squid & Leftover Rice

Tonight, my wife was out with friends, I wasn’t very hungry, and that left me with a zero effort night.

My solution: squid with fried-ish rice.

I’ve got a box of frozen squid in the freezer – a good standby for a quick low-fat protein.  Some of the brown rice I made with the beef shank a couple of nights ago was still in the fridge.  So:

The squid:

• They were little ones.  That’s just how they were.
• I cleaned out the guts and the “backbone”, then cut them into rings.
• Then, I salted the squid and let them sit in lime juice until I was done screwing around washing dishes and stuff.
• Once I was ready, I drained off the liquid and threw the squid into a smoking hot pan with a little olive oil.  The pan was hot enough, by the way, that it sent up a big fireball when I tossed it (so, yeah, watch for that).

In the case that you made it here searching for answers because you don’t know how to cook squid, they’re done as soon as they turn bright white and opaque.  With a pan as hot as mine was, and with relatively little squid, it took about 90 seconds.  If you overcook them, they turn to rubber.  But, if you turn the heat to low and keep them moist (simmering), they’ll return to being soft in about a half an hour.  For quick cooking, I usually find it best to keep the cooking process as liquid free as possible, i.e. grilling, frying, or using such a high heat that liquid evaporates before it can interfere with the texture.

The rice:

I had some brown rice with diced carrots, celery, and poblano left over from two nights ago.  I also needed to use the remnants of that same poblano and the last little bit of the ginger, and chopped them up to cook with the squid.  But, when I spaced out and cooked the squid without them, I decided to add them to the rice.  As soon as I took the squid from the pan, I put the pepper and ginger in with the juices I saved from the squid (with lime).  I also added a little bit of mirin and some water to deglaze the squid bits from the bottom of the pan.  I let it cook for a minute or so, then added the rice to soak up the liquid, cooking it enough to reheat.

I mixed everything together on a plate as if I were a bachelor again.  Because, that’s what husbands do when their wives go out…

What I liked:

• I like squid.  I grew up in the Midwest and eating squid still makes me think of Jules Vern.  More than that, citrus flavors are good on squid.
• It took almost no effort.

FYI: For those of you in the habit of throwing limes in the microwave for 15 seconds to ease getting the juices out, accidently putting them in for 1min 55seconds will make them erupt in a little geyser.  While that’s kind of cool in a 7th grade boy sort of way, it’s also kid of messy.  On the plus side, lemon and lime juice make decent cleaners, and now my microwave is sparkling inside.