Calamari Surprise

Of course, I’ve never done this before.  DH usually cleans all the fresh stuff.  But not this day he didn’t.  He was working and I thought I was defrosting a bag of octopus, which required nothing except some cutting because I already made sure the head was gone before I agreed to cook it.

So, I did what any twenty-first century girl would do.  I YouTubed ‘How to Clean Calamari’.

The video was very helpful and I followed the instructions and began cleaning my bowl of calamari.

Now, just in case you find yourself in this same exact situation one day, I want you to be prepared.  That’s why I paused after every step and took photos.  You can thank me later.  With chocolates and good wine.

First, clean all of the calamari.  Then lay one across your cutting board.  See those two extra long squiggly things?  (see photo above) Those, my friend, are it’s feelers.  Cut them off and discard.

Next, you’re going to cut the little tentacles off.  You cut right under the eyes.

Here comes the fun part.  Ready? Flip the tentacles open and there is an eyeball in the center.

 

Now, locate the V shaped piece…

Lay the calamari flat and squeeze out any excess dye that might be left inside.  If it feels like there’s something stuck in there, don’t worry, just keep squeezing.  You might get lucky like me and find…

Looks like this one didn’t have enough time to digest it’s lunch.

That’s it.  Now, you can grill them or cut them into rings to fry or however you want to cook them.

Some of you might find this funny and have probably done things far beyond this and if you have, you’re a better woman than I am.  But I have one question for you.  When are we having dinner at your place?