Korean Grilled Squid (w/ photos)

[Pei]

We don't own a grill, but were able to approximate one of our favorite Korean dishes: grilled giant squid. I was surprised at how easy it is to cook this particular sea creature, since SO is the seafood expert in the house. All we did was clean the inside, smear a little gochujiant (Korean chili paste) inside the carcass, sear on a cast iron skillet, and broil until crispy on the outside. The resulting dish had a nice chewy bite to it but wasn't tough, and had a nice spiciness from the chili paste.

This is a great last minute side dish because squid freezes well, defrosts quickly, and only requires gochujiang to become delicious.

photos and step-by-step: http://www.chezpei.com/2006/11/korean...

[Olivia]

Thanks for this! My husband threw a medium sized squid in our shopping cart the other day and I've been debating how to cook it (grill? braise/stew? fry?) because I'm not used to cooking larger squid. AND I have a whack of gochu' that I've got to use. Sweet!!

[Olivia]

Hm. Well, the flavour was excellent, but goddamn it, this was some tough squid.

Did I overcook it? Or is some squid just tough inherently?

[Aromatherapy]

Puzzled by "it's hard to overcook squid." Always found that way too easy! Is the giant size different? But I'm thinking smear gochujiang (love the stuff) inside smallish squid and cook a la plancha in a cast-iron skillet (lightly oiled skillet, high heat, goes fast).

[MMRuth]

My understanding is that, in order to be tender, squid needs to be cooked either very quickly or for a very long time.

[Pei]

I should clarify. I thought it would be very easy to overcook it too, but was assured by the resident seafood expert that it would be okay. Sure enough, the pieces that came out at 7 minutes weren't much different from the ones that came out around 12 minutes. I wouldn't cook it for 20 minutes, but it's not like a scallop where even ten seconds can make or break a dish.

[lyn]

wow that squid is HUGE! I saw some like that at a local fish market stand (now I am trying to remember which one) within the last couple weeks and I rejected it b/c I had no idea how it would turn out. I wonder if it would work on a grill pan?

[Pei]

I'm sure it would work on a grill pan. That's what I would have used if I owned one. Try it! I was surprised it turned out well too; I'm not the seafood maven in this pair.