Save the Ocean, Eat A Squid
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Giant squid have moved to warmer Pacific waters, threatening native fish. What to do? Try a tasty tentacled meal.
Chef Chris Cosentino holds a fresh-caught giant Humboldt squid.
Chris Cosentino and Manfred Wrembel stand on the rocking stern of the Huli Cat, a 53-foot fishing charter. Cosentino is back after a week away from his San Francisco restaurant, Incanto, filming the second season of his now canceled reality show, Chefs vs. City. He’s jet-lagged and squirrelly, and his bleached-blond faux-hawk, normally moussed to attention, has gone limp.
Wrembel, his sous-chef, briefs Cosentino on what has been happening at their restaurant, Incanto, while he was gone. “Last night was the chicken livers,” Wrembel reports, between drags on a Marlboro. “They came out really good.”
The chefs are headed out to the open ocean on a hunt for the giant Humboldt squid. Ten years ago, the beasts were confined to Mexico’s west coast, but ocean waters warmed by climate change are believed to have lured them north. Here, off the Northern California coast, the Humboldt have found a whole ocean largely fished out of predators like bluefin tuna and salmon.
Humboldt spawn quickly and eat voraciously. By some estimates, there are now tens of millions of them in the northern Pacific, all intent on devouring some of the fishing industry’s smaller traditional catch, like hake and anchovies. It’s a big problem that moves up the food chain and could impact greater varieties of seafood.
“Squid is now the dominant species in the Pacific,” Cosentino says. “The waters have changed.”
To him, assigning blame — to global warming or unsustainable fishing practices — seems beside the point.
“The question is,” Cosentino says of the big squid, “what do we do to stop them?” He thinks the answer is obvious: “We eat them!”
Cosentino strips rotator blades from a giant Humboldt squid's tentacles.
Cosentino serves giant Humboldt squid as a confit at his San Francisco restaurant, Incanto.
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i'd gladly eat one...
i won't mind having a whole squid for the BBQ this friday
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i love squids
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squid feed for the fishes
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Originally posted by the Bear:
i'd gladly eat one...
i won't mind having a whole squid for the BBQ this friday
Yeahhh, instead of roast turkey, a squidily change for Christmas
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not only squids, but jellyfish
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Originally posted by Summer hill:
i love squids
how you eat them? -
thing is these squid are only in the waters off New Mexico
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Originally posted by NeverSayGoodBye:
how you eat them?i like them deep fried at old chang kee
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due to human pollution of the oceans, jellyfish population has exploded
pls help to eat the jelly fish too
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Originally posted by the Bear:
thing is these squid are only in the waters off New Mexico
they're huge, not the typical squid you get in local stores. Nevermind, try next year, remember to order your squids from this guy in advance... -
Originally posted by Mr Milo:
due to human pollution of the oceans, jellyfish population has exploded
pls help to eat the jelly fish too
Jellyfish Salad
ingredients:
jellyfishy thingy.. get from provision shop at the market.. looks like a translucent mouse pad
vinegar
sugar
plum sauce
sweet chilli (sin sin chilli sauce is good)
chinese celery
preparation...
jellyfish thingy:
soak in cold water.. change every 5 to 6 hours until it is clear (takes a couple of days)
when the water is clear, taste the water a bit (don't chug and drink the stuff!) it must be tasteless..
hot water from a flask (do NOT use boiling water, temp should be around, maybe 85degrees or something) pour onto the jellyfishy thingy, stir a bit (about 5 to 10 seconds), then run under tap water or cold water, until cool.. remove and towel dry with kitchen towels... place in container...
when you want to eat, take out, towel dry (again coz it kinda "loses water" ) and slice it up or use scissors to cut into strips... (do that just before serving, try to dry it out as much as possible)
sauce:
about a jar of plum sauce, some chilli sauce, a splash of vinegar and sugar... stir stir stir.. until all dissolves and mixes.. put in fridge until you want to serve..
serving:
get the stems of chinese celery (kng chye) and use the stems.. cut them into about 2 to 3mm pieces, stir a whole lot into the sauce...
get the jellyfishy thingy, dry out, cut into strips..
put into plate..
pour the prepared sauce onto the jellyfishy strips..
mix.. serve
the serving must be done just before eating.. else the jellyfishy things kinda disintegrates and "leaks" water..
enjoy
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Originally posted by NeverSayGoodBye:
they're huge, not the typical squid you get in local stores. Nevermind, try next year, remember to order your squids from this guy in advance...Cosentino is a very well-known chef who has appeared numerous times in the Food Network..
in the past, the fishermen sold the squid to the Japanese and the Koreans.. rarely if ever eating the "red devil squid" themselves
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Originally posted by Summer hill:
i like them deep fried at old chang kee
old chang kee one not so nice, go to some good western food stalls in kopi tiam and order a plate of calamari, you won't regret... -
Humboldt squid have a nice peppery taste. My landlord in SD had some in a feep freezer from a fishing trip.
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Originally posted by the Bear:
Cosentino is a very well-known chef who has appeared numerous times in the Food Network..
in the past, the fishermen sold the squid to the Japanese and the Koreans.. rarely if ever eating the "red devil squid" themselves
Sounds terror, "red devil squid." Hope it tastes evil
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Originally posted by Kuali Baba:
Humboldt squid have a nice peppery taste. My landlord in SD had some in a feep freezer from a fishing trip.
Pass some to 'the bear", he wanted to BBQ humboldt squid this friday