What Do You Do With a Squid the Size of Your Arm?

One of the most arresting sights at Butuan City's Seafood Market is the rows of giant squid, slippery bodies big as a small cat, tentacles thick as thumbs, and eyes that are eerily human-like. As I perused the market's offerings thoughts like 'Mmmm, red snapper, chuck it on the grill' and, 'Ooooh, octopus, Italian tomato stew with spinach,'  danced through my head.

Then my gaze fell upon the squid, and the only words that came to mind were 'Now what the he** do you do with that!?'

Luckily our host in Butuan City is quite a kitchen wizard, and during that week of non-stop sport eating he turned out a couple of personal favorites that take advantage of the sea beast's bounty.

Who doesn't love grilled squid? The problem, if you're preparing this at home, is that there's such a fine line between 'done' and 'rubber' that the risk of turning squid into something with a texture akin to a Superball is exceedingly high. With these babies, sheer volume lifts the getting-it-just-right pressure.

After severing (but not discarding) head and tentacles our host stuffed the skin-on bodies with a mixture of chopped onions and tomatoes and laid it all over low coals. We had a long wait for lunch but the wonderfully tender squid rings sporting a good bit of smoky char on the outside were well worth it. Bigger squid means, of course, more tentacles and Dave, an afficianado, especially appreciated the bounty.

Giant squid heads are a bit of a delicacy and our host urged us to give the eye a try. I passed.

The most surprising giant squid preparation we ate that week was an invention of the house: seafood Bicol Express. Bicol Express, a beloved Philippine specialty alleged to have originated in Bicol province (a vendor at Makati City's Salcedo Community Market also also claims to have invented the dish, so who knows), is a fiery dish made with chopped garlic, onions, chilies, pork, and plenty of rich coconut milk.

Our host's twist supplements pork with a variety of seafood (including squid tentacles, the nubs you see below), adds salted black beans, and enriches the coconut milk with smashed chicken liver. This will sound like blasphemy to many Filipinos, I know. (Does coconut milk ever need to be enriched? Liver will obliviate any delicate seafood flavor, right? If you add black beans and substitute seafood for pork is it still Bicol Express?) But the result of our host's experiments (he's been perfecting the dish for years, he says) is a sublime - if very rich - stew that, in spite of the presence of pork and those livers, tastes quite forcefully of freshness from the sea.

Especially wonderful were the squid tentacles, with a texture and flavor resembling small scallops. (And that's seaweed salad in the back, by the way.)

Apologies to those of you with access to giant squid (how do you like to prepare it?) - I didn't think to get the recipe because the beasts are nowhere to be seen in our neck of the woods.

But at least I'll know what to think about the next time I encounter them in a market: 'Mmmmm, giant squid - seafood Bicol Express.'

Comments

[Meng]

I never had a chance to try giant squid. I had small squid at Thai restaurants. It was serve in salads with fish sauce and lime juice. It was very good. BTW, I will be in KL in May. Thanks for all your posts.

[joey]

That seafood Bicol Express sounds interesting! I love Bicol Express, but I'm not a purist because I feel I'd be missing out if I only stuck to traditional preparations :)

I've caught squid like this from a local fisherman's fish trap...and took a bite from a live tentacle (after a friend did it -- of course I had to do it too!)! The freshest sushi I've ever tasted :)

[juls]

what we usually do at home (we use small squid btw) is to stuff them with onions, tomatoes, black pepper, and cheese. after stuffing them, we use a toothpick to "sew" the lips of the body. and then grill.... yum...

[Jennifer]

Hee. This reminds me of my KL friend who, because of his cholesterol problem, ate only the tentacles because "they move around, so they probably have less cholesterol". Well, not these babies *wink*!

[lachefderouge]

eeeeeyyeeahhhh.... that eye did look scary... I would have love to see that up close... But the first thing that came to my mind as well was to grill it too :) And to probably have stuffed it with bell peppers and served it with a tamarind sweet chili lime kinda sauce... great find :)

[Chubbypanda]

I'm going to try that grilling technique on one of the big ones. It looks really interesting.

[kitewithoutstring]

I've been working in the Philippines for the past few weeks, and have not had the time to visit any interesting place. Did try to buy the snacks and pastes at the airport and at Market!Market!, but it is still very much a hit and miss thing.

But yes, I like grilled squids stuffed with chilli, onionis and tomatos.

[Robyn]

Hi Meng - welcome to KL. I hope you come with an appetite. :-)

Joey - I could do the live tentacle if I didn't have to look the thing in the eye at the same time.

Juls - sounds great. It's really hard to go wrong with grilled squid, I think.

Jennifer - hmmm, your friend is very creative! When pushed, I suppose, folks can come up with all sorts of interesting formulations to justify consumption of things that, in excess, are probably not so good for them. ;-) I had no idea until recently that squid is quite high in cholesterol.

lachefderouge - that sounds great! I would throw a few chilies in with the tamarind.

Chubbypanda - you can get huge squid in SoCal?

kitewithoutstring - I hope you've managed to hit Makati City's Salcedo Market on Saturday mornings. I also like Milky Way cafe on what used to be called Pasay Rd for Filipino comfort food - sinigang, crispy hito (incredibly delicious), crispy baby pata (pork leg), green mango with bagoong, etc. Abe at Serendra (The Fort) does a decent job with Pampangan specialties. I wish I was in Manila right now!

[juls]

robyn- i'm really amazed and heartened the way you guys write those articles... it's as if you're really a native Filipino... from the correct spelling to the in-the-know insights with regional cuisine to restaurant specialties... you ought to try the Doreen Fernandez food writing contest.. (i'm not sure whether the tilt is still on)...

[juls]

yep, the contest is still on....

the focus is: MERIENDA! hope you guys join...

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080326-126599/Doreen-Fernandez-writing-tilt-focuses-on-merienda

[Xander]

My... I love squid, but that giant creature looks rather daunting! -X

[marcos calo medina]

hey robyn

you got quite a compliment from juls. indeed, we've made you and dave honorary kapampangans...and honorary butuanons as well.

it's rare to find a food writer (non-filipino at that) with the sensitivity and smarts and the curiosity to raise questions dealing with identity and nation-hood, as you often have done in the course of your visits.

we're looking forward to taking you to more places around the philippines.

marc

[Robyn]

Hi Juls - I owe my insights and correct spellings (most of the time - I don't always get it right) to the Filipinos that have so generously welcomed me into their homes and kitchens and eateries and food culture.
I'd love to enter the contest (an excuse for another trip to PHI) but I'm betting it's only open to Filipinos...

Xander - daunting at the market. Once it's off the grill, not so much so.

marc - as you know, food is so much a part of national identity. It's pretty hard to think about the one without also pondering the other (for me, anyway).
We shall take you up on your offer... ;-)

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

Oh god, squid on the grill!

Brings back so many fond memories. . .

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

Oh god, squid on the grill!

Brings back so many fond memories. . .