From Ocean to Plate | Catching Squid + Crispy Calamari Recipe

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So, it is the best time of year and that is squid fishing. I’m on the boat a little bit early. You head out at night. We got a full moon tonight. They were catching them just 2 days ago, which is never a good thing cuz then you get the story. You should have been here two nights ago. But they were still catching them last night, but two nights ago they hammered them. So hopefully the squid are here. As always, I’m on the epidem. Best boat to go squiding on by far. These little squid jigs. They look like little shrimp. And as you see, there’s all these upturned little spikes at the end. So, you just bounce those very, very gently, just like that towards the bottom. And what happens is that the squid swim up and they’re not eating it. They’re testing it out to see what it is. and they put out their tentacles and they grab a hold and their tentacles get all wrapped around those little spikes and that’s when you feel them and you reel up nice and slow. But on a good night, you could catch anywhere from 50 to 100. I just want to make fried calamari for you guys. Fried calamari for me. And that’s it. So, I’m not looking for a giant pile of squid, but not opposed to it either. Oh, hey buddy. What’s up? How are you? I enjoy. You ready to catch squid? Ready. Ready. How are you? Good. So excited. I think that’s one of the best things on this boat as well is that it just they have return customers and certain fisheries will bring out certain people. Everyone came out of the woodwork tonight for the squid trip because they just started doing it. Like I said, two nights ago. They had a great night. So, people are chomping at the bit. So, after short steam, we’re just getting to the spot. They got to throw the anchor down and then they’re we’re going to wait a little while and the lights on the boat are going to attract the bait fish. So, it’s not that the lights are attracting the squid, they’re attracting the bait fish. They come into the lights and then the squid are chasing the bait. And everyone has their own theories on what color and all that. So, we’re starting out with green and orange. And then I got blue, I got pink, I got I got every color known to man. I got glow-in-the-dark. I got rainbow. But we’ll see what people start catching on. You know how just let it sit to the bottom. All the way to the bottom. Yep. Just No, no, no, no. You got to go all the way to I told you. Go all the way down. Okay. So, move it up a little bit more. Have you rocked it down? We should have it rocked down. We just had a bite. Look at Look at my They’re grabbing it. They’re like there. There we go. Slack more. back on the right on the bottom and then up and down. You feel the bottom. Okay. it up. Two up. Two up. When’s the pool on the first squid? So, it’s very, very delicate. And the squid, they’re smart. They’re very, very smart. So they get wise. They get wise to what you’re doing. So you got to change up. Oh, that was another one. Epic squid bite. I’m getting hits nonstop. But yeah, you got to change up the way that you jig. Sometimes they’ll get a little bit smart. There we go. Did I lose them? Nope. Still got them. Nice tiny little guys. Hold on. Savv, what is it called? Their their markings that change color there. Um I know you know. Uh chloropores. Chromopores. Chromopores. So yeah, you see them just change color then. That is the chromopores. There we go. Oh. Oh, this feels good. I told you you got to go upside down. Grab the squid. Grab the lure. There we go. I told you that’s a little bit more. Grab the lower and go up. Oh, you can feel him grab it. Let me take a picture of that one. Let me see. Hold that one up. That’s a better one. Good. There we go. All right. Let me show you how the [ __ ] is I don’t know. I’m holding a clinic over here. You are you putting on a clinic? I love it. Silently by yourself putting on a clinic. Just you putting on a clinic. Just in my little corner over here having a good time, you know. Man, I’m glad a couple showed up for you. You’re already good. I mean, yeah. What do I got? How many did you want? I had 10, 12. Had six more to go. Then I’m just going to nap inside. There you go. You go upstairs, too. You know, technically you work a little bit. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, this is this is going to be a massacre here. So, right on the right. What are they taking it on? Just dead stick and moving it. What are you doing? What’s the secret? What’s it? I am not sinking all the way to the bottom. I’m going a foot jig, foot jig, and they’re grabbing it. Cool. And then by the time I get to the bottom, one is on. Yep. Oh, missed him. Too busy. I’m on. It’s a little one. That’s okay. She one’s going to fry whole. Whole fryer. Oh, missed another one. Got him. Oh. Oh, he got off full. There we go. Steady pressure. Oh. Oh. Oh. Nice. That’s a better one. Perfect. Need help? I got you. I got I’m right here. Fl is going. Bring it up. Go to the bottom. Bastard. So, you know, you’re gonna have to pee all night. He’s going up like three feet. This is the best fishing. Oh, they’re all up top. Right here. Yep. Don’t even go for him. Clay low. Appreciate it. Up top. My sisters look great. No, they don’t. We all look like we’re related. They don’t We don’t look alike. Just the same same hair. Do they have the same haircut? They have the same hair color. What do you know about redheaded Sicilians? What happened to them? Nothing good. Fishing the same thing forever. All right. I might go fish. You probably should fish the bow outside, but we could switch off. It’s fine. It’s fine. I think we need a little tide. Oh, had a hit. Oh. Oh. Oh, look at this school. Oh, yeah. There we go. Oh, dude. Yeah, this screen. You jacked one out of the school. Yes. Oh. Oh. Stay on. Stay on. Oh, with the egg. Yeah. Oh, that was sick. I saw him come in. I think they got they got wise. Oh. Oh. Oh. Got him on the egg. Oh, this might be this might be something worthwhile. Ooh. Ooh. Nice size. God, they’re cool. Here, give me the the hose. No, cuz I’m going to put my sleeve in it and I’m going to ruin my night. Watch out. Oh, sorry. Feel a little bit salty there. What’s funny is that it’s not an easy fishery. And I think that’s why I enjoy it because you got to constantly think about They just started chewing again. He’s leaving. Up, guys. We’re going to reset. All right. So, if you want to be humane, right between the eyes there, you give them a shot. That’s it. They go white. Dispatched and that’s it. There goes my theory about the small one. One after the top. There’s some top water. Yeah. Yeah. They’re not super feisty top water, but they’re coming in checking it out. They’re definitely more inquisitive. Like they keep swimming up and checking it out. Strike the line. Strike the sinker. Don’t actually hit the jig. Mhm. So, yeah. Once they grab on, you got to apply constant pressure. Otherwise, they can unhook themselves. Like that. Picture. Picture. Size doesn’t matter. Let me tell YouTube that size does not matter. I’m getting hammered over here. Let me see. Good stuff. Good stuff. Okay. They’re going after a different jig now. Super jerky. Might be time for a black cherry seltzer. I’m going to I’m going to savor it though. I’m a selzer man. Myself. Selzer connoisseur myself. What? They’re popping all over the place. They’re bebop and scatting all over me. Dude, I didn’t even know I just had one on. That was off the top. That was off the surface. Did not know he was on. Oo, back, baby. Big size. Excellent. Big size. This dude’s on the money right here. Oh, yeah. Mediums, too. Not the smalls like me. I I was getting hits on the top, too. Are you back in? Oh, he’s every guessing. He’s every small bucket. It’s going to be full in a minute. What is going on? I went cold over here. Oh, just kidding. You know, sucks to suck. No, I’m back. Oh, I’m off. I’m on. Ooh, jumbo. I hate when they hit on the drop. Oh. Oh. Oh, big big size. Big size. Big size. Or two. Do clams for the internet. Nice job, dude. One, two, and I’m on. This is the best fishing. They’re going after the larger. There we go. No. Oh, they’re up top. They’re up top. Um, I think we’re okay for a little bit. I Everyone seems okay and our picking. I mean, we could switch off. I know. Cleans is great company, so I have a good time, you know. Oh, I’m getting into Tangle City over here. Oh, there we go. So, you’re on your own now. Oh, two double up. Oh, double up. No, guess. I mean, do you see what’s happening here in the red? Sut. Double sut. Double suit. Look at that one. What picture? He’s going to get another one in a second. Don’t worry about it. Demon time. Y demon time. Oh, a man’s on again. Got two mediums instead of one large. Can you What the heck? Uhoh. I’m the only one. I lost my I lost my touch. Oh. Oh. Oh. Peanuts catch giants. Oh, wait. What is going on? There we go. Ooh, we’re back on. That’s a male. Excellent. How do you know it’s a male? Uh, the males generally have like a more streamlined body. What’s up? Okay, copy. Coming. More more squid biology when I They are tricky. Oh, come on. We got that. Good one. Good one. Or two. Pretty good one. How many pieces would you say I got in there? 40. Yeah. Got to be. Got to be. It’s been like a couple hours. You gotten like a bunch an hour. Yeah. Considering Squid God’s already a bag deep. I know. I saw that. Can’t mess with Squid God. I think we’re too deep. Too deep in the squid game. No, in the I know. Not deep enough in the squid game. So, the bite has been nothing short of amazing. I got probably 40 50 pieces right now and we’re only halfway through the trip. The minute that the bite starts to die down just a little bit, captain’s on it, moves the boat, puts us in another spot to get the bite to get back on the bite. And it’s it’s just crazy. Double up. Yeah, I’ve definitely put a lot of squid juice into my coffee. Yeah. Come with the It should be a new flavor out here. Oh, actually. Oh, size. No, it’s this rod. Hollywood. Hollywood. Huh? Not bad. Not bad. All right, guys. We still We still got two hours to go. And uh I got quite a pile going. Next time I see you, we’ll be in the kitchen. I actually stayed out there and vacuum sealed everything. So, you can freeze them just like this. And like I said, they only get better in the freezer. But I ended up with about 60 pieces. And in this one, I have all the real small guys here. So, we’re gonna go through how to clean a squid, which might actually be kind of hard on guys these small, but this is the head. This is the body. Top fins. And you want to get a hold. First go in, detach everything with your finger there. Then very, very gently give a pull. pinching the top, pinching the body, and everything will come out just like that. So now here, as you can see, it’s starting to leak a little bit. That is the ink sack. And you want to avoid puncturing that at all costs because if you do, that little tiny ink sack, that little piece of silver right there will cover this entire cutting board and make for a very difficult cleaning process. Just below the eyes, we’re going to cut right there. And then you check, depending on where you cut, the beak, which is the mouth, can sometimes still be in the tentacles. So you just want to check for that. But that’s the beak. It looks just like a bird beak. So this is discard. There’s our tentacles cleaned, ready to go. And now inside the body, right in the front is the only structure that the squid has, the only hard structure, which is this right here. So you detach that with your finger, pull out, and that what looks like a little piece of plastic is called the quill. And this is their only form of of structure at all. So that’s basically their only skeletal structure. Now, to clean off the skin, these little guys, it’s already coming off, but you just work off a piece, get your fingers underneath, and then pull. these little guys. I don’t even know if it’s necessary to pull that skin off. I’ve cooked larger ones with the skin on and people say it makes it tougher. I haven’t noticed that. So, there you go. There is our cleaned squid tube and tentacles. Now, normally for calamari, you would cut these guys into rings. We’re going to leave them whole just like this, and we’re going to fry them just like this. But what I have here is buttermilk. And buttermilk will help tenderize the squid because that’s everyone’s complaint, right? That their squid is chewy. Now, I’m only going to leave this in for a couple of hours, but you could leave it in overnight. So, we don’t need any seasoning in there yet, but that’s it. We’re going to make an incredibly simple marinara as our as our dipping sauce for our fried calamari. Everything’s getting a rough chop. We’re not going to go too crazy. So, we’re going to put that on medium heat. Add a bit of oil. And yes, I am putting all of my aromatics in before my oil is even hot because I want them to heat up. I want them to heat up with my oil to really infuse flavor rather than throw them in and then you’re kind of racing before your garlic browns too much. So, we’re going to add crushed red pepper, some garlic salt, some cracked black pepper. So, again, the reason that I added everything before the oil was hot is because I want to infuse that oil with as much flavor as possible cuz this is going to be very, very quick. And aside from a marinara sauce that you might cook for hours on end on the stove, this is going to be about 15 minutes. So, I have here some rosemary from my old garden. Grab here some Sicilian uh oregano flowers. So, I like to give that a squeeze and then everything collects in the bottom there. Now, we’re going to cook this down until all that onion and garlic is very soft and translucent. And then we’ll add our tomatoes. Now that my onions and garlic are getting nice and soft, pretty translucent, as you see, no color on the bottom there, which is what I wanted. It’s just a nice gentle way to sweat down your onions and garlic and get as much flavor into your oil as possible. So now what I have here is just crushed tomatoes. Very, very simple. Not too much added to this one brand. I actually like this brand a lot. So, we’re going to add that in. And now to this, I’m going to add what’s going to look like a comical amount of basil. Just the whole leaves. Now, if I was making this for pasta, I would not be doing it this way. I’m doing it this way because it’s a dipping sauce for my fried calamari and I want a ridiculous amount of flavor inside this sauce because you’re only dipping a little bit, right? So, it’s got to be really pungent. A lot of flavor in there. So, I’m going to let this cook h about 15 minutes just to get all that basil to cook down. The smell on this is phenomenal. Give a little taste for seasoning. That is perfect, like I said, for dipping. It’s got a huge punch to it. It’s a little bit spicy to where if you had it all over spaghetti or something like that, it might be a little too much. But as far as just to dip your fried calamari in, perfection for our dredge, we’re going very simple. So, here is allpurpose flour, some corn starch, garlic, salt, and pepper. Now, it might be hard to see on the camera, but I can see the pepper in there, and I can see my uh the extra stuff inside the garlic salt inside there. You always want to be able to see your seasoning and your dredge. If not, you don’t have enough seasoning in there. You can also pinch a little bit and take a test. And that’s good. So, I got my oil coming up to 375. My squid here has been sitting in my buttermilk. And another great thing about the buttermilk, you’ll see in a second, is that it is going to act as the binder for our flower dredge. And we’ll see how keeping these full tubes works out. I don’t know. The way I’m picturing it in my head and how it’ll turn out might be two different uh two different things. But if it works out like I’m picturing it, it’s going to be good. Oh, these are crispy. This was the first one out. Still crispy. There you go, guys. Our baby Monttok fried calamari. Let’s eat. So, go without sauce first. I want to see Okay. what you think. M. So, not your regular fried calamari. How did you get it so crunchy? You don’t want to give that away? It’s in the video. I’m giving it away. Okay, but take take one of the bodies now. I want you to try try the body. Okay. So, that was the tentacles you had before. Yeah. Yeah. That was really crunchy. We haven’t even put lemon on them. And tell me how tender the squid itself is. What did you season the uh co the uh coating with? Cuz it’s really it’s very nice. It’s not overwhelming. It’s uh Sorry, I had a moment of I I drew a blank. It’s just uh salt and pepper. There’s a very distinct flavor that’s it it’s really it’s enlivening my taste buds. But how is the squid? Would you tender? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You crunch down on on the coating. Okay. Now try one with the sauce and a little lemon. I don’t know if I want to. I might be disappointed. Okay. It is super super tender. M very nice. Not overwhelming. Mhm. But adds a nice taste to the uh to the squid as a dipping sauce. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn’t detract from the crunchiness. No. These are super crunchy. Yeah. They’re delicious. Yeah. Very good. So, I’ll tell you there’s a little bit of an after heat on the sauce that I’m getting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I put it I put but not overwhelming. It’s It’s really nice. Doesn’t take away from Good the actual uh you know what you’re dipping. Delicious. So, something I did in this I never do with squid. I soaked it in buttermilk. Ooh. And it tenderized the squid. I mean, it is ridiculously soft. Extremely tender. Yeah. What prompted you to do that? Did you read that somewhere or I wanted to make I wanted to make like a fried chicken batter rather than just the usual fried squid dipped in, you know, and I didn’t want to do like the four seasons breadcrumbs. That is crispy. I wanted like a buttermilk fried chicken batter on them and the buttermilk you put it on things to to tenderize to get Okay. Now I’m aware of that. Yeah. Cuz the enzymes in it, whatever you soak it in starts to break down. Break down. Mhm. Actually, these would be just as good cold. Well, I don’t know if I can finish that entire plate. So, they might be cold. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll try reheating them and see my breakfast tomorrow. Well, all right guys, thanks for coming along. Once again, the Eptide, thank you to Sa Anthony and Captain Anthony. You guys are amazing and you always always find the fish or the squid. Can’t thank you enough. Another successful trip and uh my mother thanks you. Oh, definitely 100%. Couldn’t be happier. We will see you on the next one. Thank you. Yeah, that’s really There’s like it it leaves a tinge in your mouth, but not overwhelming, which is good. I mean, it’s cuz it doesn’t detract from what you’re eating. Mm-m. Really good. I would use that batter I would use that batter on like fried clams. M Oh, yeah. I think that would be on fried clams or something like that. I think that that batter would be uh pretty remarkable. Oh, yeah. Well, I said we weren’t going to eat the whole plate, but we might we might just finish it off here. Well, I think this is my last one. That’s your last one? This will be my last one. Mhm. Okay.