Tiếng Việt
ไทยGrilling squid with alcohol is a quick and convenient cooking method that preserves the natural sweetness of dried squid, favored by many families. However, executing it with improper techniques can easily cause the squid to burn, turn bitter, or even pose a risk of fire and explosion hazards. In this article, Ola Squid will guide you through the detailed how to grill squid with alcohol method, helping your squid turn golden, intensely aromatic, tender, sweet, and safe.
Is grilling squid with alcohol harmful?
Food-grade or medical alcohol when burned produces CO2 and water vapor, leaving no toxic residues on food. Health risks only arise when you choose the wrong industrial alcohol type or burn the squid, which creates harmful compounds.
Should you use 70-degree or 90-degree alcohol for grilling squid?
Many people wonder whether 70-degree alcohol can grill squid or if 90-degree alcohol must be used. For the best effectiveness, you should prioritize choosing 90-degree alcohol for grilling squid. The reason is that 90-degree alcohol has a high alcohol content, burns quickly, radiates strong heat, and leaves behind very little water. Conversely, 70-degree alcohol contains up to 30% water, resulting in a weak flame that makes the squid take longer to cook, easily chewy, and soaked with water, which reduces its deliciousness.
Distinguishing white alcohol and blue alcohol when grilling squid
To ensure food safety, you should understand how to correctly distinguish the types of alcohol:
- White alcohol (Ethanol alcohol): This is pure alcohol, which does not produce foul odors or toxins when burned. This is precisely the standard alcohol for grilling squid that you should use.
- Blue alcohol (containing Methanol): Usually dyed with blue colorants for distinction, it is an industrial chemical. Absolutely do not use blue alcohol to grill food because burning it generates toxic gases that can cause severe poisoning.
How to identify genuine alcohol and where to buy reputable alcohol
Genuine alcohol (medical Ethanol) when ignited will produce a light blue flame, burn smoothly, and have no pungent odor that pierces the nose. To buy quality alcohol, you should visit large pharmacies, medical equipment stores, or reputable supermarket systems. Avoid buying alcohol of unknown origin sold loosely at local markets.
Preparation before grilling squid with alcohol
The preparation stage will determine 80% of the dish’s success, from the ingredients to the accompanying tools.
How to choose delicious dried squid for grilling
Quality dried squid will deliver a delicious flavor after grilling. When choosing to buy, you need to note the following characteristics:
- Squid body: Thick, straight body, firm flesh, not flat and thin or torn.
- Color: The back of the squid has a natural light pink color, the belly is ivory white, with no black spots or moldy streaks.
- Powder layer: The squid surface is naturally covered with an even thin white powder layer. If the powder layer is too thick, it might be squid kept for a long time.
- Moisture and odor: Feels dry to the touch, non-sticky to the hands, and releases the characteristic aroma of dried seafood, with no strange foul odors.
Suggestion: To enjoy the standard taste of premium dried squid, you can explore the Ola Squid dried squid product lines at the website https://olasquid.com/. Ola Squid provides a variety of sizes from Large Size (large, thick flesh suitable as gifts) to Medium and Small Sizes (suitable for family parties), committing that the squid is caught and sun-dried directly at sea.
See more: How to choose delicious dried squid based on coastal experience
Required ingredients and tools
Before starting the how to grill dried squid with alcohol method, please fully prepare the following items:
- Dried squid (quantity depending on tasting demand).
- 90-degree medical alcohol of pure white alcohol type.
- Deep plate or stainless steel/aluminum pan with a larger surface area than the squid.
- Lighter or long-handled fire starter to ensure a safe distance.
- Metal tongs or long chopsticks for flipping the squid.
- Clean newspaper (or clean towel) combined with a pestle to pound the squid soft.
- Chili sauce, chili lime salt seasoning for dipping.
Steps to grill squid with alcohol evenly and safely
Grilling squid with alcohol correctly helps the squid cook evenly, retain its natural chewy sweetness, and emit an alluring aroma. To minimize the risk of spreading fire or burns, you should perform the following steps sequentially:
Step 1 – Separate the head and body of the squid before grilling
The squid head is thick and requires more cooking time than the body. Separating these two parts helps you easily control the temperature, preventing the situation where the squid body is burnt while the head is still raw.
Step 2 – Place the squid on a plate or pan, evenly pour alcohol
Arrange the squid body and head on the stainless steel plate. Evenly drizzle 90-degree alcohol over the entire surface of the squid so that the alcohol moistens the flesh fibers uniformly. The amount of alcohol should be just enough to wet the squid, do not pour too much causing alcohol to pool at the bottom of the plate.
Step 3 – Ignite and continuously flip the squid for even cooking
Use a long-handled lighter to ignite the fire from the rim of the plate. Use tongs to flip the squid sides continuously every 10-15 seconds.
- Grilling time: Maintain even flipping on both sides for about 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness and size of the squid.
- Important safety note: Absolutely do not pour more alcohol while the flame is burning. If you see the alcohol running out but the squid is not cooked yet, wait until the fire completely goes out before drizzling more alcohol and re-igniting.
Step 4 – Recognize cooked squid and extinguish the fire properly
Properly cooked squid will curl up, the surface will turn ivory yellow, emit an aroma, and the alcohol will extinguish by itself. Pick the squid out, wrap it in clean newspaper, and use a pestle to gently pound so the squid fibers loosen, making the squid flesh softer and sweeter.
Tips for grilling aromatic, delicious squid without burning or bitterness
To grill squid with alcohol aromatically and deliciously without burning or turning bitter, please refer to the practical experiences synthesized by Ola Squid below:
- Measure just enough alcohol: Only use about 30-50ml of alcohol for a medium squid. Leaving excess pooled alcohol will make the squid bitter.
- Control the time: Do not grill for too long because the high temperature of alcohol will drain moisture, making the squid dry, hard, and lose its sweetness.
- Maintain flame distance: Gently lift the squid up from the bottom of the plate using tongs while grilling so the flame gently licks across the squid body, avoiding direct contact for too long at one point.
- Remove scorched parts: After finishing grilling, use scissors or scrape off the black burnt edges to protect health and avoid bitterness when eating.
- Tear squid properly: Always tear the squid along the horizontal grain of the body (perpendicular to the vertical direction) so the squid strands fluff up, become spongy, and are not chewy.
See more delicious ways to grill dried squid:
- 5 ways to grill delicious standard-flavored dried squid right at home
- How to grill dried squid using an air fryer for soft, delicious, and super easy results
- How to grill dried squid using an induction cooker for even, soft, and sweet cooking
- How to grill dried squid using a gas stove deliciously without gas odor
- How to grill squid using a microwave quickly and deliciously at home
How to preserve leftover grilled squid for next time
If you do not finish eating all the grilled squid, you should preserve it properly to limit dehydration, dryness, or flavor alteration. Depending on the storage duration, you can apply the following methods:
- Same-day storage: Wrap the grilled squid tightly with food wrap or put it in a tightly covered box to keep at room temperature if consumed within a few hours.
- Long-term storage: Put the squid into a vacuum-sealed zip bag or tight box, store it in the refrigerator compartment (use within 1-2 days) or freezer compartment (use within 1 week).
- Reheating method: When eating again, lightly spray water onto the squid surface and put it in the microwave to heat at medium temperature for 15-20 seconds. The squid will become soft and pliable again like freshly grilled.
Read now: 7 ways to properly preserve already-grilled dried squid
Frequently asked questions when grilling squid with alcohol
Why does squid easily burn when grilled with alcohol?
Squid burns mainly because of not continuously flipping the squid sides causing heat to concentrate in one place, or due to uneven alcohol drizzling causing certain areas to pool too much alcohol leading to local burning.
Is grilling squid with alcohol more delicious than charcoal or gas grilling?
Grilling with alcohol is evaluated to preserve the natural sweetness and best pliable softness for dried squid. Gas stove grilling easily taints the squid with toxic gas odors, while charcoal grilling is fragrant but takes time to start the fire and makes it difficult to adjust the flame for non-professionals.
Should children eat squid grilled with alcohol?
Children can eat it if you choose standard medical 90-degree white alcohol and grill until the alcohol burns out completely. However, you should limit young children from eating the hard squid head part and need to tear the squid strands very small to prevent choking.
Hopefully, the detailed guide on how to grill squid with alcohol above will help you confidently prepare a delicious, safe snacking dish for the whole family. Do not forget to visit Ola Squid to select the highest quality dried squid products for your meals!
