How to Make Delicious Spicy and Sweet Seasoned Pressed Dried Squid

Spiced shredded dried squid features tender, chewy, and flavorful squid fibers coated on the outside with a rich sweet and spicy sauce, making it increasingly addictive with every bite. The squid is lightly grilled, pounded, and rolled thin to let the muscle fibers expand evenly, then coated with sauce and gently dried so the seasoning adheres firmly while the squid retains its chewy deliciousness. In the article below, Ola Squid will guide you through how to make spiced shredded dried squid simply, from selecting the squid, rolling it, to mixing the sauce and storing it. Don’t miss it!

Ingredients for making spiced shredded dried squid

To make spiced shredded dried squid for your family, you need to fully prepare the following ingredients:

If you prefer a more prominent spicy flavor, you can increase the amount of chili or satay, but you should not add too much water to the sauce because the squid will be difficult to dry after coating.

How to choose delicious dried squid for spiced shredding

The quality of the squid directly determines the aroma, chewiness, and fiber-forming ability after rolling. Delicious squid has a clear aroma when grilled, tender meat that does not crumble too much.

Tips for choosing dried squid:

• Squid body: Choose straight bodies, thick meat, firm grip, not too thin or soft and damp.
• Powder layer: The surface has a relatively even layer of white powder, with no unusual patches of color.
• Color: The back of the squid has a natural light pink color, the belly is bright, not too yellow or dark.
• Scent: Has the characteristic aroma of dried squid, with no sour, rancid, moldy, or strange odors.
• Dryness: The squid body is dry, not sticky and shows no signs of moisture absorption.

Size note: You should choose medium or large-sized squid so that when grilling and rolling, it creates long, wide meat fibers that look appealing and are easy to shred into small pieces.

Steps to make authentic spiced shredded dried squid

Below are the steps to make spiced shredded dried squid, please refer to them:

Step 1 – Preparing the dried squid

Soak dried squid in beer for about 10-15 minutes to soften the squid body, then take it out and let it drain. Place the squid on a charcoal stove, alcohol stove, or put it in the oven, grill at medium temperature until the squid is evenly hot, releases an aroma, and the body tightens slightly. During grilling, you should turn both sides so the squid cooks evenly. Do not grill the squid too thoroughly because high heat for a long time will cause the meat to lose water, become hard, and difficult to roll. When the squid is just aromatic, slightly curved, and has a certain softness, it can be taken out.

Reference: 5 delicious ways to grill dried squid at home without making it tough or hard

Step 2 – Flattening the squid

Put the grilled squid into a squid pressing machine, adjust the pressing gap accordingly, and feed the squid through the machine to flatten it. Repeat a few times if necessary, until you see the squid body evenly flattened, the meat fibers loosened but not crushed or broken into many pieces.

Rolling the squid with a pressing machine helps it become tender, evenly flat, and absorb the sauce more easily. If you do not have a squid pressing machine, you can use a pestle to pound gently and evenly across the squid body to loosen the meat fibers, making the squid softer and easier to absorb the sauce.

Step 3 – Mixing the rich coating sauce

Wash and finely chop the garlic and chili. Place a pan on the stove, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to heat up, then sauté the garlic and chili over low heat until fragrant. Next, add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of chili sauce, 1 teaspoon of satay sauce, and 2 tablespoons of filtered water into the pan. Stir well until the sugar dissolves, simmer over low heat until the mixture blends and thickens slightly, then turn off the stove.

Adjust to taste. If you like a pungent spicy flavor, you can increase the amount of chili or satay; if you want a milder sauce, reduce the amount of satay.

Step 4 – Seasoning and drying the squid

Arrange the flattened squid on a clean tray or plate, slowly drizzle the prepared sauce over each piece of squid. Use clean hands to gently massage so that the seasoning penetrates evenly into the meat fibers, paying attention to flipping both sides evenly.

Then, arrange the squid on a clean rack or tray, and dry it in the sun until the squid is dry, the surface tightens, and the seasoning is evenly absorbed. During the drying process, you should turn the squid over for more even drying, while carefully shielding it to avoid dust and insects.

Step 5 – Finished product and preservation

After drying, take the squid out, let it cool completely, and then shred it into bite-sized pieces or strips. The satisfactory finished product has an attractive brownish-yellow or brownish-red color, loose, chewy and tender squid fibers with a sweet and spicy sauce coating evenly on the outside.

If making a sufficient amount for short-term use, it should be stored in the refrigerator compartment. Before eating, you can take out an adequate amount for a few minutes so the squid returns to a softer and more delicious state.

Secrets to keep spiced shredded squid from getting hard and evenly absorbing the sauce

Delicious rolled squid depends not only on the type of squid but also on how moisture and temperature are handled in each step. You should note:

• Do not grill the squid too thoroughly: Only grill until the squid just releases its aroma and is evenly hot. Prolonged grilling will cause the squid to lose water, making the meat fibers hard and difficult to roll.
• Pound the squid before rolling: This action helps loosen the meat fibers, thereby making the squid easier to roll thin and absorb the sauce better.
• Roll when the squid is still warm: Freshly grilled squid is usually softer, easier to form thin sheets, and less prone to crumbling.
• Cook the sauce to a moderate thickness: Sauce that is too runny makes the squid take longer to dry, while sauce that is too thick is hard to coat evenly. You should simmer until the sauce thickens slightly before coating.
• Balance fish sauce and sugar: The ratio of these two ingredients needs to be harmonious so that the sauce has a moderate salty and sweet taste, not too harsh and not too wet.
• Dehydrate at low temperature: Low heat allows water to evaporate gradually, drying the sauce coating while the squid retains its chewy and tender texture.
• Let the squid cool completely before packing into jars: Warm squid will create condensation inside the container, easily causing the finished product to become moist and reducing shelf life.

How to store spiced shredded dried squid

After coating and drying, the squid needs to be cooled completely before packaging. This is an important step because if warm squid is put into a jar or sealed bag, moisture can condense and make the product damp quickly.

You can store the squid in the following ways:

• Short-term use: Put the squid in a glass jar with a tight lid or a zip bag, place it in a dry, cool place, avoiding direct sunlight.
• Longer storage: Place the squid in a sealed box or bag and store it in the refrigerator compartment to limit moisture and prolong quality.
• When taking out squid to eat: Only take a sufficient amount, use clean and dry utensils to pick up the squid. Do not open the box many times or let the squid contact humid air for long.
• Check before use: If the squid shows strange odors, signs of mold, slime, or abnormal color changes, do not continue using it.

Frequently asked questions when making spiced shredded dried squid

Can young children eat spiced dried squid?

Young children can eat squid if they are not allergic to seafood and are of an appropriate age to consume this type of food. However, spiced shredded dried squid is usually chewy and contains sugar, fish sauce, chili, or satay, making it unsuitable for very young children. If letting children eat it, parents should choose soft squid pieces, shred them very finely and reduce or omit spicy ingredients, while feeding children a moderate amount.

How long can homemade spiced shredded dried squid be stored?

The storage time depends on the dryness of the squid, the amount of coating sauce, and packaging conditions. If the squid is dried sufficiently, cooled completely, and stored tightly in the refrigerator compartment, it should be consumed within about 5 – 7 days to maintain the best quality. If the squid is still damp or the sauce contains a lot of water, the storage time will be shorter. When detecting strange odors, mold, slime, or color changes, it must be discarded immediately instead of continuing to use.

What goes well with spiced shredded dried squid?

Spiced shredded dried squid already has a rich sweet and spicy taste, so it can be eaten directly as a snack. If you want to change the flavor, you can enjoy it with chili sauce, mayonnaise, garlic chili mayonnaise or add a little raw mango or cucumber to balance the salty and sweet taste. The squid can also be used as a drinking snack or served with non-alcoholic drinks during family and friends gatherings.

With the how to make spiced shredded dried squid method above, you can manually prepare tender, chewy, fragrant squid coated with a rich sweet and spicy sauce right at home. If you want to find dried squid to shred and season yourself or spiced shredded dried squid pre-processed, you can refer to the products at Ola Squid with many choices of sizes and body thicknesses, suitable for the usage needs of many families.