Squid must be cooked for very little time or for a fairly long time. Any amount of time in between leaves them tough. Usually, the tentacles are cut away from the head, the innards discarded, and the hood cut into rings. Most recipes say to peel away the purple membrane covering the hoods, but others argue that this contains a lot of flavor. The fact is it makes no difference. The squid is then either sautéed, stir-fried, deep-fried, or braised. The first three methods take 2 to 3 minutes, while braising takes about 1 hour.