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Procedure for “Cooking” Seafood in Acid
Appears in
By Jaclyn Pestka, Wayne Gisslen and Lou Sackett
Published 2010
Use this method only for seafood with a tender texture. If applied to tough items, such as large calamari or octopus, the seafood will become too sour to eat by the time it is tenderized by the acid.
- Trim away all visible silverskin and other connective tissue. Dark-colored deposit fat is usually trimmed off as well.
- Fabricate the seafood into small pieces of uniform shape so the acidic liquid can penetrate quickly and evenly. The most successful fabrication forms are dice of ½-in. (1-cm) or smaller, and slices ⅛-in. (0.3-cm) to ¼-in. (0.75-cm) thick.
- Add a small amount of salt to the acidic “cooking” liquid. Salt aids the penetration of the liquid and helps season the seafood. (Do not overly dilute the liquid with other seasonings or oil. The seafood is most efficiently cooked when the liquid consists primarily of the acidic ingredient and salt. Seasonings can be added later, when the “cooking” is complete.)
- Choose a nonreactive container small enough to keep all of the seafood in contact with the liquid. Add the seafood and stir to thoroughly coat it with the liquid. Refrigerate the seafood. Stir frequently to ensure even “cooking.”
- Carefully monitor the “cooking” time, and observe carefully to determine doneness. Consider the “cooking” time specified in recipe directions as a guideline only. This is because both the strength of your acid ingredient(s) and the texture of your particular seafood item may differ from the products used by the recipe writer. Evaluate the doneness of the seafood by breaking open a piece and observing the color change. You can also evaluate doneness by tasting a bite. Check on the seafood well before the recipe “cooking” time has elapsed, and continue checking until the desired doneness is reached.
- Drain the seafood as soon as it is sufficiently “cooked.” It is often necessary to gently squeeze the acidic liquid out of the seafood mixture.
- Once the seafood is drained, it can be tossed with oil and other liquid or solid seasonings.
- Hold seafood “cooked” by acid under refrigeration in the same manner as other cooked seafood.
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