SQUID, cuttlefish and octopus are popular seafood ingredients in the Mediterranean and in Asia. The “Three Musketeers” of the cephalopod class are all shell-less, easy to cook and tasty companions of many ingredients. In Chinese cuisine, this trio of seafood is especially popular along coastal provinces where it is relatively inexpensive and used in many local dishes.

First of all, how are these three different? Cuttlefish, squid and octopus all come from the same family but are quite alike. The body of a cuttlefish is flat and has a large shell-like bone. Its flesh is tender and thicker than that of squid. Squid have a pocket-like body that is often used as a receptacle for stuffing. The octopus has a bell-shaped body and no inner shell.

Often on menus, you will see the term calamari. That generally refers to squid slices used to crumb and deep fry. Fresh squid, octopus and cuttlefish make excellent appetizers and main entries in salads, stir-fries or grills. A sun-dried form of the seafood is easy to store in home kitchen, providing a flavor boost to soups and stews.

Squid

Squid turns into an delightful array of dishes in different countries across the world.

In the Mediterranean, calamari are often batter-coated, fried and then seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice as a starter or quick snack dish on the go. In Japan, ika somen is a squid sashimi specialty of Hokkaido, made from finely sliced raw squid that resembles the shape of noodles.

In China, squid are more often cooked with rich sauces and heavy spices to remove the fishy smell and taste.

Quick stir-fried squid is the most common in Chinese households. The squid, with internal organs and ink sac removed, is sliced and poached in boiling water until the meat curls. It is then added to a wok containing hot oil, fermented soybeans, peppercorns, ginger, garlic, green onion and dried red chilies. The squid is quickly fried, then seasoned with soy sauce to taste. Don’t overcook the squid or it will become rubbery. Onion and green pepper are optional garnishes.

Squid roll or squid sausage is a more complicated cold dish. To prepare it, choose a larger fresh squid and remove the head, internal organs and the red membrane. Soak some glutinous rice for at least two hours, then season it with shitake or abalone mushroom, carrot, onion or other vegetable, salt, five spice powder, cooking wine and soy sauce.

There are two ways to make the squid rolls. The traditional recipe stuffs the squid hood with the mixture of the raw rice and vegetables, seals it with a toothpick and then stews it in a heavily spiced stock for 40 minutes to fully cook the rice and soften the squid meat. This method works best when making the squid rolls in batches.

For those only making one or two squid rolls for the family dinner, you can steam the glutinous rice first, sauté the vegetables lightly in some oil and season with soy sauce, and then mix the two in a bowl to make a stuffing for the squid hood. In a flat pan, add cooking wine, soy sauce or oyster sauce, sugar and a cup of water to braise the stuffed squid on a medium heat until the sauce thickens. It can also be steamed with soy sauce to make the rice stickier.

Steamed fresh squid is a simple dish. The cleaned and sliced squid is topped with shredded green onion and red pepper, seasoned with light soy sauce and steamed for around six minutes, depending on the size. In a separate pan, heat some oil with a few peppercorns and pour the hot boiling oil in the dish for the final boost of flavor.

Sun-dried seafood has a distinct flavor that’s fishier than the fresh seafood Dried squid is soaked in water to restore it to its original form. It is often cooked in the same way as the fresh squid, but it also can be stewed with other meats or vegetables. In southern coastal areas, this method produces popular dishes like dried squid with cucumber soup and dried squid and pork rib soup.

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish is often mistaken for squid but cuttlefish has shorter, thicker hood and no triangular swimming fins.

In China, cuttlefish is stir-fried or braised with various sauces or seasonings. It can also form a stew with pork ribs or be grilled with soy sauce. Balls made from cuttlefish paste are often found in a hotpot dishes.

The cuttlefish ink dumpling is a specialty in the Shandong Province seaside city of Qingdao. The ink sacs from the fresh cuttlefish are removed and mixed into the dumpling skin dough. The cuttlefish meat is blended in a food processor with pork, peppercorn-flavored water, salt, oil and chives to form a paste to stuff the dumplings, which are black in color once cooked in boiling water. Like squid, cuttlefish can be sun-dried and preserved for longer periods of time.

Octopus

Octopus is common in Korean and Japanese cuisines but lesser used in China. But in some places in China, small octopus are popular.

Wang chao refers to a species of small octopus named duan shao (Octopus ocellatus) in China. The live wang chao caught in receding tides are cooked as stir-fries or in stews. Octopus can be stir-fried with strong flavors, such as chives and green peppers.

Octopus arm chips are a sweet and salty snack made by smoking or baking octopus arm slices with salt and sugar. The snack is quite chewy.