Ika meshi

[Evan]

Sometimes, I can get my hands on live squid. I've done the ika somen and what not and they are very tasty. But, I wanted to try something new and ika meshi sounds like the perfect thing to try anew. I was wondering if any of you tried it and would like some pointers or even a recipe would be nice.

Thanks.

[piazzola]

Does it has to be Japanese style?

Spanish from the north have been doing for centuries sometimes they use the baby variety called chripones or the larger calamares stuffed with rice among other things.

If you google images of calamares rellenos or chiripones rellenos you'll find a huge variety

[Hiroyuki]

Here's one recipe in Japanese:

http://noir.blackcatclub.org/dinner/recipe/j_f_03.html

As you may know, ika meshi is a very popular ekiben in Japan. The authentic ika meshi in Hokkaido uses one part regular rice and two parts mochi rice.

from here:

http://pucchi.net/hokkaido/foods/ikameshi.php

(again, Japanese only)

[helenjp]

My favorite way of cooking this is in the rice cooker - just switch on as usual for perfectly tender squid and rice, thanks to the moist heat. However I'm not sure how the latest ones, with their complex programming, work with non-rice dishes. One website suggests simply turning the cooker off if it continues cooking way past 45-50 minutes, as the rice will obviously be cooked by then.

I haven't tried this pressure cooker recipe yet, but from my experience with the rice cooker, I imagine it would work fairly well. DON'T stuff too much rice into the squid - it won't be able to expand as it cooks, and will be gummy, or worse, not properly cooked. Should serve 4. Easier to make with big squid, as the thin flesh on small ones rips more easily as the rice expands.

2 good-sized or 4 small squid.

1/2 c glutinous (mochi) rice, raw

2 dried shiitake, soaked

20g carrot (shall we call it 1 oz?)

20g bamboo shoot

sake 4 tabs

dashi stock 1 c

shoyu (soy sauce) 3 tabs

mirin (sweet sake) 3 tabs

sugar 1.5 tabs

Few slices of ginger, optional.

Wash rice and leave to soak 30 mins in water (enough to cover).

Finely dice vegetables, including shiitake.

Pull or rub skin off squid, using paper towels to get a good grip. Remove guts and long "quill" from inside. Wash and dry. Rub skin off tentacles, chop into inch lengths.

Drain rice, mix with vegetable and squid tentacles. Sprinkle over sake, mix in.

Divide filling between the two squid sacs, until about 2/3 full. Don't overfill!!! Fill a bell pepper or something if you have leftover rice.

Close squid sacs with toothpicks and lay on bottom of pressure cooker. Pour over dashi, mixed with sugar, shoyu, mirin, and ginger.

Close cooker and raise pressure to LOW, maintain 5 mins. Release pressure naturally (about 15 mins).

Remove squid, and when cooled slightly, slice into thick rings for serving.

Without lid of pressure cooker, reduce cooking liquid and drizzle some over cooked squid to serve.

I intend to soak the rice longer. (Overnight if cooking conventionally). This recipe recommends lower pressure and shorter cooking time than most - 5-8 mins at high pressure may be needed.

This recipe is also about right for use in a rice cooker or stove-top.

When cooking on the stove-top, double the amount of dashi, and keep spooning juices over and add a spoon of water now and again if need be. In either case, it will take 45 mins or so. I truly recommend pressure cooker or rice cooker rather than stove-top, as it it is fatally easy to end up with chewy, dried out squid.

Hints I haven't tried: cooking daikon along with the ika-meshi to soften the squid.

[Evan]

Thanks to all for the input, I will try these out when I have some fresh squid. The European methods may also be interesting, thank you for the insight.

Hiroyuki, you do not have to be sorry, I can read Japanese but have no Japanese google skills.

[helenjp]

Tried the recipe, and think that 5" high pressure or 8" low pressure might be best. At 6 minutes slightly uneven low pressure, the rice was cooked, definitely neither crunchy nor mushy, but maybe just a little softer would be better.

I soaked the rice 2 hours, and think it needed that long.

I tied the surplus rice mixture up loosely in some baking paper and put the parcel in with the squid - it came out fine!

[torakris]

Ok, it isn't exactly ika meshi and it isn't really even Japanese but my favorite stuffed squid is from Jamie Oliver. He stuffs a couple medium sized squid with spring onions, fresh red chile, cilantro, mint and lemon juice. These are placed into a steamer and various other vegetables are tossed in as well (baby bok choy, beans, sugar snap peas, etc) he scatters some slivered or grtaed ginger and (washed) salted black beans on top. Everything is steamed for about 8 minutes and topped with a sauce made from mashed salted black beans, sweet chilli sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and vegetable oil.

[Evan]

Well I was finally able to get some live squid, so I tried it.

By the time I came home with it they were dead but it can't get any fresher.

I wish I could have gotten ones that are little larger but what can you do, it was practically free for the squid.

They came out okay but I over cooked it a little being afraid of having under cooked rice so the squid got a little tough but it was good nonetheless.

[torakris]

So what did you stuff them with, besides rice?

[Hiroyuki]

And, I'd like to see a photo of a cross section.

[Evan]

I only used rice as the stuffing. And sorry, I didn't take cross section pictures. The squid were small so it was only a two biter.

I would like to try again using a larger squid. The squid was 8-10 inches at most and that's including the tenticles. The squid body was only about 4-6 inches.