The method is as follows:
1. Select materials. Because the surface of squid is prone to redness, in order to ensure the quality of the finished product, the raw materials must be processed in time, and the fish must be sorted according to size and freshness, and the surface dirt must be washed with sea water.
2. soak. If frozen squid is used, it must be put into a fish bath and soaked in fresh sea water for 8 hours or half a day. Thawing must be moderate. As long as the frozen fish body can be separated and the individual fish is slightly soft, thawing should be completed to prevent the fish body from turning red and affecting the quality of the product. If the drying site is far from the sea and it is inconvenient to extract sea water and tap water is used instead, salt must be added. The amount of salt added is determined according to the requirements. The soaking time should not exceed 12 hours. The water temperature should be kept between 10-200C and should not be high or low. Soak until the fish body becomes hard and the belly becomes soft, then take it out: drain the water and then process it.
3． Cutting, depending on the fishing method and the freshness of the fish, is divided into two methods: pick-cutting and laparotomy.
① Pick and cut method: Hold the back of the fish tightly with your left hand, with the head of the fish facing the human body, the belly of the fish facing seven so that the abdominal cavity protrudes, and the knife in your right hand (blade facing up). Extend the tip of the knife edge from the protruding fish abdomen to 1-2 cm from the end of the fish tail. Push the knife tip upwards and then cut the knife edge along the center of the fish abdomen so that the meat slices on both sides are symmetrical and butterfly-like. shape. When picking and cutting, the tip of the knife tail should be close to the fleshy surface of the fish's abdominal cavity to prevent the knife tail from breaking the ink sac and affecting the appearance of the product.
②Separate method: Place the squid’s head outward and its abdomen upward on a wooden mat or fish platform. With the palm of your left hand facing upward, insert your index and towel fingers into the mermaid’s abdominal cavity to lift up the abdominal surface and pop it open with your right hand. Hold the knife with the knife edge downward toward the center of the fish's abdominal cavity and cut open the meat slices toward the tail. After the abdominal cavity of the fish is cut open, remove the ink sac, then align the knife edge with the neck end of the fish and cut from the center of the fish's water pipe to the center of the head and fleshy wrist, then make an oblique cut to the left and right sides of the eyes to slit the eyeballs. Drain eye fluid to facilitate drying.
4． Removal of internal organs: Place the cut squid on a wooden board, and have another person peel open the meat on both sides of the fish's abdominal cavity. Use the thumb, index and middle fingers of the right hand to dig out all the internal organs of the fish along the tail end of the fish's belly toward the head, while preventing Catch off the octopus (commonly known as the cuttlefish bone) and mouth.
5. Wash the fish body with the internal organs removed in sea water (or salt water in J-2-3) to remove dirt and mucus, wash away the salt water with fresh water, and then spread out the two squid meats and fold them. Remove and place in a clean container to drain and wait to dry. Avoid stacking them randomly which may cause the meat surface to turn red.
6. Drying and sun-drying of dried squid are mainly carried out in autumn and winter. Therefore, there are sunny days and little rain, and the climate is dry, so the fish body is easy to dry. It usually takes 6-10 days to dry squid. Drying can be done by hanging or net drying.
Hanging drying method: During operation, place the squid on the wire mesh, use bamboo sticks to prop up the carcass, use a small iron hook to hook the tail of the squid and hang it on a fixed bracket, so that the fish head is facing down to facilitate penetration. Remove body water. When the sun is 40% to 50% dry, plastic surgery is performed, and the main purpose is to check whether the small bamboo sticks have a shaping effect. If you find that the shape is not beautiful enough, you can use a bamboo skewer to re-pierce and stretch it out to shape.
Net drying method: lay the squid flat on the net curtain, dry the back of the fish first to facilitate drainage, then turn the belly meat, dry it until 40 to 50% dry, then shape it, use your fingers to stretch the meat surface and Flesh the wrist to make it flat and symmetrical. Turn over 4-5 times within 1 day (female fish with yolks are picked out and dried separately).
7. Pickled and steamed. When the squid is dried to 80%, if the finished product needs to be frosted, the dried squid must be placed in a basket, sealed with straw or sacks, and left for 7-10 days before being marinated and steamed. The function of pickling and steaming is to diffuse part of the water in the fish body and precipitate nitrogen compounds such as betaine from the muscles. After drying, a layer of white crystal-like objects will be attached to the body surface, like frost flowers, which is called "blood fish". This substance is sweet and adds flavor. Move the pickled and steamed dried fish to the drying ground and dry in the sun until fully dry.
8. Grading, according to the national standard, the back length of more than 25 cm is special grade, 20-25 cm is grade I, 14-20 cm is grade 2, 8-14 cm is grade 3, and the moisture content should be less than 20.