Korean Grilled Squid

This started out as a big gamble of an experiment, but turned out exceedingly well!

Get a large squid at a market. Make sure it's fresh, and make sure it looks like the one below. There are so many kinds of squid, I don't know which will or won't work with this type of preparation. You can freeze the squid until you need it. Ours was in the freezer for about a week and tasted fine.

Rip off the tentacles and clean out the inside of the squid without ripping it. You'll want to remove all its guts as well as the clear plasticky internal shell (which some call the spine). Dry the squid as best you can. Spread two tablespoons of Korean red pepper paste (gochujiang) over the inside of the squid. I just held the opening closed and squished the paste around the inside. Don't worry about the outside. Lightly smear the tentacles with paste as well.

Heat a tablespoon or two of neutral oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat until it's smoking. Put the squid in carefully, and let it cook for about 30 seconds before turning the squid over and putting it under a preheated broiler. After four minutes, flip the squid over. Cook for another four minutes. It's hard to overcook squid, but 7-10 minutes is a good amount of time to cook it unless you have a very weak broiler.

With kitchen sheers, cut the squid's body into thin rings, and separate all the tentacles. We love the grilled squid that comes as a side dish at many Korean restaurants. Of course, we weren't able to approximate the charcoal flavor at home, but we still ended up with a tasty treat.