How to prepare a squid

WARNING: Like my “Temple of Doom” video from last year, this isn’t for those of you with a thin skin.

Hokkaido’s southernmost city of Hakodate is famous for its squid. While squid served raw is typically white, Hakodate serves it up so fresh that it is clear, i.e. the flesh has not yet had the chance to become milky. How do they serve it so fresh? They prepare it right in front of you—documented in the following five photographs.

The squid start out in a tank, just like many restaurants that serve seafood in the West with which many readers may be familiar. Equally familiar is the removal of the squid from the tank after order is placed. What differs is the preparation.

After being removed from the tank, the squid is placed on the cutting board and gripped firmly so that it doesn’t pinch the chef with its beak (which hurts to high hell, so I’m told). The knife is placed above the eyes and drawn down the body, opening the body down to the tail.

Once opened, the inside of the squid is gripped and torn from the now eviscerated body.

The legs and “head” are promptly chucked in the sink, where the squid dies. The tentacles and the removed tail are considered of secondary priority and attended to later.

The skin is quickly peeled from the body, leaving only the clear flesh, which is promptly served raw.

Yum yum!