I saw something that I need to experiment with: a claim that, if you overcook seafood—specifically mollusks like calamari—it'll clench up and become tough and rubbery... but if you keep cooking it for another twenty or so minutes, it'll relax and become the proper texture again. I find that hard to believe, but I'm going to do an experiment to find out how true this is. The claim might be plausible: I've described, on this blog, how slow-cooked pork and beef go through a clenching-and-unclenching cycle, which takes hours. I'm cooking a huge seafood stew for this coming Friday, so this question is particularly relevant to me. The last time I did moqueca for three, some of the scallops ended up becoming too tough, although the stew as a whole still tasted fantastic.
This little tidbit has long been in my mental filing cabinet, but I must admit that I've never tested it. I generally put the seafood in as late as possible. But I'd be interested to see how your experiment goes.
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