Chipirones Encebollados

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy sauté pan or shallow cazuela, 28 to 30cm, with a lid
• •Sharp chef's knife
• •Colander
• •Absorbent kitchen towels

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean and dry squid

   Check the squid carefully, removing any remaining clear quills, innards, and hard beaks. Keep the bodies whole if they are no longer than 12cm; leave the mottled outer skin on, because it gives the sauce color and flavor. Rinse the cavities briefly, drain well, and pat everything thoroughly dry.

   If you buy whole squid, 1kg usually gives about 750 to 800g once cleaned. Ask the fishmonger to clean it, but make sure the tentacles come home with you.
2. 2

   Cook onions past gold

   Put the olive oil, onions, and 5g of the salt into a wide, heavy pan. Cover and cook over low heat for 12 minutes, stirring twice, until the onions collapse. Uncover and continue cooking for 28 to 33 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until they pass pale gold and become deep amber, soft, and jammy. Add the garlic for the final 3 minutes. If the pan begins catching before the onions are ready, add water 15ml at a time.

3. 3

   Bloom the pimentón

   Take the pan off the heat. Add the pimentón and stir through the onions for 15 seconds, just until its warm, sweet smell rises. Don't leave it over direct heat or it turns bitter, and bitterness has nowhere to hide in a dish this plain.

4. 4

   Add wine and squid

   Return the pan to medium heat, pour in the wine, and add the bay leaf. Scrape up the dark onion from the bottom and bubble for about 5 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Add the squid and the remaining 3g salt, turning the bodies and tentacles through the onions until evenly coated.

5. 5

   Braise until tender

   Cover, lower the heat, and cook gently for 15 minutes. The squid will release enough liquid to loosen the onions into a sauce. Uncover and cook for another 8 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a tentacle cuts easily and the sauce clings thickly to the squid. If the squid is still firm, give it another 5 minutes. Pésalo, no lo adivines for the ingredients, but tenderness is something you check with the knife.

6. 6

   Rest and serve

   Remove the bay leaf and let the chipirones rest off the heat for 5 minutes. Taste the onions before adding any more salt; the sauce concentrates as it cooks. Bring the pan straight to the table and serve with plenty of bread for the onion-rich juices.

Chef Tips

• •Choose squid with firm, glossy flesh and a clean sea smell. Frozen baby squid is a sound purchase because it is commonly frozen close to the catch; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, then drain and dry it well.
• •Use ordinary yellow onions. You need 900g after trimming, so weigh them. Sweet salad onions soften quickly but don't develop quite the same savory depth.
• •Txakoli gives the sauce the brisk acidity of the Basque coast. If you can't find it, use an unoaked dry white wine such as Albariño or Verdejo. Avoid sweet wine, which makes the already generous onions cloying.
• •Serve these chipirones with country bread or plain boiled potatoes. A glass of the same dry white wine used in the pan is enough beside them.
• •The squid is tender when a small knife passes easily through the thickest body. If it feels rubbery, it is between quick cooking and braising; keep it covered over low heat for another 5 minutes and test again.

Advance Preparation

• •Clean and dry the squid up to 12 hours ahead. Keep it covered in the coldest part of the refrigerator and drain away any liquid before cooking.
• •The onions can be cooked through the deep-amber stage up to 2 days ahead. Cool and refrigerate them, then return them to the pan and continue with the garlic and pimentón.
• •The finished dish keeps for 2 days in the refrigerator. Reheat it gently with 15ml water if the sauce has set too thick; a hard boil will tighten the squid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)