Frozen Squid Supplier: Whole Squid, Tubes, Rings and Tentacles

Product overview

Frozen squid is one of the largest cephalopod lines in world trade, and one where a loosely worded offer causes the most arguments on arrival. The word squid covers two families with different textures, yields and markets: the slender inshore squid of the family Loliginidae, and the larger, thicker-walled flying squid of the family Ommastrephidae. We quote each lot by scientific name, catch area, cut and count, and we state the glaze and any soaking treatment, because a ring cut from a tender inshore tube and a ring cut from a sea-frozen Illex mantle look alike in the bag but eat very differently.

For tender, sweet squid our main sources are Indian squid (Uroteuthis duvaucelii) and mitre squid (Uroteuthis chinensis), taken by trawl, light-luring nets and jigs in the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and neighboring South-East Asian waters. Both were long classified in the genus Loligo, and many cartons and price lists still use that older name. For volume programs we offer Argentine shortfin squid (Illex argentinus), largely frozen at sea by jigging vessels in the South-West Atlantic, and Japanese flying squid (Todarodes pacificus) from the North-West Pacific. Arrow squid is a market name rather than a species: in New Zealand and Australia it means the Nototodarus flying squids, while elsewhere it is attached to some slender loliginid squid, so we write the scientific name beside it every time.

Whole round squid is frozen as caught, ungutted, in blocks or IQF, and graded by pieces per kilogram from large 3⁠–⁠5 counts down to small squid at 20 or more per kilogram; bigger Illex and Todarodes are often sold by piece weight instead. Cleaned squid has the head, viscera, ink sac and transparent pen removed. Tubes are cleaned mantles, usually skinned, sold with or without fins and graded by length or count, rings are cut across the tube, and tentacle crowns are packed separately with the beak taken out. A large share of Illex is landed frozen, then thawed, cut and refrozen in an Asian plant, which is normal practice but has to be reflected in the processing country we declare. Any phosphate or other tenderizing soak applied before freezing appears on the offer and the label.

On thawed samples, inspectors look for white to ivory flesh without the pink cast that signals age or temperature abuse, and for ink staining, leftover pen or beak, torn tubes, broken rings, sand and off odors, then check count and glaze against the declared net weight. Kitchens use tubes for stuffing and grilling, rings for fried calamari and paella, and whole small squid for Asian stir-fries and salads, while processors buy cut squid for batter lines and for our frozen seafood mix. Shelf-stable whole and shredded product is listed under dried squid, and squid shares a reefer easily with frozen cuttlefish and frozen octopus.