Adobong Pusit Recipe (Squid Adobo): delicious squid in its own ink

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Adobong Pusit Recipe, easy to fix and a very versatile dish since it can accommodate just about any main ingredient such as pork, poultry, beef, seafood, or vegetables.

Adobong Pusit / Squid Adobo is a very popular dish in the Philippines; want to know the reason why?

Well, Filipinos love squid no matter how it is cooked and Adobo is definitely a Filipino’s top choice when it comes to cooking any dish.

So, with that being said making Adobo with Pusit is a win-win situation, you basically have the best of both worlds so to speak.

However, there is a downside to cooking Pusit; although the dish itself is easy to cook, cleaning these little creatures is the total opposite.

Adobong Pusit Recipe (Squid Adobo)

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Adobong Pusit Recipe | Cooking the Squid

Adobong Pusit can be prepared with a short ingredients list; you’re only going to need

  • soy sauce (toyo),
  • vinegar (suka),
  • garlic (bawang),
  • onions (sibuyas),
  • bay leaf (laurel),
  • ground black pepper (durog na paminta),
  • cooking oil (mantika),
  •  and salt & pepper to taste.

You can either use fresh Pusit or frozen ones. I use what is available here in the Midwest, which is the frozen kind (see photo below).

Also check out our Pancit Malabon recipe for more squid!

The Cleaning Part, – Sorry this has to be done first:

Thaw out the frozen Squid or Pusit and pull all the heads out and separate them from the bodies. Next, remove the clear plastic-looking thing inside the body (the “pen”).

Then, carefully remove all the innards of the squid. Be patient in this part so that you don’t tear up the body of the squid or end up skinning it.

Once all the body is clean, then you can proceed to the heads.

I usually trim the bottom of the head (below the eyes) with a pair of scissors and pop out the ***buccal mass (the beak or “tuka” in Tagalog), that’s right squids are like chickens they have beaks too.

If your squid size is 3” inches or less I wouldn’t suggest slicing it in half, so leave the whole body uncut just like I did.

Adobong Pusit Recipe (Squid Adobo)

Adobong Pusit Recipe (Squid Adobo)

Joost Nusselder
Adobong Pusit can be prepared with a short ingredients list; you’re only going to need soy sauce (toyo), vinegar (suka), garlic (bawang), onions (sibuyas), bay leaf (laurel), ground black pepper (durog na paminta), cooking oil (mantika), and salt & pepper to taste.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Filipino
Servings 6 people
Calories 106 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg large or small size Pusit
  • 1 head garlic crushed
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 cup vinegar
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp peppercorns crushed
  • 3 pcs bay leaf
  • 3 tbsp cooking oil
  • 2 stalks Tanglad (optional)
  • salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • To clean Pusit, pull out the head and the innards will come out with it.
  • Keep aside ink sack discard entrails.
  • Remove the teeth and keep aside head and tentacles.
  • Remove the membrane from the body and wash out entrails.
  • Final wash squid and drain.
  • Slice body into ½” crosswise if you bought Large Size Squid (Pusit).
  • Cut tentacles in proportion to sliced body.
  • In a casserole put Pusit including the ink sack and the rest of the ingredients,
  • Add 1 to 2 cups of water simmer for 30 minutes or more until it is soft but firm and sauce thickens.
  • Season with salt.
  • Serve hot with lots of rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 106kcal
Keyword seafood, Squid
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Squid Adobo recipe Ingredients Adobong Pusit
Cut squid in a small bowl
Squid rings in a cooking pan for adobong pusit
Squid in its own ink in a cooking pot

Now, This is the Adobong Pusit. Hope You Like It. This Adobong Pusit Recipe is easy to follow. Don’t forget to share this recipe. Thanks and have a nice day.

If you have some leftover calamari, consider making this delicious fried pusit calamares

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Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.