Salt Pepper Crispy Squid Recipes

SALT & PEPPER SQUID

Steps:

• Pick the mint leaves into a small bowl of cold water to ensure they stay super-fresh.
• Trim the spring onions and halve across the middle, then finely slice lengthways and add to the water bowl.
• Pat the squid dry with kitchen paper, then use a regular eating knife to lightly score the inside of the squid at ½cm intervals at an angle. Turn the squid through 90° and do the same again to create a criss-cross pattern.
• When you're ready to cook, just under half fill a large sturdy pan with oil - the oil should be 8cm deep, but never fill your pan more than half full - and place on a medium-high heat. Use a thermometer to tell when it's ready (170°C), or add a piece of potato and wait until it turns golden - that's the sign that it's ready to go.
• While it heats, tip 1 heaped tablespoon of white pepper and the flour into a large bowl with a pinch of sea salt. Add the squid, toss and mix together to coat, then leave in the flour for a few minutes while you prick the chillies - if some are bigger, halve and deseed them first - then peel and finely slice the garlic 1mm thick, ideally on a mandolin (use the guard!).
• When you're ready to fry, add half the squid and chillies - it's important to cook in two batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. When it's all looking golden and lovely (after about 1½ minutes), add half the garlic for a final minute.
• Use a slotted spoon to scoop everything into a bowl or pan lined with kitchen paper to drain while you cook the second batch.
• Whip out the paper, then cut the squid into bite-sized pieces and return to the bowl. Drizzle with the vinegar, add a good pinch of seasoning, the drained mint leaves and spring onion curls, toss it all together and serve right away.

SALT AND PEPPER SQUID

Steps:

• First prepare your squid. Rinse it well in cold water. Cut the tentacles off using one cut, keeping about a 1/4 inch of the hood in order to end up with one piece of calamari that includes all the tentacles. If you're using larger squid, you can cut these pieces lengthwise in half in order to make them bite-sized. Having each piece be roughly the same size is important for achieving the same cooking time for each piece of calamari. Drain the squid pieces in a colander and transfer to a bowl.
• Marinate the squid in the shaoxing wine and sesame oil. Toss gently and set aside.
• In a medium deep pot, add enough oil so that the level of oil reaches 4 inches up the side of the pot. Heat the oil until the temperature reaches 325 degrees.
• While you're waiting for the oil to heat, prepare your dry mixture. Combine the all-purpose flour, semolina flour, cornmeal, salt, and white pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• When the oil reaches temperature, you're ready to start dredging your squid. Work in batches of small fistfuls of calamari. Gently squeeze off any liquid and dredge the squid in the dry mixture.
• Using a long-handled sieve or slotted spoon, lower the calamari into the hot oil. Gently move the calamari pieces back and forth. Let them fry until golden brown, about 2-2 1/2 minutes. Remove all the calamari and let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Taste one piece of calamari for saltiness (be careful, it's hot). You can sprinkle more salt immediately after frying to your taste. A necessary step, however, is to crack some fresh white pepper over the freshly fried squid. Continue frying in these small batches and seasoning with white pepper until you've fried all the squid.
• Now the next phase: stir-frying the fried squid. Heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the ginger and let it fry in the oil. After about 20 seconds, add the garlic. Stir the garlic around the wok quickly in order to prevent burning. When the garlic gets lightly golden in color, add the peppers. Continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds.
• Add the squid to the wok and stir fry quickly in the aromatic mixture for about a minute or so. Plate and serve immediately with white rice! And don't leave those crispy pieces of garlic and pepper behind!

SALT AND PEPPER CALAMARI

Steps:

• Whisk egg and milk together in a bowl. Mix panko, pepper, and salt in a shallow bowl.
• Lightly dust calamari with flour, shaking off any excess. Dip in egg mixture then panko mixture to coat. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Heat oil in a saucepan or deep fryer. Deep-fry calamari in batches until light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

CRISPY SALT AND PEPPER SQUID WITH SPICY ASIAN SALAD

Steps:

• For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the chili oil, vegetable oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• For the salad: In a medium bowl, combine the greens, carrots and scallions, but do not add the dressing yet. Cover with a damp paper towel and set in the fridge until ready to serve.
• For the squid: Fill a wok or deep fryer halfway with vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees F, or until a tiny piece of bread browns in 15 seconds. If frying in a wok, make sure that the wok is stable on a burner or wok ring.
• Whisk together the eggs and potato starch, and then coat each squid ring well with the batter. Carefully add the squid rings to the hot oil and fry, in batches, until a light golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
• When ready to serve, toss the salad with a couple tablespoons of the dressing and top with the hot crispy squid. Garnish with sthe liced scallion greens and serve.
• Cook's Notes: You can use frozen squid rings, but fresh are best.
• This dish makes a great appetizer or a shared main course.

SALT & PEPPER CRISPY SQUID

Steps:

• Cut the tubes open and check that they are really clean.
• Open them up from one side and lay them with the inside surface facing up. With a really sharp knife, make slanted cuts into the flesh of the squid at 5mm intervals - only shallow, don't cut through.
• Reverse and do it from the opposite direction to make diamond shapes.
• Then cut the tubes into wide strips and toss into the flours, salt and pepper. Shake off any excess - I find a sieve works best.
• When ready to cook, heat the oil to just smoking and add half of the squid sections.
• Cook until they are a pale golden brown. Drain on paper towelling. Repeat with the remaining squid.
• For the sauce, combine the rest of the ingredients.
• To serve, pile the squid into a shallow serving plate and pour over half of the dessing.
• Serve the rest of the dressing separately.

CRISPY SALT AND PEPPER SQUID WITH SPICY ASIAN SALAD

Steps:

• For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the chili oil, vegetable oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• For the salad: In a medium bowl, combine the greens, carrots and scallions, but do not add the dressing yet. Cover with a damp paper towel and set in the fridge until ready to serve.
• For the squid: Fill a wok or deep fryer halfway with vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees F, or until a cube of bread turns golden browns in 15 seconds and floats to the surface. If frying in a wok, make sure that the wok is stable on a burner or wok ring.
• Whisk together the eggs and potato starch, and then coat each squid ring well with the batter. Carefully add the squid rings to the hot oil and fry, in batches, until a light golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
• When ready to serve, toss the salad with a couple tablespoons of the dressing and top with the hot crispy squid. Garnish with sthe liced scallion greens and serve.
• Cook's Notes: You can use frozen squid rings, but fresh are best.
• This dish makes a great appetizer or a shared main course.

SALT & PEPPER SQUID

Steps:

• To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then set aside. Mix the cornflour and plain flour with both peppers and 2 tsp sea salt in a large bowl, then set aside. Line a tray with kitchen paper and make sure you have more salt to sprinkle with.
• Heat about 7cm of oil to 180C in a deep fryer, wok or deep pan. If you don't have a thermometer, you can test it with a cube of bread - it should brown in 20 secs. Coat the squid well with the flour mix and fry in batches for about 2 mins each or until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to lift out the squid, then drain on the kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little more salt. Serve the squid scattered with the spring onion and chilli, with the dipping sauce on the side.

CHINESE CRISP - FRIED SALT AND PEPPER SQUID

Steps:

• Slit each squid body open along one side with a sharp knife then score the inside of each in a criss cross pattern.
• Set aside with the tenticles.
• Heat 5 cm of Vegetable oil in the base of a deep frying pan.
• Place the sea salt and the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and crush coarsely together.
• stir into the cornflour, then toss with the squid to coat.
• Cook the chillies and salad onions in the hot oil for 30 seconds then scoop them out with a mesh spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
• Cook the squid body and tentacles in the pan for 2 minutes until it rolls up and turns crisp and lightly golden.
• Transfer the squid to a plate, scatter over the crispy chilli and salad onions and serve with soy sauce for drizzling and lemon wedges for squeezing over.