Salt + Pepper Squid | Recipe
Got an inkling what you should make for dinner.
Cantonese salt + pepper squid.
If this is on the menu at a Chinese restaurant, you know we’re ordering it. Crispy, crunchy squid lightly battered and tossed with salt, pepper, fried garlic, scallions, and birds eye chilis (and goes perfectly with some Henny or cognac). It’s addictive, we promise you won’t be able to eat just one. It’s not your average calamari, it’s better. But you can also make this at home, you only need a few ingredients, a little patience and an appetite. 😉
Ingredients
10 medium sized squids (they shrink a lot after cooking!)
1 egg
1 tsbp corn starch
white pepper powder
2 tbsp white cooking wine
4 tbsp tapioca starch + 3 tbsp tapioca starch
salt + pepper to taste
2-3 thai bird chilis (or more if you like spice! 🔥)
frying oil (canola / grapeseed / vegetable)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 scallions, chopped
Directions
Clean the squid out, remove all of the inedible parts. Cut squid along the ridge, removing the membrane.
Vent it by cutting it criss-cross so it curls when frying.
Slice into inch long sections after venting it.
Create a frying batter with the egg, corn + tapioca starch, white pepper, and white cooking wine.
Make sure the squid is evenly coated in the batter, let any excess batter run off the squid— you want the batter to have an even texture around the squid for the right crispy exterior to juicy interior ratio. Set each squid aside on a large plate (don’t stack them on each other, this will ruin the batter ratio).
Pour the 3 tbsp of additional tapioca starch into a bowl.
Heat up your choice of frying oil in a pot to medium low heat, ~ 3/4 cup of oil depending on how large or deep your pot is.
Dip each squid piece in the starch as your oil is heating up, this will help the squid have that extra crispy + crunchy exterior and is key for that perfect light golden fry in many Asian dishes (like Taiwanese fried chicken).
Gently fry the squid in batches until they’re lightly golden (~1 min).
Take them out and let them cool on a plate (with a paper towel to soak up excess oil)
Slice the garlic, scallion, thai bird chilis and fry in a separate pan on medium heat with some oil for 30 seconds. If you want crispy fried garlic, you can add that in first and once it begins to turn golden, add in the scallions + thai bird chilis.
Once those have crisped up, toss the squid in the pan and add salt + pepper to taste for ~30 seconds until everything is evenly mixed.
Garnish with more thai bird chilis + scallions as desired.