This is another recipe that my husband made for me on Valentine’s day. He knows how much I love calamari and it’s a dish we always order when we go out. So, he created this Chinese-inspired take on the classic. It’s great as you can serve individual portions or, even better, make it a sharing dish. You can serve the calamari with a dipping sauce as a starter or you can serve with a red cabbage salad (recipe below) as a main course. Garlic mayonnaise (baked garlic mashed and mixed with mayonnaise) is a good sauce for these.
Prep time 20 minutes/Cook time 5 minutes/Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the salad:
250g (1/2 lb) red cabbage, shredded finely with a knife
50g (2 oz) radishes, sliced
2 carrots, shredded with a grater
1 Little Gem lettuce, shredded finely with a knife
15g (1 bunch) fresh coriander (cilantro), coarsely chopped
For the dressing:
2 tbsp soy sauce
3cm (1 in) piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 limes, finely-grated zest and juiced
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp clear honey
For the squid:
2 eggs, beaten
70g (1/2 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
70g (1/2 cup) plain flour
1 tsp crushed chilli flakes (or reduce to taste)
1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
Sea salt, to taste
4 tbsp vegetable oil
300g (2/3 lb) squid rings, defrosted (if frozen) and drained on kitchen paper
1 lime, sliced into wedges
Method:
For the salad, simply mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small jug and set aside.
On a large plate, mix together the flour, crushed chillies (if using), ground Sichuan peppercorns, a generous pinch of salt and the black pepper.
Beat the egg in a wide bowl and place the cornflour on another large plate
Heat a large frying pan with half the oil. Coat the squid rings completely in the egg, then dip in the cornflour to coat. Place back in the egg then coat completely in the seasoned flour. Once coated, drop half the rings into the hot oil. Space the squid out and fry for 1 min before moving, then turn and cook and for 2 mins more on the other side until cooked through. Tip onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain, season well and add a squeeze of lime juice. Add the remaining oil to the pan and repeat with the remaining squid.
Pour the dressing onto the salad and toss to fully combine. Serve with the squid and eat immediately.
