Salt & pepper squid

One of the starters I particularly love is salt & pepper squid, although I have to make sure I get to my seat quickly before it vanishes, as Greg and Zander seem to inhale it very fast! The trick with this is the choice of squid and the coating and I have gone through many variations to find what works best.

When I can get the tiny whole squid which I seem to find only in southern Europe, I use these, but it is important to make sure they are not too wet before you start as the coating can get too sticky. At home, I generally get narrow fresh squid rings which are locally available and crisp up beautifully.

For the coating, I have tried batters (with and without egg), but most have been stodgy and sticky, so I now use a base mix of cornflour (the type you use for thickening sauces and soups) and all-purpose flour. It is a dry mixture but as the squid rings are naturally a little damp, as long as you take a couple of minutes to coat the rings well, the coating will stick. Serve with some lemon or lime wedges and some quickly fried spring onion and coriander for extra taste.

Note: Please be careful with the hot oil! And wait until it is cool to dispose of it into a used bottle to throw away, NOT down the sink as it will block the sink.

Add a little quick-fried spring onion and coriander to make these pop

Serves: 3-4 as a starter

Time to prepare/cook: Approximately 15 to 20 minutes

---

Ingredients

• 300-400g narrow squid rings

• 3 tablespoons of all-purpose white flour

• 3 tablespoons of cornflour

• I teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice

• Salt and pepper (from mills) for the coating and serving

• 500ml oil for frying – use sunflower or rapeseed oil, and one designed for hot, deep frying if possible

• Lemon/lime wedges to serve

• Optional: 1 medium chopped spring onion and handful of coriander leaves

• Pots & pans needed: Large, deep frying pan (wok-style if possible) OR a large saucepan (make sure it is deep), mixing bowl for the coating, serving bowl, slotted spoon OR a long fork, kitchen towel

Method

• Pour the oil into the deep pan, making sure it is only 3-4 cm deep and below half-way up the pan, and start heating it on the highest hob setting possible (9 on scale of 1 to 9)

• Combine the flour, cornflour and Chinese 5 spice into the mixing bowl and add several turns of the salt and pepper mills (I have big mills and usually use 10-12 turns each) – mix the coating ingredients together

• Drain any excess liquid from the squid rings and put them into the coating mix, turning them (use fingers or a spoon) to ensure all the rings have a light coating of the mix inside and out

• Once the oil is up to heat – it will start to produce little bubbles – start to place the squid rings gently and individually into the oil until you have a layer of rings– DO NOT touch the oil

• Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do more than one batch, as you should not crowd the pan, or the squid rings will stick together – keep the first batch warm in the oven or by covering the serving pan

• Once the rings are golden brown – approximately 3-5 minutes, remove the rings from the oil using a slotted spoon (or long fork) and place on to kitchen towels in the serving dish to absorb any excess oil, then add a couple of turns of salt & pepper

• Remove the kitchen towel, add quickly fried spring onion and coriander if using and serve immediately with lemon/lime wedges

• Note: Once the oil is completely cool, pour it into a used bottle that you can throw away and not down the sink