Countries › Australia › Salt and pepper calamari

Salt and pepper calamari

Crisp, spicy coating and tender squid.

20 min

Prep

5 min

Cook

4

Serves

380 kcal

Calories

20g

Protein

48g

Carbs

14g

Fat

Ingredients

Other

85g cornflour1 pieces

85g plain flour1 pieces

black pepper cracked2 tsp

ground Szechuan peppercorns roughly crushed2 tbsp

sunflower or vegetable oil for frying1 pieces

400g squid cleaned and cut into strips (see tips, below)1 pieces

finely sliced spring onion and green chilli, to serve1 pieces

red chilli finely chopped1 pieces

half cucumber finely diced1 pieces

small red onion finely chopped1 pieces

100ml rice wine vinegar1 pieces

caster sugar1 tbsp

fish sauce2 tsp

Method

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.