Salt and Pepper Calamari

It is made of sliced squid mantle or common squid. The slices are coated with flour, then with a mixture of egg and milk, and finally with fine breadcrumbs.

They are then fried in an oil bath. The coating becomes crispy while preserving the tenderness of the squid, whose consistency sometimes becomes firm when cooked too long.

The main advantage of frying is that it cooks the food quickly. You accompany these fried rings with garlic mayonnaise.

The taste of garlic goes very well with squid. What is the origin of salt and pepper calamari?

Salt and pepper calamari comes from China. The recipe originates from the Canton area.

In the original version, starch was used instead of flour, and the squid was flavored with ginger and chili. The whole thing was fried in a lot of oil in a wok. Chinese immigration began in 1818 in Australia.

There are now more than one million Chinese-Australians. They brought with them many recipes that have become widely popular throughout Oceania.

How to prepare salt and pepper calamari

Squid slices can be found in several forms, either frozen already cut into slices, or fresh from the fishmonger or in their original form, that of a squid.

In this case, it is enough to remove the tentacles and the head, which can be used for another preparation. The feather, a bony part that runs along the mantle of the squid and serves as its backbone, is then removed.

Then you empty what is in it and remove the thin film that surrounds the coat. As it cooks, it becomes firm and rubbery if not removed.

It is easy to remove with the fingers. The squid mantles can be rinsed and sliced. The size of the slices depends on the initial size of the mollusk.

To make this recipe, it is preferable to get a large specimen with a fairly thick flesh. This recipe is not suitable for small cuttlefish, which are best fried whole.

The slices are floured to capture excess moisture on the surface. Then you mix the egg and the milk and dip the slices in it.

This mixture sticks to the flour and coats the rings perfectly. You finish with a fine and white breadcrumb of dry bread, decorated with salt, pepper and lemon pepper.

The famous Timut pepper is perfectly suitable, its persistent taste resists to cooking in a frying bath. As with most fried foods, it is best to let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for half an hour before frying. The secret of good frying lies in the thermal shock between icy food and a very hot oil.

Resting in the refrigerator allows for a wide temperature range. The frying oil should ideally be a neutral oil that can withstand a high level of cooking. The oil should be around 340 °F.

If you are preparing a large quantity of squid rings, it is better to temper an oven at 285 °F to keep the fried rings warm while you take care of the rest. Never fry too many items at the same time, or the temperature of the oil will drop considerably, causing the food to lose its grip. The breadcrumb coating would no longer be crispy but would be saturated with oil.

The squid slices are cooked rapidly, between two and three minutes depending on the size. A golden brown crust indicates that the food has been properly cooked.

The slices should be immediately drained in paper towels. The squid slices can be eaten hot and crispy with a garlic mayonnaise.

What are the variants? Squid can easily be replaced by cuttlefish depending on the season and what is available in the market.

Salt and pepper calamari can be dressed with lemon juice and served with a fresh, crisp green salad. Fried seafood is popular in port cities around the world.

In Italy, in Venice for example, the catch of the day is mixed and fried together. There are various mollusks, but also crustaceans and small fish.