Salt and Pepper Squid
Rings and tentacles tossed in spiced potato starch and flash-fried until the coating shatters at first bite — finished in the wok with garlic, chili, and spring onion that perfume the crust without softening it.
Ingredients
For 4 servings · tick what is ready
Use the scaled ingredient list. Steps and temperatures stay unchanged; use a larger pan or dish if needed. Seasonings to taste stay to taste.
How to make it
Open the squid tubes and score the inside surface in a crosshatch pattern at 5mm intervals — this gives the starch something to grip and helps the squid curl dramatically in the oil. Cut into 4cm pieces. Keep tentacles whole. Dry everything very thoroughly with paper towels.
Combine potato starch, salt, white pepper, and Sichuan pepper in a bowl. Add the dried squid and toss to coat completely. Shake off excess in a sieve — you want a thin, even coating that barely obscures the squid, not a heavy cloak.
Heat oil to 200 C (390 F) in a wok or deep pan — higher than most frying, because squid is wet. Fry in small batches for exactly 90 seconds. The squid will curl and the coating will set. Do not stir for the first 30 seconds so the crust can form. Remove to a rack — immediately.
Pour off most of the frying oil, leaving a thin slick. Over high flame, add garlic, chili, and spring onion. Stir-fry for 20–30 seconds until fragrant and the garlic is barely golden. Add the fried squid back and toss furiously for 15 seconds — just enough to perfume the crust without steaming it soft.
About this recipe
By ForkRecipe Kitchen · Source: ForkRecipe / FoodML and contributors. Recipe content available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Serving count is an estimate; check quantities in the source recipe.