Crispy Fried Squid (Calamari) Recipe
This incredibly popular dish is a real crowd pleaser and will be the talk of the table. It can be served as a starter or as a main course and makes a great party food as its taste is pretty extraordinary.
With a few simple steps and a tiny bit of effort you can tackle this simple and quick recipe at home and end up with crispy calamari to delight your friends and family. There is nothing daunting and tricky about it.
Squid flourish in the Mediterranean and Adriatic sea where for the locals fried calamari are equivalent to British concept of “Fish and Chips”.
Along the Slovenian coast, this dish can be found on the menu in just about every restaurant (Ocvrti lignji or Ocvrti kalamari). It is served with chips and mayonnaise or tartar sauce or a traditional Istrian vegetable side dish made with spinach or chard and potatoes. During hotter months a mixed summer salad could be a great alternative to accompany this exquisite dish.
It is enjoyed as part of everyday meal or as a seafood feast during festivities, very popular on Christmas Eve when traditionally fish and seafood-based menu is served according to the tradition that originates from the Roman Catholic practice of not eating meat on Fridays.
Fried squid can be served on their own or with whitebait or other small fish, prawn tails or shrimp.
I am sharing here my mother's recipe how to make the best crispy calamari!
Ingredients
Serves 4
about 800g squid, tubes and tentacles, cleaned
250-500g plain white flour
vegetable oil, for frying
sea salt
2 lemons, quartered, to serve
Method
Prepare and clean the squid.
Remove from the squid tube the head, backbone and innards, and separate the tentacles.
(If you are uncomfortable with this task, ask the fishmonger to clean the squid for you).
Wash thoroughly under the cold running water.
Pat squid dry with the kitchen paper.
Cut the squid pouches into rings, roughly about 5mm.
Put enough oil in a saucepan to come halfway up the pan.
Place on a medium heat and heat the oil for deep-frying to 190°C, if using a thermometer.
(if not using a thermometer, one way to check that the oil is at the right temperature is to drop a small cube of bread into the hot oil, it should become crispy and golden in 1minute)
While the oil is heating, put the flour into a shallow dish, bowl or a plate.
Coat lightly the squid in flour (work in small batches).
Transfer them into a sieve and gently shake off the excess.
Carefully drop into the hot oil.
Fry in batches (and do not overload the pan) for about 2 minutes or until the squid becomes golden in colour
(dropping bigger batches of floured squid in hot oil can bring the temperature of oil down, the squid will be “cooking and steaming” in oil rather than frying and potentially compromising its crunchiness).
Remove the squid from the pan with a slotted spoon.
Place on the kitchen paper to absorb excess oil and drain.
Sprinkle with sea salt to taste.
Serve with lemon quarters.
Serve as a starter or as a main dish with mayonnaise, garlic mayonnaise, tartar sauce, salad or chips and chard or spinach with potatoes Istrian style.
