It’s Christmas time, and nothing says Christmas like calamari!
SantaSquid.jpg
Overcooking makes it tough and chewy.
Cook it fast, or cook it slow, nothing in between.
Italian, plural of calamaro, from medieval Latin calamarium ‘pen case’, from Greek kalamos ‘pen’ (with reference to the squid’s long tapering internal shell and its ink). The variant calamares is Spanish. This is according to the internet, which never lies. Let’s just pretend it’s Greek, and that will make it taste better.
The rings need to be 1/4″ – 1/8″ thick, tentacles 1″ segments. If you have thick pieces of squid, consider grilling it as a steak (marinade like recipe #1, grill at 475 for 2 minutes per side, I recommend running 2 metal skewers through to prevent curling).
Cooking Times:
Boil rings 2-3 minutes (salted water, bay leaves, squeeze lemon at end)
Pan fry or grill 1 to 1.5 minutes per side max, with or without sauce that was heated up first.
Batter and deep fry until golden brown, approx 1 minute at 360F
Do not reheat leftovers. They will get rubbery and ruin your childhood.
Recipe 1 marinade then grill
1 pound fresh, cleaned, washed, dried squid
1/2 tbsp finely minced garlic
3/4 tsp red chili flakes
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/3 evoo divided
2 tbsp lemon juice divided
1/2 tsp salt divided
Set aside divided ingredients.
Mix everything else in a bowl, chill, stir often, 2-5 hours.
Grill 450-475F 1 minute per side
Recipe 2 Assaulted and Battered
1 pound fresh, cleaned, washed, dried squid
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups vegetable oil
Lemon wedges for serving
Soak the rings in buttermilk at room temp for 1 hour.
Heat oil to 360F
Whisk flour, pepper together
Toss rings in flour until fully coated.
Deep fry 1 minute, until golden and crispy
Transfer to a wire rack and fry another batch when oil is at 360F again. You can warm the calamari in the oven at 250F
Sprinkle salt and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe 3 cook then sauce it up
1/4 cup evoo
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove finely minced garlic
.5 tsp dried oregano
.5 tsp salt
Fresh pepper
1 pound fresh, cleaned, washed, dried squid
In a large bowl, whisk everything but the squid.
Heat lightly oiled grill pan to high, cook each side of squid for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cut into 1/4″ rings, toss in lemon sauce, crack some pepper over it and serve.
You can add chili flakes, oregano, paprika to any of these recipes.
Random sweet chili sauce recipe
1/3 cup vinegar (pref rice vinegar)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp (100 ml) sugar (can use erythritol if you’re one of those weird keto people).
1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
1 tbsp chili paste (Sambal Oelek) or 1-2 tsp red chili flakes
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp soy sauce (or fish sauce for a Vietnamese/Thai version)
2 tsp cornstarch in 1 tbsp water
Bring everything but the cornstarch to a boil, stirring constantly.
After sugar is completely dissolved, add the cornstarch and keep stirring 2-5 more minutes – should thicken up significantly. Let cool completely.
Optional add 1-2 drops red food colouring.
Look here for Tzatziki