Salt and Pepper Squid made from “carved” squid pieces
Salt and pepper squid is best eaten fresh and piping hot. If your favorite Chinese restaurant is only doing takeout because of the pandemic, here’s how to make it at home. Serves 4 as an appetizer with other foods.
Ingredients:
12-oz package frozen squid, defrosted and cut into bite size pieces (or use cleaned, fresh squid)
2 T Shaoxing cooking wine
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 t grated ginger
½ t Kosher salt
½ t white pepper, finely ground
For the batter:
¼ c cornstarch
¼ c all purpose flour
¼ c corn meal or corn flour
Neutral oil for deep frying
Garnish:
¼ c basil leaves (Thai, purple or Italian), cut into chiffonade
1 green onion, sliced into rings including the green part
1 serrano chili or 1 Thai birds-eye chili, sliced into rings
Lemon quarters
We experimented with these “carved” squid pieces you normally encounter in Asian seafood stews. Good, but require extra time in the fry oil.
Method: marinate the squid pieces in wine, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper for at least 15 minutes and as long as 1 hour. Heat oil to 375 degrees in a wok. Dredge squid pieces in batter and fry them a few at a time, turning to expose all surfaces to the oil, about 3-4 minutes. Drain squid pieces on a rack or paper towel. Add garnishes to hot oil when squid pieces are done and fry 30 seconds; remove from oil with a skimmer. Plate fried squid; distribute garnish on top; serve with lemon quarters.
Great idea. I purchase the squid from 99 Ranch Mkt. I stir fry the squid with onions, bell pepper (red and green), fermented black beans, fresh ginger root, garlic, and some hot peppers. I use a little bit of cornstarch with chicken broth to make a gravy in the pan. The fermented black beans are essential to get a good flavor. When it is ready to serve I pour glaze of dark sesame oil on top. sometimes I splash some Sake in the pan with the black beans, ginger, garlic, and oil. I like what you created,
That sounds like a solid stir-fry. You might try it with doenjang, the fermented broad bean/chili sauce we’ve talked about previously, which I’m sure you could get at 99 Ranch Market.
I meant https://burntmyfingers.com/2018/09/18/taste-test-douban-jiang-sichuan-chili-bean-paste/ douban jiang (or other variation of the name) not doenjang which is a Korean soy product similar to miso.