Name: Cantonese salt and pepper squid
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients: 500 g calamari; 60 g cornstarch; 2 tablespoons plain flour; 1 teaspoon white pepper; 1 l sunflower oil; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon white pepper; 1 teaspoon sichuan pepper; 3 cloves garlic; 2 pcs red chilli pepper; 3 pcs spring onion; 4 slices lemon

Step by step process

Prepping the squid and spices

1
Cantonese squid starts with fresh, cleaned tubes. Rinse them and pat them thoroughly dry. Cut the tubes into rings about 1 cm wide. Score the thicker pieces on the inside into a fine crosshatch so they curl nicely and stay more tender when fried.
2
Heat a dry pan. Briefly toast the salt together with the white and Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant. Tip them into a bowl, let them cool, then coarsely crush them in a grinder or mortar.
3
Mix the cornstarch with the flour and a teaspoon of the toasted, crushed blend. Coat the dried rings thoroughly in this mixture and shake off the excess so only a thin layer remains, which turns crisp after frying.

Frying and finishing in the wok

4
Heat the oil in a deep pot or wok to 180 °C. Add a small batch of rings and fry for 1 to 2 minutes until golden, then remove them right away onto a paper towel. Longer frying dries out the meat and turns it rubbery, so work fast and in batches.
TIP:
First, heat the wok thoroughly and fry the ingredients in smaller batches. Thanks to the high temperature, the meat quickly sears and browns. An overcrowded wok, on the other hand, cools down and starts steaming the food.
5
Leave just a tablespoon of oil in the wok. Add the chopped garlic, chilies, and the white parts of the scallions. Stir-fry for a few seconds until the aromas scent the fat, but nothing browns.
TIP:
When sautéing garlic in oil, cook it over MEDIUM heat for 3-4 minutes until golden, this releases the aromatic oils. High heat leads to burning and loss of flavor. The same process applies to onions.
6
Return the fried rings to the wok and scatter the toasted spice mix over them. Toss quickly so every piece is coated. Finish with the green part of the scallions and serve right away with a slice of lemon.

More tips:

Buy the squid as fresh as possible, or well-frozen, and always pat it thoroughly dry before frying. Wet meat spatters in the wok and the coating will not stick.

Keep the oil at 180 °C and fry in batches. If you add too much squid at once, the temperature drops and the coating soaks up fat instead of turning crisp.

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