Salt & pepper squid
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14 Ingredients
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30 min total
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Serves Serves 4
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Medium
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Vietnamese
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Seafood
Recipe byThe ZestyPlate Kitchen
Crisp squid in peppery Szechuan flour, fried golden and served with a tangy cucumber dipping sauce, spring onion and chilli. A moreish starter.
Tender squid in a light, peppery coating, fried until golden and dipped in something sharp and fresh: this is hard to stop eating. The Szechuan peppercorns bring a gentle tingle that lifts it above the usual fried squid. Put it in the middle of the table to start a meal or to pick at with a drink.
Jump to recipe
Prep 20 min
Cook 10 min
Total 30 min
Medium
Scale:
- 85g Corn Flour
- 85g Plain Flour
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Szechuan Peppercorns
- For frying Sunflower Oil
- 400g Squid
- Sliced Spring Onions
- Sliced Green Chilli
- 1 chopped Red Chilli
- 1/2 Cucumber
- 1 chopped Red Onions
- 100 ml Rice Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Caster Sugar
- 2 tsp Fish Sauce
Preparation
- For the dipping sauce, stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves, then set aside. Mix the cornflour and plain flour with both peppers and two teaspoons of sea salt in a large bowl and set aside. Line a tray with kitchen paper and keep more salt to hand for sprinkling.
- Heat about 7cm of oil to 180C in a deep fryer, wok or deep pan. Without a thermometer, a cube of bread should turn brown in around twenty seconds. Coat the squid well in the flour mix and fry in batches for about two minutes each, until crisp. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain on the kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little more salt. Serve scattered with the spring onion and chilli, the dipping sauce alongside.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Pat the squid thoroughly dry before coating, so the flour clings and the pieces crisp up.
- Bring the oil up to temperature and fry in small batches to keep everything crisp.
- Keep the cooking brief, as squid turns rubbery within a couple of minutes.
- Hit it with a pinch more salt the second it leaves the oil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fry it fast in hot oil for just a couple of minutes. It toughens if overcooked, so work in batches and lift each piece out the moment it crisps.
They give a citrusy, tingling buzz rather than plain heat. No luck finding them? Use extra black pepper with a small pinch of chilli.
Clean it yourself or buy it ready-cleaned, open out the body, pat it very dry, and cut it into rings or pieces before tossing in the seasoned flour.
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