Recipe
Calamari Fritti with Herb Mayonnaise
Cooking Type
Protein
Serves
4
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Ingredients
- Oil for deep frying
- 120 g fine semolina
- 100 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1kg cleaned squid, wings removed, tubes cut into rings, tentacles cut into pairs
- Salt flakes, to serve
Herb Mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons chopped cornichons (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and dried
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped French tarragon (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup whole-egg mayonnaise (see notes)
Method
Make Herb Mayonnaise: combine all ingredients and set aside.
Heat 8-10 cm of oil in a wide, deep-sided frying pan or wok over a high heat for 4 minutes.
Combine semolina and flour and season with salt and pepper. Dust the squid in a coarse metal sieve, shaking to remove any excess.
Test to see if the oil is hot enough but putting one piece into it.
Fry the squid in batches for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden, bringing the oil back up to temperature between each batch.
Drain on paper towel and immediately season well with salt flakes. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and Herb Mayonnaise.
Notes
Cornichons, small pickled gherkins, are available from good delicatessens. Use gherkins if they are unavailable.
If French tarragon is not available, omit it, do not replace with tasteless Russian tarragon.
If you don’t want to make your own mayonnaise, use a good quality whole egg mayonnaise.
Alternative Species: Cuttlefish, octopus.
