Fried Calamari is one of those things that I thought was something I could only eat at restaurants. Imagine my surprise when I found cleaned squid at my local store and my brother-in-law telling me how to make it at home! Next thing I knew, I was making it much more often.

The key to making calamari is a long cook time. In this case, I marinated my cut squid in milk, which helps to break down the proteins in the meat. This lets the squid ‘cook’. I normally let it sit overnight, you can use milk or even evaporated milk! I don’t typically keep cow milk in my fridge and nut milk doesn’t break it down the same, so I use evaporated milk.

Second tip is the frying method! I use the same technique for frying my squid as I do for Korean Fried Chicken. It’s called double frying. You cook the calamari for a couple minutes, cool and drain while you continue to fry the rest of the calamari in batches. Then fry the first batch again until it’s nice and golden.

Fried Calamari with Roasted Peppers

1 pound of squid, tentacles and rings

1 can of evaporated milk

Breading:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup rice flour

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Mccormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning

1/4-1/2 cup cold water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Peanut or Canola Oil for frying

Calamari Vegetables:

2 tablespoons salted butter

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 onion (medium-large), diced

1 roasted red pepper, diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

After cutting the fresh cleaned squid into rings and tentacles, marinate in evaporated milk 1 hour to overnight.

 

Heat oil until it is 325-350 degrees F. While oil is heating, mix the dry ingredients for the breading. Make a well and add egg and water. Mix together. Add 1/4 cup of water and add additional water in 1/4 cup increments as necessary.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter and sauce onions until soft and slightly translucent. Add diced red pepper, and season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice. Stir to combine.

Double fry the squid. Go in small batches and don’t crowd the oil, otherwise it will steam the squid instead of frying. Take out of oil and drain on a small paper towel. Work in batches and be patient.

Lightly golden but still soft. Let cool and then fry again! It’ll be a nice beautiful golden colour, similar to tempura but not quite.

Once all the squid is doubly fried, add into the saucepan with the sautéed vegetables. With a spatula, fold the butter, lemon and vegetables around the squid until thoroughly combined and coated. Serve immediately and enjoy!