Crisp Calamari

  
Who doesn't love these? Definitely one of my favourite things but not that easy to get right. There are two tricky things to watch for: making sure the calamari are not rubbery and making sure they crisp and not greasy after deep frying. Italians are superb at this and in my time here I have garnered many hints and tips and use them all. For Italian frying tips and trick check out my Posterous Blog - a good idea to read that up before making this recipe.

Here I am sharing a recipe for making crisp outside, tender inside Fried Calamari to enjoy as a pre-meal antipasto with your Prosecco or as a meal in itself. I say "a" recipe because i don't always make them this way, but these did turn out especially good. I used a batter this time, though often I just use flour. Because I am fond of a nice light crisp batter I like this Fritto (also called Frittutra) both ways, though many Italian insist just flour is best for frying shrimp and calamari rings. And in truth flour on its own does adhere better to the squid rings You can try both ways and see which you prefer. If you use only flour, place the flour in a bag, pop the dried squid inside and shake till they are well coated. Nice to just throw the bag away after and have nothing to wash up.

A little note: the more finely milled the flour, the better it coats the item to be fried. This means less risk of spitting as the liquid in the squid (or vegetable) leaks out. It also means a very fast seal is created round the item being fried, which stops it from becoming penetrated by the oil and turning greasy. Here I used chickpea flour, as I often do with fish. I like it because apart from coating beautifully it also makes the finished calamari that little bit more golden. Other fine flours you can experiment with are rice flour, potato flour and corn starch, though when I have used these I have never so far used them alone but just substituted for about a third of the regular flour. 

Fritto di Calamari

For 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course:

300g (a little more than half a pound) of fresh whole squid

150g (5 ounces) chickpea flour

150-200ml (one third to fourth fifths of a cup) ice cold fizzy mineral water

milk for soaking the squid

ground nut (peanut) oil for deep frying

a small piece of butter

a slice of old stale bread

an ice cube straight form the freezer

salt

a lemon

First you need to clean the squid, and this video by 5min.com courtesy of www.crafsters.org shows you how if you've never done it before.

Once you've cleaned the squid, cut the triangular fins off, and cut the bodies into rings. If the tentacles section is quite big cut it into two or three.

Keep the tentacles and fins separate from the rings and place in two bowls, then cover in milk and leave for at least 2 hours - this helps to keep them tender.

 
When you are ready to fry, dry off the squid on paper towels first. Prepare you serving platter by lining it with paper towels

Also prepare a bed of kitchen paper near your stove - if you like you can place this under a wire mesh grid. This is to drain off excess oil: you place the squid directly on to it when you scoop them out with your frying drainer. This very efficient tool is the one used in Italy when deep frying:

 

Choose the right pan for your frying. The oil needs to be about 9 or 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) deep and your pan wide enough that you can cook several pieces at a time without overcrowding the pan.

Note: I don't like to use the wire frying baskets beacuse they force you to leave the oil pan empty, nothing left in it, and so you risk the oil getting too hot.

Prepare the batter while the oil is heating up with the piece of butter in it. My mother told me that this helps prevent the oil turning dark and I have always followed her advice, without really understanding why this should be so.

Place the flour in a bowl, tip in some of the ice cold water and stir not too thoroughly as if for a Tempura batter. Add more water as needed to achieve a batter the consistency of pouring cream. Test with a piece of squid - it should coat without running off entirely, just shedding a drip or two.

Place a piece of bread in the pan - it will tell you when the oil is ready. The oil needs to be at quite a high temperature to cook the squid fast:slow cooking means over cooking, and that makes squid rubbery. Don't start to fry until the oil is hot enough and remember not to overcrowd the pan.

Fry in small batches, starting with the tentacles and fins which will cook fastest. Hold the ice cube in your hand and sprinkle a few drops of cold water right into the oil to create a thermal shock to make a fast seal.

The squid rings should cook in just a few minutes. Place a few new pieces in the oil before you remove the now golden calamari to help keep the oil temperature stable, then add the rest of your new batch once all the cooked pieces are out.

If the oil temperature seems to be going too high add another piece of bread - just leave the bread in till the end. If necessary add a little room temperature oil to lower it again but not too much since if the temperature is too low the batter will go soggy and the oil will penetrate all the way through. Remove any stray bits of batter while they are golden and before they get too dark and burn. You can nibble on these as a cook's treat or save and serve with the calamari.

Proceed in this way, regularly sprinkling with drops of water from the ice cube, until you have fried all the calamari rings.

In batches, return the fried rings to the oil for a few moments per batch so all of them are warm when you serve. This helps make them extra crisp too.

Place extra pieces of bread in the oil when you have removed all the calamari to stop it from over heating and smoking and of course take it right off the heat, placing it somewhere safe.

Transfer the calamari to your serving platter and wait a full minute for them to crisp up before salting. If you salt too early you risk softening the crisp coating

Serve with lemon wedges if you like, even though Italian purists say they ruin the taste and make the coating soggy! Dipping sauces are not at all Italian, as they defeat the point of the crispness and tend to overpower the delicate taste of the squid - which is what this dish is all about.