Sweet Chilli Calamari

Deep fried crumby rubber bands.

Languishing in the greasy tray of the local chippie. Sprinkle them with some chicken salt, and chew and chew and chew.
Sadly that's the only experience some people get with this little cephalopod, but it is really so delicious and tender. You just need to treat it right.

The secret to cooking squid or calamari is to cook it very fast, or very slow. There is nothing in between.

If you find a whole squiddy thing daunting, just go ahead and buy the clean white tubes at the supermarket. They won't be as great, but I promise I won't tell anyone (in fact, the market had no whole squid today, so that's what I had to use too. Shhh...)

Slit the tubes open and lay them flat on the chopping board, with the inside facing you.
Take a nice sharp knife and score the flesh in little diagonal cuts nice and close together. Don't cut all the way through though. Turn the board around and do the same again in the opposite direction. You should now have a pretty little diamond pattern all over the inside of the tube. Cut them into strips about the size of two fingers in length and width.

Prepare some seasoned flour by mixing some rice flour, szechaun pepper, black pepper and salt together to taste. Now dip or shake each piece into it and make sure it's nicely covered. This will help protect it from overcooking, give it a nice tasting coating, and help to thicken the sauce as well. Don't try and do this in advance, leave it until the last minute or the flour will go soggy and not crisp up well.


Get your fry pan nice and hot, then add in about a tablespoon of oil.

Put in the pieces scored side down, adding just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. It's OK if you need to do a few panfuls, just don't crowd it. As soon as they just start to curl up, pull them out and set aside. Keep going until all your pieces are done.


Pour a good glug of dry white wine into the hot pan. This will deglaze it and remove all the yummy bits from the bottom. Let it come up to the boil to remove the alcohol, them add maybe a quarter of a cup of Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce and a tablespoon of hot chilli sauce as well. Let it bubble for a minute to combine, then put the squid back in the pan and toss through the hot sauce.

At this stage I like to add in some small diced capsicums and blanched snowpeas for a bit of crunch and colour. Tonight, as you may have noticed, I had neither, but it is prettier with them in.

The calamari will quickly start to curl into pretty little tubes and the residual flour coating will thicken the sauce. Pull it off the heat, this means it's done. Don't let it stew away in the sauce or it will go tough and chewy, remember- we want it buttery soft and tender.

Serve this immediately with maybe some rice or a salad.

So tell me Readers, do you find tackling a whole squid tricky?