Brazen Salt and Pepper Squid

Here is our Brazen take on the oh-so-common, but oh-so-yummy salt and pepper squid, using our Brazen Spicy Salt instead.

Ingredients
3 teaspoons Brazen Spicy Salt
500g fresh whole squid
2 tablespoons self-raising flour
Vegetable oil
Cornflour
4 spring onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped

Method
Clean the squid by pulling the tentacles from the body.
Wash out the tube and remove the clear ‘backbone’. Peel off the skin if desired.
Cut the tentacles from the head and discard the head.
Cut the tube into triangles, which helps the squid to curl during cooking.

In a bowl, mix the self-raising flour with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and a little water to make a paste.
Add the squid pieces and tentacles and coat well.
Sprinkle and toss with enough cornflour until the pieces are dry.
Heat enough vegetable oil in a wok for deep-frying.

Here are two methods for checking if your oil is hot enough.
1. Wooden spoon: Grab your wooden spoon and get ready for this awesome trick. Dip the handle-end of the spoon into the oil. Oil that’s ready for frying will bubble around the handle.
2. Rice: Pick up a grain of rice and drop it into your hot oil. If the rice comes back to the top and starts cooking, your oil is hovering around 360°F, perfect for your food.

Add the squid, in batches, and cook until golden and crisp.

Do not be tempted to cook too much at once. The oil temperature will drop dramatically and you will have soggy ugly overcooked squid. Take a little more time and and you will have tender crispy morsels of squid. Trust me, I’m not the most patient person at times and I can testify to the soggy vs crispy 🙂

Remove carefully and drain on some absorbent paper.

When all the squid is cooked, drain most of the oil from the wok. Add the spring onion, garlic and chilli to the wok. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, until aromatic. Return the squid to the wok, add 2–3 teaspoons of Chilli Spiced Salt and toss well.

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